EATING OF THE POI
© 1888
Lyrics & Music: Traditional
See: George S. Kanahele, Hawaiian Music and Musicians (Univ. Press of Hawaii, 1979), this song is cited as the first hapa haole song to be published.
Sheet Music:
Ka Buke o na Leo Mele Hawaii, 1888
Recordings:
CD:
Oh dear! Oh dear! A very queer
And curious thing I've seen,
Which takes the shine completely off,
The wearing of the green;
Potatoes constitute a dish
That Irishmen enjoy,
But it can't hold a candle to
The eating of the poi.
I met a fat kanaka, and he
Asked me to his hale,
He wore no clothes to speak of,
But a pa'u and papale,
Upon a mat cross-legged we sat,
And there, and then, my boy
I was initiated in
The eating of the poi.
A calabash between us stood,
Tutui in a dish
And in another one, some
Animated shrimps, and fish;
We pitched in, and did
No cutlery employ,
The finger is the instrument
For the eating of the poi.
You dip it in, and stir it round,
'Tis difficult to learn,
And harder to describe the
Proper scientific term,
Sometimes one finger, sometimes two,
And sometimes three employ.
According to your appetite
When eating of the poi.
To unaccustomed life, it has
A most peculiar taste,
But when you've clean'd the calabash,
You want to hiamoi,
And soon get fat as butter, just
From eating of the poi.
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