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THREE HAWAIIAN POEMS
The mothers call on Kuhe as they give
Their child to sleep. O early slumber
Of the heavenly company thou art indeed!
O Ku, O Lono, O Kane, they are yours
The evening hours (subdue
All murmurs now, speech, voice
Inviolate let evening be).
It is evening; it is hallowed for being that:
Let tumult die within us all: Tapu!
The spies of heaven, the stars return: Tapu!
And peaceful heaven covers peaceful earth.