Haiku

“ Perhaps the most unusual aspect of this great age of literature is the fact that the work was produced almost entirely by women. Theirs was the aesthetic legacy that later became the foundation for Zen taste, including the overwhelming importance of brushstroke calligraphy, the subtle sense of what constitutes beauty and what excess, the vocabulary of aesthetics, the elaborate concern with the use of color, and the refinement of the poetic form that eventually led to Zen Haiku. ”

“ The spirit leaves the body through the eyes, through the little holes in the corners of the eyes nearest the nose, when Death calls it. This Ku and Hiku knew, but they also knew that the spirit cannot return in the same manner, that it must find its way, if ever it returns, into its earthly tenement of flesh and blood through the hollow in the sole of the foot. Placing the cocoanut there, and removing his finger from the hole, Hiku commanded the spirit of his beloved Kawelu to enter her body, lying there so pathetically cold and still that the tears sprang to his eyes as he gazed. ”

“ Hiku then lowered himself down and when he reached the lower world he began to swing himself on his vine.7 When the people of the lower world saw Hiku swinging himself back and forth, they all wanted to have a ride. Kawelu was by the side of Milu. The spirits then called out: “Say, you ill-smelling spirit,” but Hiku paid them no attention. The spirits were all anxious for a ride on the swing and were also taken with the chant Hiku was singing:
Hana aku la o Hiku e like me na olelo a ke kahuna. ”

“ Much excitement was created by the presence of Hiku, but he smelled so badly of the rotten kukui nuts that the spirits did not care to approach very closely, designing him "Ke akua pilau,"—the bad smelling ghost.
The merry game of Kilu was going on at the time, and in a few moments his presence was forgotten in its absorbing delights. The game is one of love, a wahine taking in her hand a small ball, with which she endeavors to strike the kanaka she desires, chanting at the same time a verse of a song, and if successful he becomes her immediate lover. ”

“ Hiiaka’s chief weapon of attack seems to have been her magical paú. With this as a besom she beat them down as a husbandman might beat down a swarm of locusts. The Mahiki and the Mo’o-lau had ceased to exist as organized bodies. But from the rout and slaughter of the armies many individuals had escaped with their lives, and these had hid themselves away in caves and secret places, some of them even, presuming apparently upon their power of disguise, had taken refuge in the remote scattered habitations of the people. ”

“ If it had been only a battle with enemies in the open Hiiaka would have made short work of the job. Her foes lay ambushed in every wood and brake and assumed every imaginable disguise. A withered bush, a bunch of grass, a moss-grown stone, any, the most innocent object in nature, might prove to be an assailant ready to spit venom or tear with hook and talon. Hiiaka had need of every grain of wit and every spark of courage in her nature. Nothing could withstand her onset and the billows of attack against her person were broken as by a solid rock. ”

“ To return now to Hiiaka, who, after a hot climb, is standing on the summit of Poha-kea; she is gazing with rapt and clear vision far away in the direction of her own home-land, her moku lehua, in Puna. Her eyes, under the inspiration of the moment, disregard the ocean foreground, on whose gently heaving bosom might be seen the canoe that holds Lohiau and Wahine-oma’o snailing along to its appointed rendezvous. Her mind is busy interpreting the unusual signs written in the heavens: a swelling mountainous mass of flame-shot clouds, boiling up from some hidden source. ”

“ As Hiiaka gazed upon the scene, she uttered her thoughts in song:
(In literature, as in other matters, the missing sheep always makes a strong appeal to the imagination. Urged by this motive, I have searched high and low for this mele, the utterance of Hiiaka under unique conditions; but all my efforts have been unavailing.)
When they had passed through the lands of Kukia-lau-ania [189] and Maka-hana-loa and were overlooking the town of Hilo, Hiiaka was better able to judge of the havoc which the fires of Pele had wrought in her Puna domains. ”

“ At the last flicker of life, when the rocky encasement had well nigh completed the envelopment of his body, Hiiaka, daring the barrier of fire that had come between them, sprang to his side and, with the last kiss, whispered into his ear, “Go not on the side whence the wind blows; pass to leeward, on the day of our meeting.” (Mai hele i ka makani; hele i ka pohu, ma ka la a kaua e halawai ai.) By this cryptic expression, Hiiaka meant to put Lohiau on his guard against enemies that lay in wait for him. ”

