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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
POIRIER'S ROOSTER, by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND First Line: W'at's dat? De ole man gone, you say Last Line: Poor telesphore cadotte! | |||
"W'AT's dat? de ole man gone, you say Wall! Wall! he mus' be sick, For w'en he pass de oder day, He walk along widout de stick, Lak twenty year or so -- Fine healt'y man, ole Telesphore, I never see heem sick before, Some rheumateez, but not'ing more -- Please tell me how he go." You're right, no common t'ing for sure Is kill heem lak de res'; No sir! de man was voyageur Upon de Grande Nor' Wes' Until he settle here Is not de feller's goin' die Before he's ready by an' bye, So if you want de reason w'y I'll tell you, never fear. You know how moche he lak to spik An' tole us ev'ryt'ing about De way de French can alway lick An' pull de w'ole worl' inside out, Poor Telesphore Cadotte! He's knowin' all de victory, An' braves' t'ing was never be. To hear heem talk it's easy see He's firse-class patriot. Hees leetle shoe store ev'ry night Can hardly hol' de crowd of folk Dat come to lissen on de fight, An' w'en you see de pile of smoke An' hear ole Telesphore Hammer de boot upon hees knee, You t'ink of course of Chateauguay, An' feel dat's two, t'ree enemy Don't bodder us no more. But oh! dat evening w'en he sen' De call aroun' for come en masse, An' den he say, "Ma dear ole frien', Dere's someting funny come to pass, I lak you all to hear -- You know dat Waterloo affair? H-s-s-h! don't get excite, you wasn't dere -- All quiet? Wall! I'll mak' it square, So lissen on your ear. "I'm readin' on de book to-day Some book, dey say, was guarantee), An' half a dollar too I pay, But cheap, because it's tellin' me De t'ing I'm glad to know -- Of course de w'ole worl' understan' Napoleon fight de bes' he can, But he's not French at all, dat man, But leetle small Da-go. "Anoder t'ing was mak' it show Dere's not'ing new below de sun, Is w'en I'm findin' as I go -- Dat feller dey call Welling-ton, He's English? No siree! But only maudit Irlandais! (Dat's right! dey're alway in de way, Dem Irish folk), an' so I say I'm satisfy for me. "It's not our fault, dat's all explain -- Dere's no use talk of Waterloo, Not our affair -- " an' off again He hammer, hammer on de shoe, An' don't say not'ing more, But w'issle "Madame Isabeau," Good news lak dat is cheer heem so -- Den tak' a drink before we go, De poor ole Telesphore! An' now he's gone! Wall! I dunno, Can't say -- he's better off meb-be, Don't work so hard on w'ere he go -- Dat's wan t'ing sure I'm t'inkin' -- me -- Unless he los' hees track. But w'en dat boy come runnin' in De leetle shop, an' start begin On Poirier's rooster, how he win -- I lak to break hees back. Poor Telesphore was tellin' how Joe Monferrand can't go to sleep, Until he's kickin' up de row, Den pile dem nearly ten foot deep, Dem English sojer man -- Can't blame de crowd dey all hooraw, For bes' man on de Ottawaw, An' geev' t'ree cheer for Canadaw, De very bes' dey can. An' Telesphore again he start For tell de story leetle more, Anoder wan before we part, W'en bang! a small boy t'roo de door On w'at you call "full pelt," Is yellin' till it reach de skies, "Poirier's rooster got de prize, Poirier's rooster got de prize, An' win de Champion belt!" An' sure enough, he beat dem all, Joe Poirier's leetle red game bird, On beeges' show dey have dis fall, -- De Yankee rooster only t'ird An' Irish number two -- We hear a jump, an' Telesphore -- I never see de lak before -- He flap hees wing upon de floor An' cock a doodle doo! Dat's finish heem, he's gone at las', An' never come aroun' again -- We'll miss heem w'en we're goin' pas', An' see no light upon de pane -- But pleasure we have got, We'll kip it on de memory yet, An' dough of course we'll offen fret, Dere's wan t'ing sure, we'll not forget Poor Telesphore Cadotte! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A RAINY DAY IN CAMP by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND AUTUMN DAYS by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND BARBOTTE (BULL-POUT) by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND BATEESE AND HIS LITTLE DECOYS by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND BATEESE THE LUCKY MAN by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND BLOOM - A SONG OF COBALT by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND BOULE by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND BRUNO THE HUNTER by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND CANADIAN FOREVER by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND CAUDA MORRHUAE by WILLIAM HENRY DRUMMOND |
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