Hawai`i Pono`i - Words by King David Kalakaua, Music by Henri Berger

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Hawai`i pono`î
Nânâ i kou mô`î
Ka lani ali`i,
Ke ali`i

Hui:
Makua lani ê,
Kamehameha ê,
Na kaua e pale,
Me ka ihe

Hawai`i pono`î
Nânâ i nâ ali`i
Nâ pua muli kou
Nâ pôki`i

Hawai`i pono`î
E ka lâhui e
`O kâu hana nui
E u`iê
King David Kalakaua
 
Captain Henri Berger
Hawaii`s own true sons
Be loyal to your chief
Your country's liege and lord
The chief

Chorus:
Royal father
Kamehameha
Shall defend in war
With spears

Hawaii`s own true sons
Look to your chief
Those chiefs of younger birth
Younger descent

Hawaii`s own true sons
People of loyal heart
The only duty lies
List and abide


Princess Kaiulani

Prince Komatsu


 
Source: Cunha's Songbook Copyright 1898 by Hugo Schlam - Lot, Kamehameha 5, wanted a gift of music for his people and asked Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany to send a bandmaster to Hawai`i. Henri Berger arrived June 5, 1872 and organized the Royal Hawaiian band who perfomed June 11,1872, after 5 days of practice. This first performance of the Royal Hawaiian band introduced "Hymn to Kamehameha I "which Berger re-wrote for the first celebration of King Kamehameha Day. The melody was based on the Prussian hymn originally titled "Heil Dir Im Siegerkranz". The words by King David Kalâkaua was set to the Hymn to Kamehameha I in 1874, and was first sung by the Kawaiaha`o Church Choir, on King Kalâkaua`s birthday, Nov. 16, 1874. The King made a state visit to Japan on March 4, 1881, and was received lavishly by Emperor Mutsuhito. Landing at the Bay of Yeddo, Yokohama, he was greeted by a Japanese military band playing his song. During the visit, Kalakaua proposed the marriage of his niece, 5-year-old Princess Kaiulani to Prince Yamashina Komatsu Sadamoro, the 15- year-old nephew of the emperor. The emperor replied that the prince was already betrothed. Upon Kalakaua's return to Hawaii, he received formal letters from Foreign Minister Inouye Kaoru and Prince Komatsu politely declining the offer of marriage to the Hawaiian princess. Thirteen years later, Jan. 29, 1894, Queen Lili`uokalani wrote to Princess Kaiulani asking the princess to marry and choose a suitable mate from Prince David Kawananakoa, Prince Jonah Kûhiô or Prince Komatsu, the Japanese Prince. In a letter to the Queen, June 22, 1894, Princess Kaiulani rejected all three princes writing "I feel it would be wrong if I married a man I did not love. I should be perfectly unhappy, and we should not agree and instead of being an example to the married women of today, I should become like them, merely a woman of fashion and most likely to flirt". The Hawaii legislature proclaimed Hawai`i Pono`i the state anthem in 1967. Music clip by Lani Lee