Mata 1
Lexys Mata
Mr. Goto
World Poetry Seminar
3 February 2020
I. Lyrics and Translation:
Kawaipunahele- Kealiʻi Reichel
Nou e Kawaipunahele
Kuʻu lei aloha mae ʻole
Pili hemoʻole,
Pili paʻa pono
E huli hoʻi kāua
E Kawaipunahele
Kū ʻoe me ke kiʻekiʻe
I ka nani aʻo Wailuku
Kuʻu ipo henoheno,
Kuʻu wehi o ka pō
E huli hoʻi kāua
E Kawaipunhele
Eia hoʻi ʻo Kealiʻi
Kali ʻana i ka mehameha
Mehameha hoʻi au,
ʻEhaʻeha hoʻi au
E huli hoʻi kāua
E Kawaipunahele
Puana ʻia ke aloha
Kuʻu lei aloha mae ʻole
Pili hemo ʻole,
Pili paʻa pono
Ke pono hoʻi kāua
E Kawaipunahele
(“Kawaipunahele”)
II.  Background Information:
Reichel Reels Back the Love
For you Kawaipunahele
My never-fading lei
Never separated,
Firmly united.
Come, let's go back.
O Kawaipunahele.
You stand majestically
In the splendor of Wailuku.
My cherished sweetheart,
My adornment of the night
Come, let's go back.
O Kawaipunahele
Here is Keali`i
Waiting in loneliness
I am lonely,
I hurt
Come, let's go back,
O Kawaipunahele.
Tell of the love,
Of my never-fading lei.
Never separated,
Firmly united
When it's right, we'll go back,
O Kawaipunahele
 Mata 2
“Kawaipunahele” was written and composed by the infamous Kealiʻi Reichel; uniquely,

this was, as Reichel had discovered, his “very first song ever. It was the song that opened that

particular door of creativity” (Paiva). According to Paiva, an author writing for the Hawaiʻi

magazine, this song was released in 1994 and “proved an instant smash on Hawaiian music radio

and a bestseller in Hawaiian record stores, launching a long and successful music career Reichel

had never seen coming” (Paiva).

This song is proclaiming the agony Reichel feels of being away from a lost love and pondering

on how much he misses him; Paiva has quoted Reichel’s capture of his song saying, “’It’s a

begging song” (Paiva). Reichel shared an intimate relationship with his partner, Puna; their

separation was the birth of “Kawaipunahele.”  

The mele opens with introducing the dedication of this song, “Nou e Kawaipunahele,” meaning,

“For you Kawaipunahele” (“Kawaipunahele”). It continues on with Reichel’s proclamation of

how much his love means to him. Reichel depicts his missing half by singing about how he

“stands majestically in the splendor Wailuku” (“Kawaipuahele”) portraying how the sight of his

love highlights strongly in this particular place. The next few verses of his song flow with

importunity and loneliness, singing, “Here is Kealiʻi/ waiting in the loneliness. / I am lonely, / I

hurt, / Come, let’s go back, /O Kawaipunahele” (“Kawaipunahele”).

The symbolic representation that is exhibited will soon go into discussion, but for now, let us

focus on the literal representation. The song is indeed as Reichel describes it, “ a begging song”

(Paiva) as well as a dedication song, going in depth of how enchanted and mesmerized Reichel is
 Mata 3
by his love. Their separation is clearly tormenting Reichel, for he sings, “I am lonely/ I hurt”

(“Kawaipunahele). Reichel is trying to connect to the lonely saps crying for their love, and his

persistence in wanting them to “come, let’s go back,” (“Kawaipunahele”) is the portrait he paints

with the blue feelings of longing.

