Nani Nā Pua - Words & Music by Lili`uokalani
Nani nā pua Koʻolau
I memele i ka uka
Ka uka o Kuihanalei
I lei mau no ke aloha
ʻAuhea wale ana ʻoe
E ka pua o ka lokelani
ʻO ka ʻoi aku nō ʻoe
Ma mua o ka nae ʻala

Mahalo au ʻo ka nani
Nā lehua o Līhau
He ʻala kūpaoa
Anuanu o ka nahele
I wili ʻia me ka maile
Lauliʻi o Koʻiahi
ʻAuhea lā ia pua
ʻAkipohe o Halealoha

Ua ola nā kaua
I ka wai huna a ka manu
He ʻala pua pīkake
Huli au a hoʻomaʻū
ʻAuhea wale ana ʻoe
E ka pua ʻo ka Viliau
Hoʻi mai nō kāua
E pili me ke aloha


 The flowers of Koʻolau in their beauty
Fill the vale, fill with golden gleam
I cull and wreathe them for my loved one
At morn and night she fills my waking dream
Where are you, fairest of all fair ones
Where are you sweetest of all sweets
You are a flower of Paradise
That the morning breeze ever kindly greets

I praise your beauty, my fair one
You are the flower of all flowers to me
The lehua flower whose ardent sweetness
Overpowers the wanderer over the lea
And I cry “where are you, my loved one”
My spirit wants to be with you
To taste hours of tranquil pleasure
And wander neath Koʻiahi’s tree

The trilling notes of hidden songsters
As they sport around the jasmine bower
The scent yet in my memory lingers
Reminds me of you, the fairest flowers
Of Viliau, the sweetest blossom
Without you, my life is lonely
Come fill my hours with bliss, I pray thee
My flower, my bird, my chief and chosen one
Source: Composed in 1860, this was one of Liliʻuokalani's first published works. It was signed L.K. (Lydia Kamakaʻeha) Pākī , the name she used until her marriage in 1862. Translation by Liliʻuokalani