[Translation.]

A Dirge for Mrs. Coan,

Composed by request for the Church and friends at Hilo.

Tune, A Mother’s Kiss,—Golden Robin.

1.

What hand is this stretched from above,
From where kind Spirits blend?
It is a hand let down in love
To bear away a friend.
A stranger friend she came to us
From homes beyond the seas,
And moved by love she staid with us
To teach us words of peace.

2.

Long she abode in our domain,
And domiciled with us;
A Mother teacher she became,
A kind and tender nurse;
A mother dear and much beloved,
A guide both safe and sure
O’er verdant fields with flowers perfumed,
By waters still and pure.

3.

Look upward, lo! what sight is this?
A shining cloud appears,
It floats, and thence an angel’s voice
Falls on our listening ears;
O friend beloved, there’s waiting nigh
An angel carr for thee;
Take passage, and ascend on high,
To the world though long’st to see.

4.

Hark! hark! what notes are these we hear?
they are deep sorrow’s wails;
They roll, and swell, and fill the air,
And echo o’er the hills—
The angel choir has borne away
From children weeping here
A mother whom they loved to obey,
A mother teacher dear.

5.

Our mournful tears are flowing fast,
And falling here and there,
For thee, our mother in days past,
Our leader kind and dear.
We bend in sorrow o’er one loved,
Our grief for thee is great—
Thou came’st, and we together moved;
But now we separate.

6.

Hark! hark! what bell is tolling thus?
It is a mournful bell:—
Gather together in God’s house—
It is the funeral knell.
We listen and together come,
Dear friends the summons heed;
And draped mourning, to the tomb
We march with sorrow’s tread.

7.

Mournful we move, and all are hush!
Angels are looking on,
And Jesus comes to walk with us,
And comfort those who mourn.
The hills and vales, and streams that flow,
Together with us mourn.
The loved one’s form is lower’d, and lo!
The clouds are dak’ning round!

8.

But look again, the clouds have flown,
And light breaks thro’ the gloom;
A voice exhorts with gentle tone,
O cease, ye friends, to mourn.
The dear and much beloved one
Lies not in this drear tomb,
She’s risen and to heaven has gone,
With Jesus she’s at home.

Hawaii.

[Unuhiia.]

He Kanikau no Mrs. Koana,

I hakuia ma ke noiia mai no ka ekalesia a me na makamaka o Hilo.

Leo, A Mother’s Kiss,—Golden Robin.

1.

He lima aha e o nei
Mai luna mai ke ao?
He lima kii e lawe ae
Kekahi hoahanau.
He hoa malihini nei
Mai kahi loa mai no,
Aloha nae a noho mai
I kumu no kakou.

2.

Ua noho a loihi no,
A kamaaina pu,
A lilo i makua ao,
A hanai ia kakou;
Makuwahine makamae,
A alakai maikai
Ma kahi kula uli e,
A ma na wai maemae.

3.

E nana, e, heaha nei?
He ao olino e,
Ke kau la, a noloko mai
He leo hea mai;
Ke hoa aloha, ke ku nei
He kaa anela nou;
E ee maluna, a pii ae,
Pii i ke ao ma o.

4.

Hamau! he lohe aha nei?
He olo pihe no;
O olo ae, a kupinai
Maluna o na puu—
Ua kai na anela aulii,
Mai na keiki ae,
I ka makua aloha e,
Makua ao maikai.

5.

Ke kahe nei a helelei
Na u waimaka e
Nou, ka makua aloha e,
Ko makou alakai—
Ke haalou nei, a hu ka uwe,
Pau mako e makou!
Hoea a noho pu maanei,
Kaawale nae ano.

6.

Hamau! he bele aha nei?
He bele kanikau—
E hui ma ka halawai
Hoolewa kupapau.
Ke hui nei na hoahanau,
Na hoaaloha pu;
Paa i ka lole kanikau,
A nauwe u kakou.

7.

Ke nauwe kanikau hamau—
Nana na anela,
Me Iesu hoi ke hele pu,
A, nana e hoona.
Na puu, na awawa a kahawai
Ke kanikau pu no.
Ka mea aloha ua nalo ae,
Pouli mai na ao!

8.

E nana hou, ua hee na ao,
Poha he lama e;
He leo paipai olu no,
E pau, e pau ka uwe—
Ka mea aloha makamae,
Aole ia maanei.
Ua lele i ke ao maikai
Me Iesu e maha’i.

Hawaii.

[I thought to post this piece because it is one of the few examples where the author/composer did both the Hawaiian and English version. It is interesting to look at the two compositions side by side. This is a kanikau written for Fidelia Church Coan who arrived in Hawaii along with her husband, Titus Coan, on June 6, 1835. They were stationed in Hilo, and she ran a boarding school there for girls.

The composer who calls himself “Hawaii,” is a prolific translator of English hymns into Hawaiian in the Kuokoa newspaper. Could this possibly be Lorenzo Lyons? Would anyone have any information on this?]

(Kuokoa, 11/2/1872, p. 7)

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XI, Helu 44, Aoao 7. Novemaba 2, 1872.