Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula

XXXVII.—THE HULA ULILI

The hula ulili, also called by the descriptive name kolili—to wave or flutter, as a pennant—was a hula that was not at all times confined to the tabu restrictions of the halau. Like a truant schoolboy, it delighted to break loose from restraint and join the informal pleasurings of the people. Imagine an assembly of men and women in the picturesque illumination given by flaring kukui torches, the men on one side, the women on the other. Husbands and wives, smothering the jealousy instinctive to the human heart, are there by mutual consent—their daughters they leave at home—each one ready to play his part to the finish, with no thought of future recrimination. It was a game of love-forfeits, on the same lines as kilu and ume.

Two men, armed with wands furnished with tufts of gay feathers, pass up and down the files of men and women, waving their decorated staffs, ever and anon indicating with a touch of the wand persons of the opposite sex, who under the rules must pay the forfeit demanded of them. The kissing, of course, goes by favor. The wand-bearers, as they move along, troll an amorous ditty:

Oli

Footnote 489: (return) La o Kona. A day of Kona, i.e., of fine weather.

Footnote 490: (return) Kai a ke Akua. Sea of the gods, because calm.

Footnote 491: (return) Wai-opua. A wind which changed its direction after blowing for a few days from one quarter.

Footnote 492: (return) Wai-aloha. The name of a hill. In the translation the author has followed its meaning (“water of love”).

Footnote 493: (return) Koolau-wahine. The name of a refreshing wind, often mentioned in Hawaiian poetry; here used as a symbol of female affection.

Footnote 494: (return) Pua-ke-i. The name of a sharp, bracing wind felt on the windward side of Molokai; used here apparently as a symbol of strong masculine passion.