Aia Hiki Mai - Emma Kapena

Maʻemaʻe Līhau pō i ka lehua
Kupu kelakela i ke alo o Malama
Me he lama ala ke aloha o ka ipo
Ke hiki mai hiki mai


Hui:
Aia hiki mai ka haliʻa i oʻu nei
Me he uila ala i ka maka o ka ʻōpua
Ua pua ē ka liko, pua ka hīnano
Ke hiki mai hiki mai

Hiki mai ana ka mahele alo anu
Aʻi lawe ʻia mai e ke ʻala lauaʻe
Ua hele a puīa i ke onaona
Ka noua e ke kēhau

Beautiful is Līhau
Dense with lehua blossoms growing tall
before the face of Malama
Like a torch is love of a loved one
When it comes, when it comes

Chorus:
When fond recollections come to me
It is like the flash of lightning before the clouds
It is like an unopened bud, the flower of the hinano
When it comes, when it comes

A portion of coldness has come to me
Bringing with it the fragrance of laua`e ferns
Surrounding me with their sweetness
As the dew lies heavy around

Source: Johnny Noble's Collection credits this mele to Princess Likelike but Mary Pukui's notes have the composer as Emma Kapena. Chorus, Lahilahi Webb tells of a Hawaiian belief in the effect of words, "as Mrs Kapena wrote of lightning before clouds, just as she died; gay and happy one moment, the next moment dead". Malama is on Maui, Līhau, a mountain in Lahaina. Translated by Mary Pukui. Hawaiian Text edited by Puakea Nogelmeier