Noʻenoʻe Maika`i Ke Aloha - Traditional

Noʻenoʻe maikaʻi ke aloha
I ka ʻohu hau o Hāʻupu
Kuahiwi ani a ka makani
Pā mai kahi lau hinahina

Pūpū a paʻa i ka lima
Mokihana popohe i ka nahele
A he mea naʻenʻ`e ke ʻala
O ka lau maile o Kilohana

Me he kiʻina nā manu
Ka nenehe i ka lau hau
A loaʻa ʻaku Makaweli
I ka hale pûpû kani wao e

E o ana oe iā Limaloa
I nā kilioe i nā pali
Nānā i mālama i ke ʻala
Pōpō i ka liko lauaʻe

Paoa ʻia nā pali o Makana
I ka wai ʻauʻau o Kanaloa
E ō e ka Wohi kū kahi
Kalākaua he inoa lā ē

Love is beautifully calm
In the icy mist of Hāʻupu
Mountain touched by the gentle wind
Blowing upon luxuriant growth of the hinahina

Bundled up and held fast in the hands
Shapely mokihana in the woodlands
The perfume is sweet and fragrant
From the maile leaves of Kilohana

As though the birds had flocked in
Such was the rustling amid the hau leaves
Then Makaweli was reached
The home of the trilling forest shells

You will be bested by Limaloa
And the spirit women who inhabit the cliffs
Who watch over the pathway
Thick with clusters of tender young laua`e leaves

The cliffs of Makana are suffused in fragrance
In the waters of Kanaloa's pool
Answer O Wohi who stands without equal
Kalākaua, a name chant

Source: Mary Pukui collection - Verse 1, stanza 2, Hāʻupu is a mountian peak in Lîhuʻe; verse 4, stanza 1, Limaloa was the god of mirages. Recorded by Brothers Cazimero, "Follow Me" CD. Translated by Lalepa Koga & Puakea Nogelmeier