The Voyageur and Other Poems Part 10

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Dominique

You dunno ma leetle boy Dominique?

Never see heem runnin' roun' about de place?

'Cos I want to get advice how to kip heem lookin' nice, So he won't be alway dirty on de face-- Now dat leetle boy of mine, Dominique, If you wash heem an' you sen' heem off to school, But instead of goin' dere, he was playin' fox an' hare-- Can you tell me how to stop de leetle fool?

"I 'd tak' dat leetle feller Dominique, An' I 'd put heem on de cellar ev'ry day, An' for workin' out a cure, bread an' water 's very sure, You can bet he mak' de promise not to play!"

Dat 's very well to say, but ma leetle Dominique W'en de jacket we put on heem 's only new, An' he 's goin' travel roun' on de medder up an' down, Wit' de strawberry on hees pocket runnin' t'roo, An' w'en he climb de fence, see de hole upon hees pant, No wonder hees poor moder 's feelin' mad!

So if you ketch heem den, w'at you want to do, ma frien'?

Tell me quickly an' before he get too bad.

"I 'd lick your leetle boy Dominique, I 'd lick heem till he 's cryin' purty hard, An' for fear he 's gettin' spile, I 'd geev' heem castor ile, An' I would n't let heem play outside de yard."

If you see ma leetle boy Dominique Hangin' on to poor ole "Billy" by de tail, W'en dat horse is feelin' gay, lak I see heem yesterday, I s'pose you t'ink he 's safer on de jail?

W'en I 'm lightin' up de pipe on de evenin' affer work, An' de powder dat young rascal's puttin' in, It was makin' such a pouf, nearly blow me t'roo de roof-- W'at 's de way you got of showin' 't was a sin?

"Wall! I put heem on de jail right away, You may bet de wan is got de beeges' wall!

A honder foot or so, w'ere dey never let heem go, Non! I would n't kip a boy lak dat at all."

Dat 's good advice for sure, very good, On de cellar, bread an' water--it 'll do, De nice sweet castor ile geev' heem ev'ry leetle w'ile, An' de jail to finish up wit' w'en he 's t'roo!

Ah! ma frien', you never see Dominique, W'en he 's lyin' dere asleep upon de bed, If you do, you say to me, "W'at an angel he mus' be, An' dere can't be not'ing bad upon hees head."

Many t'ank for your advice, an' it may be good for some, But de reason you was geev' it is n't very hard to seek-- Ya.s.s! it 's easy seein' now w'en de talk is over, how You dunno ma leetle boy Dominique?

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Home

"Oh! Mother the bells are ringing as never they rang before, And banners aloft are flying, and open is every door, While down in the streets are thousands of men I have never seen-- But friendly are all the faces--oh! Mother, what can it mean?"

"My little one," said the mother, "for many long, weary years-- Thro' days that the suns.h.i.+ne mocked at, and nights that were wet with tears, I have waited and watched in silence, too proud to speak, and now The pulse of my heart is leaping, for the children have kept the vow.

"And there they are coming, coming, the brothers you never knew, But, sightless, my ears would know them, so steady and firm and true Is the tramp of men whose fathers trod where the wind blows free, Over the heights of Queenston, and willows of Chateaugay.

"For whether it be a thousand, or whether a single man-- In the calm of peace, or battle, since ever the race began, No human eye has seen it--'t is an undiscovered clime, Where the feet of my children's fathers have not stepped and beaten time.

"The enemy at my threshold had boasted and jeered and cried-- 'The pledge of your offsprings' birthright your children have swept aside-- They c.u.mber the land of strangers, they dwell in the alien's tent Till "home" is a word forgotten, and "love" but a bow unbent.

"'Planners and builders of cities (were ever such men as these?), Counsellors, guides, and moulders of the strangers' destinies-- Conquerors, yet are they conquered, and this is the word and sign, You boast of their wise seed-sowing, but the harvest they reap is mine.'

"Ah! little the stranger knew me--this mocking but friendly foe, The youngest mother of nations! how could the stranger know The faith of the old grey mother,--her sorrows and hopes and fears?

Let her speak when her sons are tested, like mine, for a thousand years!

"Afar in the dim savanna when the dawn of the spring is near, What is it wakes the wild goose, calling him loud and clear?

What is it brings him homeward, battered and tempest-torn?

Are they weaker than birds of pa.s.sage, the children whom I have borne?

"Nay! the streets of the city tremble with the tread that shakes the world, When the sons of the blood foregather, and the mother flag flies unfurled-- Brothers are welcoming brothers, and the voices that pierce the blue Answer the enemy's taunting--and the children of York are true!

"Wanderers may be, traitors never! By the scroll of their fathers' lives!

The faith of the land that bore them, and the honour of their wives!

We may lose them, our own strong children, blossom and root and stem-- But the cradle will be remembered, and home is aye home to them!"

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Canadian Forever

When our fathers crossed the ocean In the glorious days gone by, They breathed their deep emotion In many a tear and sigh-- Tho' a brighter lay before them Than the old, old land that bore them And all the wide world knows now That land was Canada.

So line up and try us, Whoever would deny us The freedom of our birthright And they 'll find us like a wall-- For we are Canadian--Canadian forever, Canadian forever--Canadian over all.

Our fathers came to win us This land beyond recall-- And the same blood flows within us Of Briton, Celt, and Gaul-- Keep alive each glowing ember Of our sireland, but remember Our country is Canadian Whatever may befall.

So line up and try us, Whoever would deny us The freedom of our birthright And they 'll find us like a wall-- For we are Canadian, Canadian forever, Canadian forever---Canadian over all.

Who can blame them, who can blame us If we tell ourselves with pride How a thousand years to tame us The foe has often tried-- And should e'er the Empire need us, She'll require no chains to lead us, For we are Empire's children-- But Canadian over all.

Then line up and try us, Whoever would deny us The freedom of our birthright And they 'll find us like a wall-- For we are Canadian, Canadian forever, Canadian forever--Canadian over all!

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Twins

I congratulate ye, Francis, And more power to yer wife-- An' from Montreal to Kansas, I could safely bet my life Ye wor proud enough, I hould ye-- Runnin' with the safety pins Whin ould Mrs. Dolan tould ye, "Milia murther! she has twins!"

Ye might kill me without warnin'-- Lay me out there on the shelf-- For a sight of ye that mornin', Throwin' bookays at yerself!

Faix! ye thought ye had a cinch there, An' begob! so well ye might, For not even with the Frinch there, Twins like thim come every night!

Francis, aisy now an' listen To yer mother's brother James-- Whin the twins ye go to christen, Don't ye give thim fancy names-- Irene--Edith--Gladys--Mavis-- Cecil Rhodes an' Percival-- If it 's names like that, Lord save us!

Don't live close to the ca.n.a.l!

Michael Whalen of St. Lambert Had a boy some years ago-- Called him Clarence Montizambert-- Where he got it I dunno-- Monty used to have a brother (_He_ was Marmaduke Fitzjames), Killed himself some way or other Thryin' to p.r.o.nounce his names!

Bet was three times in a minute, An' he thrained hard for the same, But the lad was never in it-- Tho' they tell me he died game!

Well, sir!--Monty grew the height of Fin McCool or Brian Boru-- Truth I 'm tellin', but in spite of Ev'rything poor Mike could do--