Pua `Alani (Orange Blossom) - Emma Alexandria Kanoa de Fries


Ku`u pua `alani ku`u ipo iâ
Ku`u lei pikake lei o ke `aumoe
Lei aku mâua i ka pili o ka ao
Ho`oheno ke aloha me he ipo ala

Hui:
Ua pono no `oe e ka Inuwai
I ka lawe a holu i ka lau o ke pili
Komo pono aku la `oe i ka `ai a ka lua
I ke ala pi`i a ka `opae

Hia`ai aku au la e `ike
Ke `ala onaona o ke kiele
Ka moani hu`ihu`i i ka pili o ke ao
Ka `iniki welenia me he ipo la

Ha`aheo ka maka oka `ôpua i ka lewa
Ua kohu no e like me ka `i`iwi polena
Ka nunu`a i ka liko pua o ka `ôhelo
I ke kaha la o `Iloli

Ua pulu mâua i ka ua kilihune
I ka wai lihau `a`ala o ke kini
Po`iu noi`i miki`oi no welo
`O ka `apa a ka ua i ka nahele

My orange blossom is my sweetheart
My lei pikake for the midnight hours
These we wore at the break of day
Enjoying our love as sweethearts do

Chorus:
You are all right O Inuwai breeze
In setting the leaves of the pili to swaying
You are caught in the grip of the lua
Called “the stairway of the shrimp”

I yearned greatly to know
The sweet fragrance of gardenias
The wind borne fragrance at break of day
Is as penetrating as love itself

Proud are the faces of the clouds above
Moving like Hawaiian honey creeper birds
Hovering in flocks over the `ôhelo buds
On the plain of `Iloli

We two were drenched with the fine rain
With the fine, fragrant water of gin
Hazy, seeking, searching
Such were the doings of the rain of the forest

Source: KSB Berger Collection - signature tune of Emma Alexandria Kalanikauika`alaneo Kiliaulaninuiamamao Kanoa Defries, daughter of Rev. M. Kanoa. She was born on Strong Island, January 20, 1856, when her parents were Hawaiian missionaries in the Gilbert Islands. Chorus, stanza 3, lua is the Hawaiian bone breaking sport of ancient Hawai`i, forbidden by law in the days of the kingdom. Chorus, stanza 4, “stairway of the shrimp” is the name of a steep incline up the side of Wailau Valley on Moloka`i. It is also a lua hold whereby a warrior lifts his opponent from the ground and breaks his bones in the air. Translated by Mary Pukui

Emma Alexandria Kalanikauika`alaneo
Kiliaulaninuiamamao Kanoa Defries