The Wa’a (Canoe)
George Burnette 1952 (Charleston, WV)
The Wa’a (Canoe)
by George Burnette
Simple magnificence
‘Elepaio picks the one
Soon to be the wa'a
The process has begun
The modern unknown to Lea
The koa so preferred
From the hillside comes the call
I Ku Mau Mau is heard
The tree has been selected
Kanealuka is the guide
Kalai wa'a is the maker
Who hollows out inside
All has been created
A year has been the time
The ‘Iako and the ama
The journeys’ time arrived
From the ages now past
Lives Polynesian lore
Upon the ocean traveled
Three thousand years and more
From Fiji, Samoa, Tonga
Eastward Tahiti, Hawai `i north
The ways of Navigators
Nearly lost, but now come forth
The sun and stars, and currents and swells
Clouds and birds, the ancient clues
The Navigator’s knowledge
The path of the crew
Moana knows no faces
Blades of paddles pull the wai
Or sails of leaves pandanus
As the wa’a travels by
With beauty so unbounded
Whether darkness or sunlight
The wa’a moves undaunted
The crew takes such delight
But the ocean bears no folly
Kanaloa is on the watch
Misfortune plays no favorites
And so many have been lost
Today sails Hōkūleʻa
The traditions now reborn
The world her crew will visit
With such lessons to be learned
But the Earth is our canoe
And all have caught the ride
Should not we sail together
Or paddle side by side
If we chose to blend our paddles
Or unfurl our sails as one
Ke Akua as ho’okele
We all could then find home
About this poem
This poem is about the making of Polynesian canoes (wa’a) and the symbolism for all of us.
Font size:
Written on April 01, 2024
Submitted by ggburnette on April 01, 2024
- 1:23 min read
- 7 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AX BCDC EFXF GHIH GJJX XKXK DLBL BBXA BMBM NONO EXBX DXXX AHIH BCEX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,429 |
Words | 275 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Wa’a (Canoe)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/184099/the-wa’a-(canoe)>.
Discuss the poem The Wa’a (Canoe) with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In