In the elaborated hula songs, such as Emerson quotes, the art can be seen in full perfection.  Dangerous as all such interpretation of native art must be for a foreigner, I venture in illustration, guided by Wise’s translation, the analysis of one of the songs sung by Halemano to win back his lost lady love, the beauty of Puna.  The circumstances are as follows:  Halemano, a Kauai chief, has wedded a famous beauty of Puna, Hawaii, who has now deserted him for a royal lover.  Meanwhile a Kohala princess who loves him seeks to become his mistress, and makes a festival at which she may enjoy his company.  The estranged wife is present, and during the games he sings a series of songs to reproach her infidelity.  One of them runs thus: 

  Ke kua ia mai la e ke kai ka hala o Puna. 
  E halaoa ana me he kanaka la,
  Lulumi iho la i kai o Hilo-e. 
  Hanuu ke kai i luna o Mokuola. 
  Ua ola ae nei loko i ko aloha-e. 
  He kokua ka inaina no ke kanaka. 
  Hele kuewa au i ke alanui e! 
  Pela, peia, pehea au e ke aloha? 
  Auwe kuu wahine—­a! 
  Kuu hoa o ka ulu hapapa o Kalapana. 
  O ka la hiki anuanu ma Kumukahi. 
  Akahi ka mea aloha o ka wahine. 
  Ke hele neiia wela kau manawa,
  A huihui kuu piko i ke aloha,
  Ne aie kuu kino no ia la-e. 
  Hoi mai kaua he a’u koolau keia,
  Kuu wahine hoi e!  Hoi mai. 
  Hoi mai kaua e hoopumehana. 
  Ka makamaka o ia aina makua ole.

  Hewn down by the sea are the pandanus trees of Puna. 
  They are standing there like men,
  Like a multitude in the lowlands of Hilo. 
  Step by step the sea rises above the Isle-of-life. 
  So life revives once more within me, for love of you. 
  A bracer to man is wrath. 
  As I wandered friendless over the highways, alas! 
  That way, this way, what of me, love? 
  Alas, my wife—­O! 
  My companion of the shallow planted breadfruit of Kalapana. 
  Of the sun rising cold at Kumukahi. 
  Above all else the love of a wife. 
  For my temples burn,
  And my heart (literally “middle”) is cold for your love,
  And my body is under bonds to her (the princess of Kohala). 
  Come back to me, a wandering Au bird of Koolau,
  My love, come back. 
  Come back and let us warm each other with love,
  Beloved one in a friendless land (literally, “without parents").

Paraphrased, the song may mean: 

The sea has encroached upon the shore of Puna and Hilo so that the hala trees stand out in the water; still they stand firm in spite of the flood.  So love floods my heart, but I am braced by anger.  Alas! my wife, have you forgotten the days when we dwelt in Kalapana and saw the sun rise beyond Cape Kumukahi?  I burn and freeze for your love, yet my body is engaged to the princess of Kohala, by the rules of the game.  Come back to me!  I am from Kauai, in the north, and here in Puna I am a stranger and