free-verse48 lines
My Little Cabane
by William Henry DrummondI'm sittin' to-night on maleetle ca-bane, more happier dan de king,
An' ev'ry corner 's singin' out wit' musique de ole stove sing
I hear de cry of de winter win', for de storm- gate 's open wide
But I don't care not'ing for win'or storm, so long I was safe inside.
Viens 'ci, mon chien, put your head on dere, let your nose res' on ma knee-
You 'member de tam we chase de moose back on de Lac Souris
An' de snow come down an' we los' ourse'f till mornin' is bring de light,
You t'ink we got place to sleep, mon chien, lak de place we got here to-night
Onder de roof of de leetle cabane, w'ere fire she's blazin' high
An' bed I mak' of de spruce tree branch, is lie on de floor close by,
O! I lak de smell of dat nice fresh bed, an' I dream of de summer tam
An' de spot w'ere de beeg trout jomp so moche down by de lumber dam.
But lissen dat win', how she scream outside, mak me t'ink of de loup garou,
W'y to-night, mon chien, I be feelin' glad if even de carcajou
Don't ketch hese'f on de trap I set to-day on de Lac Souris
Let heem wait tili to-morrow, an' den if he lak, I geev heem good chance, sapree!
I see beeg cloud w'en I'm out to-day, off on de nor'-eas' sky,
An' she block de road, so de cloud behin', don't get a chance passin' by,
An' I t'ink of boom on de grande riviere, w'en log 's fillin' up de bay,
Wall! sam' as de boom on de spring-tam flood, dat cloud she was sweep away.
Dem log 's very nice an' quiet, so long as de boom 's all right,
But soon as de boom geev way, l'enfant! it's den is begin de fight.
Dey run de rapide, an' jomp de rock', dey leap on de air an' dive,
Can hear dem roar from de reever shore, jus' lak dey was all alive.
An' dat was de way wit' de cloud to-day, de res' of dem push aside,
For dey 're comin' fas' from de cole nor'-eas' an' away t'roo de sky dey ride
Shakin' de snow as along dey go, lak grain from de farmer's han'
Till to-morrow you can't see not'ing at all, but smoke of de leetle cabane.
I'm glad we don't got no chimley, only hole on de roof up dere,
An'spark fly off on w'ole of de worl', so dere 's no use gettin' scare,
Mus' get more log! an' it's lucky too, de wood pile is stannin' near
So blow away storm, for harder you go, de warmer she's comin' here,
I wonder how dey get on, mon chien, off on de great beeg town,
W'ere house is so high, near touch de sky, mus' be danger of fallin' down.
An' worser too on de night lak dis, ketchin' dat terrible win',
O! leetle small place lak de ole cabane was de right place for stayin' in.
I s'pose dey got plaintee bodder too, dem feller dat's be riche man,
For dey 're never knowin' w'en t'ief may come an' steal all de t'ing he can
An' de monee was kip dem busy too, watchin' it night an' day,
Dunno but we're better off here, mon chien, wit' beeg city far away.
For I look on de corner over dere, an' see it ma birch canoe,
I look on de wall w'ere ma rifle hang along wit' de good snowshoe,
An' ev'ry t'ing else on de worl' I got, safe on dis place near me.
An' here you are too, ma brave ole dog, wit' your nose up agen ma knee.
An' here we be stay t'roo de summer day, w'en ev'ry t'ing 's warm an' bright
On winter too w'en de stormy win' blow lak she blow to-night
Let dem stay on de city, on great beeg house, dem feller dat 's be riche man
For we're happy an' satisfy here, mon chien, on our own leetle small cabane.