Beautiful Kahana - Words & music by Mary J. Montano

 

Mau loa nō koʻu mahalo nui
I ka nani pūnono o Kahana
Ka moani ʻaʻala anuhea
O na pali aʻo Koʻolauloa

Hui:
ʻO ka home ia o ka wahine
Puʻuwai aloha a ʻĪnia
He pua ua mili ani ʻia
E ka Mālualua kiʻi wai

ʻO Kalāhikiola nō ka ʻoi
He puʻulena ia na ka maka
Kohu kihene pua ka uʻi
I luluhe i ka ʻae o ke kai

Hui:
He maile kaluhea ia laʻi
Haʻaheo a ke ao nāulu
Ulu aʻe ka manaʻo he aloha
Ia kuini pua ʻo Kahana
I admire everlastingly
The glowing beauty of Kahana
The sweet wind borne perfume
Of the cliffs of Koʻolauloa

Chorus:
This is the home of the lady
Of the loving heart of India

A flower lovingly fondled
By the Mālualua kiʻi wai breeze

Kalāhikiola is the greatest
It holds one's admiration
As pretty as a basket of flowers
Leaning over at the edge of the sea

Chorus:
Like the large leaved maile in the calm
Proud in the presence of the rain clouds
It inspires an expression of love
For the flower queen of Kahana

 

Source: King's Hawaiian Melodies - Written for Mary E. Foster and her beautiful country home, Kalāhikiola, on the windward side of Oʻahu at Kahana. Verse 1, stanza 2, "the loving heart of India" refers to Mary Foster's Bahai faith and her monetary gifts to build a Bahai temple in India. Many of her charitable acts in Hawaiʻi were quietly given and unknown, but the lasting gift was her Honolulu home, now part of the famous Foster Botanical Gardens. Foster Gardens is a 20-acre oasis in downtown Honolulu. Mary (part-Hawaiian) and her ship owner husband Thomas purchased the property from Dr. William Hillebrand, a German botanist, in 1880. Mrs. Foster purchased additional acreage and Princess Lili`uokalani added to the gardens by purchasing the adjoining property from the estate of Queen Kalama, wife of Kamehameha III. Before her death, Lili`uokalani, who kept a cottage on the grounds, transferred title to the Civic Federation of Honolulu, to be used as a park. Mrs. Foster also bequeathed her garden to the city of Honolulu in 1930. Both properties were combined and became the Foster Botanical Gardens.Translated by Mary Pukui Copyright 1915, 1942, 1963 by Charles E. King