Another acrostic, showing the tone of the time, 1873.

HE MELE HUA INOA

A-loha ka lahui Hawaii,
U-a emi a uuku loa,
P-au na lii i ka nalo,
U-a koe uuku mai,
N-ui no na kanaka,
I-ka wa kahiko mamua,
H-eaha la ka hana pono,
A-kakou e hana ai?
W-aele pono i ka noonoo,
A-hoike ae i ke akea;
I-kumu e ulu ai ka lahui,
I-mau loa na koko Hawaii.

[AN ACROSTIC POEM

Aloha for the Hawaiian lahui,
It has decreased to a very few,
The alii have disappeared,
But a few remain,
There were many people,
In the old times before,
What in the world,
Should we do?
Clear our minds,
And explain announce widely,
The means by which to increase the lahui,
So that Hawaiian blood will be forever.]

[This mele appears in the very first column of the very first issue of this newspaper, Ka Nuhou Hawaii. The first letter of each line spells out Hawaiian Nation.]

(Nuhou, 11/4/1873, p. 1)

Ka Nuhou Hawaii, Buke I, Helu 1, Aoao 1. Novemaba 4, 1873.

3 thoughts on “Another acrostic, showing the tone of the time, 1873.”

Years ago, I realized that native writers seem like they rarely use possessives yet when translated to english, it is used. Its the way they think that, in my opinion, we have lost. Mahalo for all the posts and helping me to understand the way kanakas think.

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also after waele pono, the article looks like there’s a na. the translation has ka.

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