‹ Les Laurentiennes: poesiesChapitre 73 sur 79 · F. X. GARNEAU · texte numérisé non relu

F. X. GARNEAU

TRANSLATED BY MARY A. m'iVER

A tomb of monumental granité raise,

0 ! Canada, proud of thy liberty !

To him the chronicler of vanished days

That unborn âges may the record see.

Muse of our land ! open again, with tears

The book of gold where shines each hero's name ; To thee the ofT'ring of his hopeful years

Wasmade, and what hast thou to give but famé ?

A weary while he strove with courage mild

To bend his soûl to strangers who despised ; Yet held he sacred rights altho' exiled

From those whose party strife he little prized. Till Death, less cruel, but more just than they,

Marked his high place 'mid the immortal throng^ And honors, worthless thro' a long delay,

Now to his mourning eountrymen belong.

A monument above that silent mound

To show a people where his ashes lie; To poet and to artist holy ground,

When musing on the days long since gone by And now, for that his words revealed so well

Those early sires, unknown to many a son, — Who for the love of our old banners fell,

Glory and he are wedded — both are one !

THE BOATMEN OF THE St. LAWRENCE.

TRANSLATED BY MARY A. m'iVER.

See you it dancing along o'er Ihe wave ?

Well o'er the breadth of the coast is it known, My beautiful vessel, so buoyant and brave ;

'T is the sure shelter from danger alone. Mark it shoot forward, 'neath slroke of the oar,

'Mid the black squall, or the wind, or the snow Then, let us sing the old ballad once more,

Song of the Boatmen, as onward we row !

'T is the first bark past the ice fleet that steers,

When spring is seen in the distance again, 'T is the last ever that bravely appears

"When the loud menace of storms is in vain. Fearlessly then we responi to the roar

Of the wild tempests of wind and of snow ; — Then, let us sing the old ballad once more,

Song of the Boatmen, as onward we row !

Pliant and swift it réels o'er the abyss,

While the Qerce rage of the slorm it deQes, Now, for an instant its light form we miss

Surely 't is lost, as it is to the eyes ! No, it arises, shoots on as before,

Guided by us o'er the great River's flow ; Then, let us sing the old ballad once more,

Song of the Boatmen, as onward we row !

iBrightly the beautiful sun on us heams,

Cheering the mariners" heart with its rays ; While our strong arms, o'er Ihe billow that gleaoïs,

Urge our light skifTthro' the long summ-ar days. Tenderly ever the echoes from shore,

Waft the sweet ballad of love that will glow With the strong courage and warmth evermore

Of the brave Boatmen who sing as they go !

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