“At the time that turned the heat of the earth,
At the time when the heavens
turned and changed,
At the time when the light of
the sun was subdued
To cause light to break forth,
At the time of the night of
Makalii (winter)
Then began the slime which
established the earth,
The source of deepest darkness.
Of the depth of darkness, of
the depth of darkness,
Of the darkness of the sun, in
the depth of night,
It is night,
So
was night born”
Queen Lili’uokalani, “Kumulipo”
A beautiful, stirring version of the Hawai’ian creation story, made more full of pathos by the historical reality of Queen Lili’uokalani’s personal tragedy. The web posting has the poem in native Hawai'ian and it is even more haunting with it's mesmeric repeated sounds, likes the waves crashing on the ocean shore.
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