plaintive chant, there came a gay, rollicking melody sung in tones so full of joy and ecstacy that the very notes seemed to dance with delight.
"I'm going home, I'm going home to Honolulu,Back to where the soul of me is staying;I left it back there when I took myself awayAnd now I'm going back to claim it.
Oh, the sea is pansy-purpleAnd the sands are sands of gold,And Eternity's no deeper than the skies;And the waterfalls and rainbows are shot through and through with sunbeamsLike the laughter that is in a baby's eyes.
Oh, the palm trees all are wavingAnd the taro fields are broad,And the surf-boards come swift-driving through the foam;—I see it in my dreaming and I see it in my waking,—Oh, I'm hungry for my blessed island home.
I'm going home, I'm going home to Honolulu,Back to where the soul of me is staying;I left it back there when I took myself awayAnd now I'm going back again to claim it."
And then, when the last joyous cadence had died away, came an eager, tremulous, long drawn "A-l-o-h-a!"
And from the deep shadow in the far corner of the lanai came an answering call in the grandmother's cracked and quavering voice; "Aloha! Aloha nui!"
