ʻĀinahau - by Princess Miriam Likelike

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Na ka wai lūkini
Wai anuhea o ka rose
E hoʻopē nei i ka liko o nā pua
Na ka manu pīkake
Manu hulu melemele
Nā kāhiko ia o kuʻu home
 
Hui:
Nani wale kuʻu home
ʻO ʻĀinahau i ka ʻiu
I ka holunape
A ka lau o ka niu
I ka uluwehiwehi
I ke ʻala o nā pua
Kuʻu home, kuʻu home i ka ʻiuʻiu

Na ka makani aheahe
I pā mai ma kai

I lawe mai i ke
Onaona līpoa
E hoʻonipo hoʻonipo
Me ke ʻala o kuʻu home
Kuʻu home, kuʻu home i ka ʻiuʻiu

 

Princess Miriam Likelike
Age 19

 

Princess Kaʻiulani


It is the perfume and the lovely
Fragrance of roses that sweeten
The leaf buds of the flowering plants
The peacocks
And the yellow feathered birds
Are the adornments of my home
 
Chorus:
Beautiful is my home
ʻĀinahau so regal
Where the fronds
Of the coco palms sway
The beautiful grove
The fragrance of flowers
At my home, my home so regal

It is the gentle breeze
From the sea
That brings the sweet
Odor of līpoa sea weed
Mingling with
The fragrance of love
of my home,
My home, my home so regal


Source: ʻĀinahau, one of the homes of the Oʻahu chiefs, was part of the 10-acre estate inherited by Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani. Originally called Auaukai, Princess Likelike named it ʻĀinahau or "Cool Land" when she lived there with her husband, Archibald Scott Cleghorn, who turned it into a botanical garden. The stream that flowed through ʻĀinahau and emptied into the ocean where the present Outrigger Hotel is located, was called Apuakehau. At one point more than 50 peacocks roamed the estate and were hand fed by Princess Kaʻiulani. When Kaʻiulani, heir to the Hawaiian throne died, the peacocks screeched so intensely and incessantly, that some were destroyed.
Translation by Mary Pukui. Hawaiian Text edited by Puakea Nogelmeier. Music clip by Gippy Cooke