Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-11-15
Story IN VERSE
Of ANCIENT HAWAII

DoOk OF o. pages Just published by
William c. Lyon. Chief among the i'm
pressions one feels on rising from a
perusal of the work is that of realiz-
ing that the legends of ancient Ha-
wall furnish rich material for the ro-
mancer in prose or verse. "Kaupee-
pee is a stirring tale of love and war
dashed with touch of witchcraft that
has survival today in struggling and
bedraggled kahunaism.
There are some divisions of lines in
the blank meter which bid defiance to
correct scanning, such as placing weak
particles at either end of a line so as
to disjoint a rhythmic phrase. Here
are couple of examples The bard
is telling of the raging hordes
That whirl themselves in Burning
fury to
And fro. enraged at all the world. in
vain"
Again, he relates Hakalanileo's being
torn
With longing for the love his Prov
ess could
was near,
To little purpose, purposeless-enrag-
ed
With grief Then, with the light be.
gan a quest
etc. This seems random prosody. The
jutting out here and there, amidst the
generally pure stream of modern En-.
glish, of archaic word-forms must be
noted as another defect. Drove"
would be better than "drave." and
"slung" than slang" and climbed"
than "clomb.' The text is creditably
accurate in sense for the most part,
which makes prominent the few excep-
tions. Kama Is not represented to be
a superhuman being save in ancestry
of the gods, hence it jibes badly with
the understanding to be informed that.
when he "withdraws his broken few
within the shattered barks," off the
shore
From thence he tears
Vast boulders from the bed of sea-
and hurls
Them fiercely on the thwarted foe"
There are a few literal errors, one
of which mars an important line on
the last page. Despite the few defects
in structure mentioned, though. the
poem constitutes a thrilling story
plainly and POLITICALLY told. The read
er Is carried along an undertaking
course that when he enters upon 1t,
ha ,,stl1 90 to
finished and he has learned the fate
of the leading personages met by the
way.
Told in brief the story here follows.
When fifteen chiefs had been counted
from the arrival OF Nanaula from
the far islands of the incensed south"
with his noble family and followers,
There came upon the sea a ruthless
chief
or kindred blood, with many a hideous
barge
OF ruthless men,"
Previously these islands had enjoyed
peace, except for some little honorable
scrimmages of the sort that breeds a
manly race" The ew-comers-old-
time carpet-baggers - made things
rough. They soon lorded II over all
the islands but Molokai, and were
nobled by the pioneer tribes who
gave unwilling wives. Hakolanileo
was of the later fierce blood. Owhy-
hee came under his rule. He fell in
love with Hina, the beautiful daugh
ter of Uni, mystic prophecies lately
I'll consulted the oracles and
told him first that he could not have
the girl, but when the proud chief said
he would marry her anyway the wo-
man said he should but that the
bride would be snatched away from
him ere many years.
Hina developed into a magnificent
queen and after a while her mothers
prediction came true. Kaupeepee, |
hero of the idyll, was heir apparent to
the chiefdom of the yet untroubled ISL
and of Molokai. He brooded over the
of the other islands by the
cate his birthright to his brother and
dedicate himself to vengeance. He
fortified himself behind Haupu's rock
at the summit of cliff and construct
ed fleet OF canoes. Creeping out at
night and coming home in the morn |
ing, he spread desolation and wailing |
along the coasts of the islands held by |
the oppressors. When once he played |
his terrible game on Wahoo, he was |
chased home by a fleet and only a |
mist enabled him to escape |
into his stronghold. The baffied pur-
suers went to his old father, who still |
ruled, and demanded to be shown the
way to where the scourge Of the isles
was concealed. In bitter irony the
'hief told them to search Haupu's
'ock. They looked at the place and
considered It an easy thing, then 60
ng back to Wahoo modified eighty
sail of canoes for the conquest. Land
ing at night under the cliff they were
how to get up its perpindi-
cular sides. While standing irreso-
lutte they were greeted with an ava
lanche OF boulders hurled down by
guards. The canoes of
the invaders were smashed generally |
and only few of the warriors escaped |
with their chief In the battered 40
tilla.
To save his little realm from ven
geance the aged chief sent a splendid |
Ieathay cloak to the Wahoo chief. |
TO helm out his Warlike son. on the