“ Hiiaka looked upon the imperious goddess of fire and said: “That is right. I go after your husband but I lay my charge upon you: You must take care of my lehua forest and not permit it to be injured. You may eat all other places of ours, but you must not touch my own lehua grove, my delight. You will be waiting here. Anger will arise in you. You will destroy inland; you will destroy toward the sea; but you must not touch my friend—my Hopoe. You will eat Puna with your burning wrath, but you must not go near Hopoe. This is my covenant with you, O Pele.” ”

“ No speech, no human voice, only the gentle clash of wooden dishes, the rustle of leaves, the gurgle of deep potations and the subdued sounds of gustation came from the place into which no human foot or eye dared intrude. At the conclusion of the affair, when Hiiaka, in priestly fashion, had pronounced the absolving word noa and the stewards were again at liberty to enter the precinct where the immortals had just now celebrated their symposium, it seemed, at first glance, as if nothing had been touched. ”

“ Yet, although my bones will be put to shame, I am content, knowing that Ku’s heavy wrath will fall upon my enemies, and that I shall glory in their destruction, and mock them in the other world. If Hiwa had been slain when she committed the unpardonable sin against Ku his anger might have been appeased; but now that it has been growing these sixteen years, the whole people are doomed, for they are her people and her son’s. Behold I, Aa, high-priest of Ku, proclaim that his implacable wrath rests upon the whole kingdom, and shall eat up its inhabitants. ”

“ Hiiaka had deigned to appeal to the girl Pa-pulehu, she being a kamaaina1, as if for information. When Hiiaka announced her determination to take the short road, the one of danger that struck through the heart of Pana-ewa, Pa-pulehu drew back in dismay and expostulated: “That is not a fit road for us, or for any but a band of warriors. If we go that way we shall be killed.” She broke forth with lamentations, bewailing her coming fate and the desolation that was about to visit her family.
As they advanced Wahine-oma’o descried a gray scare-crow object motionless in the road ahead of them. ”

“ He is all for pleasure. Honor, constancy, ordinary prudence, are not in his purview. Hiiaka’s immediate presence suffices to restrain and guide him; in her absence, his passion, a rudderless bark, is the sport of every wind that blows.
Hiiaka, on arriving at the halau, sat by herself. Lohiau, as she observed, was sitting with Wahine-oma’o and Waikiki. Pele-ula, who was sitting alone on her side of the hall, now showed her hand by sending one of her men, named A’ala, to invite Lohiau to come over and sit with her. At this Hiiaka spoke up: “I will sit by you.” ”

“ I summon you, Kane-kapoléi;
Pray gather, ye Wilderness Host;
Come Kane, and come Kanaloa;
Hiiaka, prophet and priest, am I:
It is mine to inspire, to perform:
I have striven for life and life came—
Your life, Lohiau of Haena—
Aye, life, life indeed;
Life in its fullness, life in detail;
Life to stand at the temple shrine:
Such life be yours, beloved Lohiau!
Urge on; let the cure work!
Hiiaka chanted also another prayer:
E Lono, e Lono, e Lono-ku-lani,
E Lono noho i ka wai,
O houlu oe, o inana oe ”

“ Paú-o-pala’e took it upon her to answer, that the one thing that would be most acceptable to Hiiaka would be a dish of luau. Thereupon a large quantity of young and delicate taro leaves were prepared for the table.
When they were gathered at the tables, Hiiaka sitting in the place of honor, Paú-o-pala’e, at her request, bade all the people incline their heads and close their eyes. Then Hiiaka called upon her allies, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the elements and all the gods to come to the feast and partake ”

“ Out pours a deluge of rock a-flame.
My home-land is Puna, sworn guard
At the eastern gate of the Sun.
Hiiaka now entered the woodlands of Pana-ewa, a region greatly celebrated in song, which must have brought home to her mind vivid memories of that first sharp encounter with her dragon foe. From there on the way led through Ola’a; and when they reached Ka-ho’o-kú Hiiaka bade the women, Wahine-oma’o and Paü-o-pala’e, go on ahead. ”

“ Pana-ewa’s rain beats down the lehuas,
A rain by the sea smites the halas of Puna.
My love, my pity go out to Koloa;—
Her fare, wilted herbs at Malei.
Hiiaka—true poet that she was, and alive to every colorable aspect of nature—as she trudged on her way, came upon a sight that touched her imagination ”