III. Hawaiian Poetic Devices:

Fill in the blank

Like most songs, Reichel’s mele, “Kawaipunahele”, has insightful symbolism that was

created with various poetic devices. The first Hawaiian poetic device Reichel uses is sentence

pattern. The sentence pattern technique refers to “a matter of ‘filling in the blank’”

(Ho’omanawanui 37), embedding a consistent phrase that may insert a certain word at the front

or the back end. One example of a sentence pattern can be found in the Kumulipo. According to

the Kumulipo, sentence pattern is used in the repetitive lines, “Hānau ka iʻa, hānau ka Naiʻa, / i

ke kai lā holo” (Hoʻomanawanui 37). Sentence pattern is observed through “Hānau” being the

starting factor of the line and follows with inserting the words, “ka iʻa” and “ka Naiʻa” to finish.

Reichel demonstrates this same technique in his first and last verse singing the lines, “Pili

hemo’ole/ Pili pa’a pono,” (“Kawaipunahele”). Sentence pattern is visible through how he

continues his lines with “Pili” as the starting factor of his formula, and inserts “hemoʻole” and

“paʻa pono” as the following variables to complete the rhythm of the mele.

 
 Mata 4
Linked Assonance

With the same lines of, “Pili hemo’ole/Pili pa’a pono” (“Kawaipunahele”), sentence

pattern is accompanied with the second poetic device, linked assonance. Linked assonance is

defined as “the direct or implied linking of the last word of the end line of one couplet with the

first word of the first line of the following couplet” (Hoʻomanawanui 42). This technique can be

utilized in three ways: 1) repetition of sound, 2) repetition of meaning, and 3) repetition of

opposite meaning. The noble piece, “ʻA ka luna o Puʻuʻuʻoniʻoni’, transcribed by Nona Beamer”

(Hoʻomanawanui 42) notates repetition of sound in the lines, “Ke anaina a ka wahine/ Kiʻei

kaiāulu o Wahinekapu/ Noho ana ʻo Papalauahi/ Lauahi Pele i kai o Puna/ One ʻā kai o Malama/

Mālama i ke kanaka” (Hoʻomanawanui 42). Hoʻomanawanui is showing that within these lines,

“wahi/ne and ki/ʻei are slant rhymes, while Papalauah/ Lauahi and Malama/Mālama are direct

rhymes” (42) exhibiting the repetition of sound with linked assonance. “Kawaipunahele” does

the same with two lines sung in first and last verse. In the Hawaiʻi form, this line is sung as, “Pili

hemo ʻole/ Pili paʻa pono” (“Kawaipunahele”) which shows no link to sound or meaning.

However, the English translation, “Never Separated/Firmly United” (“Kawaipunahele”) is

indicating a link to the opposite meaning. With the incorporation of separated, Reichel is

speaking of him and Puna currently being pulled away from each other, then, Reichel intends to

link firmly as its opposite repetition by indicating he now wants them to be bonded closely. It is

with these two simple words that the poetic device of linked assonance further creates a profound

mele effect.

 
 Mata 5
Internal Rhyme

The third poetic device found in the sorrow of “Kawaipunahele” is internal rhyme.

Internal rhyme is similar to linked assonance in terms of its utilization for sound, but just as

Western cultures use rhyme in poetry, Hawaiians too connect words through their sounds

without the linking from one end to the beginning. The uniqueness of this Hawaiian poetic

device is that “it functions as a mnemonic device, enabling the memorization of lengthy and

complex information with relative ease” (Hoʻomanawanui 38). The Kumulipo cites this poetic

device through the subtle rhymes found in the same place that sentence pattern is seen. For

example, the Kumulipo recites and connects words like “Iʻa/Naiʻa, Mau/maumau, Nake/Make,

Pala/Kala,” (Hoʻomanawanui 38) and many more. How Reichel utilizes this device is found in

the third verse, singing, “Mehameha hoʻi au/ʻEhaʻeha hoʻi au” (“Kawaipunahele”). The

Hawaiian recitation connects them with their similar sounding of “eha,” further expressing the

internal rhyme effect, and additionally signifying a “direct rhyme” (Hoʻomanawanui 42).

