Heʻeia – traditional, translation by Mary Kawena Pukuʻi

Aia i He‘eia lā

Ka nalu e he‘e ana

He‘e ana i ka lala lā

Ho‘i ana i ka muku

He pakika he pahe‘e lā

He pahe‘e i ka pu‘e one

A na‘u i kīkaha lā

A‘o ia ‘aekai

A he kuhihewa ko‘u lā

Aia i ka poli

Hapapa hewa au lā

I ka maka o ka moena

‘E‘ena ia manu lā

Noho mai i ke kuahiwi

Ke ala nihi a‘e lā

Ka uea holuholu

Ha‘ina mai ka puana lā

No Kalākaua nō he inoa.

There at He‘eia

Are waves for surfing

Some are breaking to the left

And others to the right

They slip and slide

Smoothly over the sandbar

It was I who glided

All the way to shore

But I was mistaken

About finding love there

I groped about in vain

On the meshes of the mat

But the timid bird

Had retired to the mountains

The way is precarious

Like a swaying tightrope

This ends the song

In honor of Kalākaua.

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