“ The Mahiki, on seeing Hiiaka advance into their territory, threw up the dirt and dust in their front, to express their contempt for such an insignificant body of trespassers. Hiiaka, paying no attention to their insolence, pressed on. Her purpose was to strike directly at Mo’o-lau, the leader of the horde, to whom she addressed this incantation:
A loko au o Mahiki,
Halawai me ke Akua okioki po’o.
Okioki ino, la, i kona po’o;
Kahihi a’e la i kona naau;
Hoale mai ana i kona koko i o’u nei. ”

“ Hiiaka perceived that the battle was to be even more fiercely contested than that at Pana-ewa. She bade Paú-o-pala’e to take good care that no ill came to Wahine-oma’o. Looking up into the heavens, Hiiaka saw her relatives and friends Poha-kau, Ka-moho-alii, Kane-milo-hai, and a large concourse of other gods, including Kane, Kanaloa, Ku and Lono, watching her, evidently greatly interested in her performances. ”

“ The Haibun is a kind of prose composition which may be conveniently mentioned here, as it is a sort of satellite of the Haikai, and aims at the same conciseness and suggestiveness. The most noted writer of Haibun is Yokoi Yayu (1703–1783) , a high official of Nagoya, in Owari. He is the author of the much admired apologue which follows:—
"An earthen vessel, whether it be square or round, strives to adapt to its own form the thing which it contains: a bag does not insist on preserving its own shape, but conforms itself to that which is put into it. Full, it reaches above men's shoulders ”

“ The Heroes, too, who dwell in the mountains,
Our Comrades they, who range the forest;
Women-gods of the ether who heal—
Powers that hold with thee, God Laká:
He gives men the rich-ripe mountain-apple.
The Gods pour out their healing water;
The bunchy thatch-grass waves in awe;
God Echo whose voices rumble afar;
And the Landscapist Ku and the Princess
Who plucked and ate the fateful ulei.
The women who sit in the outskirts,
All clad in robes of funeral black—
Great love has prompted their coming.
I Hiiaka, the shadow, have come,
From love to my birth-mate, my sister. ”

“ The Spirit of Hiwa bids you save your lives. Why should you die? Behold, the rightful moi kane, Aelani, The Pledge from Heaven, The Chosen of the Gods, cometh to his own! Ku thundered at his birth, and the rainbow covered him; therefore none shall be able to stand before him. Yet he is just and merciful. He will slay those who are taken with arms in their hands, fighting against him. ”

“ The gods ascend to the highlands;
The goddess Pele tears in a frenzy;
She raves and beats about in the Pit:
Its crumbled walls float like boats in the gulf:
An ash-heap is Puna, melted its sand—
Crisp-done by thy fire, Thine, O Woman!
When Hiiaka recognized the desperate strait of her friend and lover she urged him to betake himself again to prayer. [208]
“Prayer may serve in time of health; it’s of no avail in the day of death,” was his answer.
It was not now a band of women with firebrands, but a phalanx of fire that closed in upon Lohiau. The whole land seemed to him to be a-flame. ”

“ On landing in Kohala, Hiiaka took the road that led up through the thickly wooded wilderness of Mahiki, the region that had been the scene, now some months gone, of the most strenuous chapter in her warfare to rid Hawaii of the mo’o—that pestilent brood of winged and crawling monsters great and small that once infested her wilds and that have continued almost to the present day to infest the imagination of the Hawaiian people. ”

“ Birds without song and of black plumage built their nests and muttered hoarse croakings to their nestlings in the roof of the peace-home.
Blood had been shed in Kienuka and the Great Spirit had made the peace-home desolate.
When Hiawatha, the wise man, was speaking the last words to his children, he told them to « 150 » choose from their tribes a maiden possessing wisdom, who should be their peacemaker. So the red men built a home wherein the peacemaker should dwell, and doors were made at each side so that it mattered not whence came the wayfarer he would find a welcome. ”

“ After Dokun’s death, the inhabitants neglected the temple. Again gales arose and the fish disappeared. Then came another man named Hiakudaiyu and made a doll and brought it to the temple. Then hiding himself he displayed it and called: “I am Dokun, I have come to greet you.” Whereupon the sea again became calm and fish again returned. The emperor hearing of it summoned Hiakudaiyu to perform with his show at court, and after witnessing it he exclaimed: “As Japan is God’s country, we must, before anything else, entertain the Gods. ”