The Voyageur and Other Poems | Page 8

she 's changin' since de day she marry me-- An' she 'll never sit no more dere on de fence lak leetle kitten-- She 'd be safer on a stone wall, but she 's still ma Rosalie.
All alone: de neares' shaintee, over ten mile down de reever-- An' might be only yesterday, I 'member it so well--?W'en I 'm comin' home wan morning affer trappin' on de beaver, An' ma wife is sayin', "Hurry, go an' fetch Ma-dame Labelle."
If you 're stan'in' on de bank dere, you mus' t'ink I 'm crazy feller By de way I work de paddle, an' de way canoe she go--?But Ma-dame know all about it, an' I never need to tell her, An' we jus' get back in tam' dere for welcome leetle Joe.
Dat 's de way dem woman 's doin' for help along each oder, For Pierre Labelle he 's comin' now an' den for Rosalie-- Of course dere 's many tam too, dey got to be godmoder--?An' w'en dey want godfader, w'y dere 's only Pierre an' me.
Twenty year so hard we 're workin', twenty year reapin', sowin', Choppin' tree an' makin' portage, an' de chil'ren help us too-- But it 's never feelin' lonesome w'ile de familee is growin', An' de cradle seldom empty, an' we got so moche to do.
Den w'en all de work is finish, w'at dey 're callin' de surveyor He 's comin' here an' fin' us, an' of course so well he might-- For it 's easy job to foller, w'en de road is lyin' dere, So blin' man he can walk it wit' hees eyes closed, darkes' night.
An' de nex' t'ing dere 's a township, an' de township bring de taxes, An' it 's leetle hard on us too, dat 's way it seem to me-- An' de Gover'ment, I s'pose dey 'll never t'ink at all to ax us For de small account dey 're owin' mese'f an' Rosalie.
So we 'll see de beeg procession very soon come up de reever-- Some will settle on de roadside, some will stay upon de shore-- But de ole place we be clearin', I don't t'ink we 'll never leave her, Dough we 're all surroun' by stranger an' we 're
in de worl' wance more.
[Illustration: Border]
Natural Philosophy
Very offen I be t'inkin' of de queer folk goin' roun',?And way dey kip a-talkin' of de hard tam get along--?May have plaintee money too, an' de healt' be good an' soun'-- But you 'll fin' dere 's alway somet'ing goin' wrong--?'Course dere may be many reason w'y some feller ought to fret-- But me, I 'm alway singin' de only song I know--?'T is n't long enough for music, an' so short you can't forget, But it drive away de lonesome, an' dis is how she go,?"Jus' tak' your chance, an' try your luck."
Funny feller 's w'at dey call me--"so diff'ren' from de res'," But ev'rybody got hees fault, as far as I can see--?An' all de t'ing I 'm doin', I do it for de bes',?Dough w'en I 'm bettin' on a race, dat 's often loss for me-- "Oho!" I say, "Alphonse ma frien', to-day is not your day, For more you got your money up, de less your trotter go-- But never min' an' don't lie down," dat 's w'at I alway say, An' sing de sam' ole song some more, mebbe a leetle slow-- "Jus' tak' your chance, an' try your luck."
S'pose ma uncle die an' let me honder-dollar, mebbe two-- An' I don't tak' hees advice--me--for put heem on de bank-- 'Stead o' dat, some lot'rie ticket, to see w'at I can do, An' purty soon I 'm findin' out dey 're w'at you call de blank-- Wall! de bank she might bus' up dere--somet'ing might go wrong-- Dem feller, w'en dey get it, mebbe skip before de night-- Can't tell--den w'ere 's your money? So I sing ma leetle song An' don't boder wit' de w'isky, an' again I feel all right, "Jus' tak' your chance, an' try your luck."
If you 're goin' to mak' de marry, kip a look out on de eye, But no matter how you 're careful, it was risky anyhow-- An' if you 're too unlucky, jus' remember how you try?For gettin' dat poor woman, dough she may have got you now-- All de sam', it sometam happen dat your wife will pass away-- No use cryin', you can't help it--dere 's your duty to you'se'f-- You don't need to ax de neighbor, dey will tell you ev'ry day Start again lak hones' feller, for dere's plaintee woman lef'-- "Jus' tak' your chance, an' try your luck."
Poor man lak me, I 'm not'ing: only w'en election 's dere, An' ev'rybody 's waitin' to ketch you by de t'roat--?De money I