C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
The Wreck of the “Julie Plante”
By William Henry Drummond (1854–1907)
From ‘The Habitant and Other French-Canadian Poems’
O
De win’ she blow, blow, blow,
An’ de crew of de wood scow “Julie Plante”
Got scar’t an’ run below—
For de win’ she blow lak hurricane,
Bimeby she blow some more,
An’ de scow bus’ up on Lac St. Pierre
Wan arpent from de shore.
An’ walk de hin’ deck too—
He call de crew from up de hole
He call de cook also.
De cook she’s name was Rosie,
She come from Montreal,
Was chambre maid on lumber barge,
On de Grande Lachine Canal.
De sout’ win’ she blow too,
Wen Rosie cry “Mon cher captinne,
Mon cher, w’at I shall do?”
Den de captinne t’row de big ankerre,
But still the scow she dreef,
De crew he can’t pass on de shore,
Becos’ he los’ hees skeef.
De wave run high an’ fas’,
W’en de captinne tak’ de Rosie girl
An’ tie her to de mas’.
Den he also tak’ de life preserve,
An’ jomp off on de lak’,
An’ say, “Good-bye, ma Rosie dear,
I go drown for your sak’.”
’Bout ha’f-pas’ two—t’ree—four—
De captinne—scow—an’ de poor Rosie
Was corpses on de shore,
For de win’ she blow lak’ hurricane,
Bimeby she blow some more,
An’ de scow bus’ up on Lac St. Pierre,
Wan arpent from de shore.
Tak’ warning by dat storm
An’ go an’ marry some nice French girl
An’ leev on wan beeg farm.
De win’ can blow lak’ hurricane
An’ s’pose she blow some more,
You can’t get drown on Lac St. Pierre,
So long you stay on shore.