Kaona Expressed with Natural elements

Within Reichel’s plea, his use of strong kaona or various meanings expressed through

Natural elements (Reichel) is conveyed. In the poetry of Hawaiʻi, elements are one of the key

metaphors referencing an individual’s character and quality. For example, when one claims that

their love is like the sun, that may indicate that their soulmate is the brightest thing in their life,

shining every darkness that shadows over their shoulders (Reichel). Reichel describes his

Kawaipunahele with the earthly element of a “never-fading lei” (“Kawaipunahele”), which may

symbolize his love as a long-lasting beauty that never rots or shies away from his heart, it only

blossoms and blooms. It may also go deeper into the sense of the wonderful aroma that a lei
 Mata 6
release. Perhaps Reichel is plucking at how this aroma has stuck to him, and now it never leaves,

it has stayed with him, making him want his love stronger than ever for him to come back,

further exemplifying Reichel’s effective use of kaona with natural elements.

Sign off

           At the end of each verse in “Kawaipunahele,” there is a repetitive dedication line closing

the verse, which may be perceived as a repetition effect for strategy, but it is demonstrating the

“sign off” effect. Hoʻomanawanui has observed that “another type of formulaic line is the ‘sign

off’ or concluding line” (41). These types of lines are “traditionally, the phrase ‘He inoa no___’

signifying the composition as a mele inoa” (41), but in Reichel’s use, “E Kawaipunahele” is the

version that he chooses to sign off his mele. After each line is sung about yearning for his lover,

he calls to him directly with “E Kawaipunahele” meaning, “O Kawaipunahele”

(“Kawaipunahele”), reaching out and perhaps leaving his listeners as if he has finished his cry,

thus including it as a sign-off.

Purpose/Intent

           Reichel’s final poetic device that was availed was purpose/intent. The insightful author,

Dudoit has offered her perspective that the device of purpose/intent can be a simple blunt

statement explained as “In this case, there will be stories of life and death, birth, marriage, a man

who pledged his loyalty to his sovereign, another man who defied that sovereign. There will be

murder, insanity, desertion” (26). The purpose behind the mele or story may be said as simple as

Dudoit has put it, or it can be emotionally felt and connected with. In the beginning, I presented
 Mata 7
research about the core of the song. Author for Hawaiʻi Magazine, Paiva, mentioned that “’It’s a

begging song’” (Paiva), and with the message revolving around the theme of yearning and

begging, that is “Kawaipunahele” purpose. Heed the opening lines, “Nou e

Kawaipuahele/Ku’ulei aloha mae’ole”, “For you my Kawaipunahele/ My never-fading lei,”

(“Kawaipunahele”), which infers that that is the purpose of “Kawaipunahele.” The request for

winning back the love of Puna is the intention, and any brokenhearted fool can connect with that

can foresee that purpose.  

Works Cited

Dudoit, Mahealani.  “Carving a Hawaiian Aesthetic” in Oiwi: A Native Hawaiian

 Mata 8
    
     Journal: Volume 1.  Honolulu, HI: Kuleana Oiwi Press, 1998. Print

Hoʻomanawanui, Kuʻualoha. “He Lei Hoʻoheno no nā Kau a Kau: Language,

Performance, and Form in Hawaiian Poetry”. The Contemporary Pacific, Volume 17,

Number I, 29-81. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2003. Print.

“Kawaipunahele Lyrics by Keali'i Reichel, 1 Meaning, Official 2020 Song

Lyrics.” Kawaipunahele Lyrics by Keali'i Reichel, 1 Meaning, Official 2020 Song Lyrics

LyricsMode.com, 20 July 2007,

https://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/k/kealii_reichel/kawaipunahele.html.

Paiva. “Kealiʻi Reichel Reveals the Meanings behind His 12 Favorite Songs.” Hawaii

Magazine, 18 May 2019, https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/content/kealii-reichel-

reveals-meanings-behind-his-12-favorite-songs.

Reichel, Kealiʻi. “Hakukole”. Vimeo. May 2012. Web. 01 August 2014