The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-02-15

/ chanters in stopping to clear their
| threats, something made necessary by
the length of the songs they sang.
! The mele is chanted in a monotone.
| often accompanied by the beating of
the drum, and at luaus Cnative feasts)
it is still the custom to have the
, chanters, either men or women, pres
| ent and to entertain the guests with
their chants of the brave deeds of
! the chiefs of long ago.
In a paper written by B. L. Marx,
| a local musician, who has been max
| ing a study of the mele, he gives the
results of some experiments made by
| him.
My method, he said, was to place
| the violin under my chin, then place
the rubber tubes connecting with the
photograph to my ears, and attempt to
catch the musical notation on the
| fngerboard of the violin. The rapid
| changes in tempo from "A to "a and
back again We're bewildering, and I
was obliged to go over the same rec
| ord time and again before I succeeded
| in gaining a very clear impression.
1.-The prolonged note used was, ac-
cording to my violin, B fiat below the
staff, with an occasional quaver of the
voice, producing an interval not in
accordance with our recognized diyi-
sion, somewhere between C and d fiat
'tThe Hawaiian mele was accompa-
MED by a droning chant on almost
monotone. The music which accom-
panied it is found to have been rather
regulated defamation than a song
With the ancient Hawaiian music was
used as an accompaniment, and never
alone"
comparison is made between the
Hawaiian mele' and the Greek epic. to
the advantage of the former, according
to Mr.. Marx. He says that the Ha-
waiians had no such advantages as
the Greeks in coming into contact with
older civilizations, and the fact that
they were able to evolve a musical
system of their own and TO compose
poetry of such merit shows the inner
ent genius of the race.
Curtis J. Lyons has made a transla-
ton of one of the ancient Hawaiian
meles, written by David MaIo, the old
native poet. This is entitled a Clam
entation for Kaahumanu," who was a
queen, and a portion of it is given, to
show the style of the ancient mele.
Ceasing from storm, the sea grows
calm and CLASSY. Like a puff of wind
fitting over it, so her spirit glides
away to the far regions beyond Kahi-
XII
She flies, averting her eyes; she
fades away in the wild mists of the
northland-the deep, dark, mysterious
north
She has gone from US to the courts
of Kane, treading royalty the red
streaked path of the rosy dawn, the
misty, broken road to Kana1oa.
An ebbing tide flows out, laden with
departing wealth. ~
The chief is turning away, sinking
to sleep, drifting away. She fled at
the first CLEAN Of the dawn, at the
faint ending of the cutoff night Then
was her departure.
o our beloved one. Cur departed
one! Our bemoaned one!
The heart beats unanimously; it
throbs within US; it strains US; it
breaks the wall around it.
Oh, the pain, the breaking I'D. the
rushing of tears, the falling of the
flowers scattered of grief.
We are borne away, carried away;
the very depths of us are torn from
us by this passionate grief.
Our true liege lady was she, and I
grieve. Love as to a sister is mine
yet not to sister. Yea, sister. chos-
en- and separate in the Lord, born of
the Holy Spirit of the one Father of
US all. Thus, thus 1 feel that she is
mine to sorrow for. The precious
name, sister, is indeed ours (to use)
by dear Inheritance. Alas, my sister! .
My beloved sharer in the sweet labor
no
beloved! My belovedl o centre of
thought? O centre of thought
The voice is the staff that love leans
upon. With the voice we seek COM
mon treasure together, sweet converse |
together. gone-gone.
o lady seeking shelter from the Wa |
ahila rain of Kona, the cutting rain, |
with the wind beating against the
house gables! o lady companion on
the hot sun-beaten plains of Pahoa! I.
o lady beloved in the cold rain of Nu-
lanu! We flee together; there is moth !
ing; all is in vain-empty forsaken,
Confusion all tangled together: there
IS no more love, no more good; it is
an enemy that is now with US. AIasl !
The spirit cf the shadowy presence.
the spirit BODY is gone. The many-
shadowed, the glorified, the trans
figured body is beyond, new featured,
heavenly formed companion of angels.
She rests in the rich light of heaven;
she moves triumphant She sings
praise-psalms of joy in the paradise
IF glory, in the everlasting daytime of
the Lord. He is our Lord, the ever
astIng Lord. He indeed in truth
such are the thoughts that burn
Nlthln me, they burn and go ont from
ne! Thus I pour out my soul. nv
soul.
A request has been received from
the Library of Congress for some of
me Hawaiian music and copies of
songs, and as many of the
neIes as can be obtained will be sent
o Washington.
Inc natives say that what are sung
now as Hawaiian songs are not real
y such, but simply modern. thinlv
EeIled adaptations of n1alodies b,.o,,o.I.+