---

William Henry Drummond - The Cure Of Calumette
Work rating: Medium

Dere`s no voyageur on de reever never
   run hees canoe d`ecorce
T`roo de roar an` de rush of de rapide, w`ere it
   jump lak a beeg w`ite horse,
Dere`s no hunter man on de prairie, never
   wear w`at you call racquette
Can beat leetle Fader O`Hara, de Curé of
   Calumette.

Hees fader is full-blooded Irish, an` hees moder
   is pure Canayenne,
Not offen dat stock go tegedder, but she`s
   fine combination ma frien`
For de Irish he`s full of de devil, an` de French
   dey got savoir faire,
Dat`s mak`it de very good balance an` tak`
   you mos` ev`ry  w` ere.

But dere` wan t`ing de Curé wont stan` it;
   mak` fun of de Irlandais
An` of course de French we say not`ing,
   `cos de parish she`s all Canayen,
Den you see on account of de moder, he can`t
   spik hese`f very moche,
So de ole joke she`s  all out of fashion, an` wan
   of dem t`ing we don`t  touch.

Wall! wan of dat kin` is de Curé, but w`en he
   be comin` our place
De peop` on de parish all w`isper,  "How
   young he was look on hees face;
Too bad if de wedder she keel heem de firse
   tam he got leetle wet,
An` de Bishop might sen` beeger Curé, for it`s
   purty tough place, Calumette!"

Ha! ha! how I wish I was dere, me, w`en he 
   go on de mission call
On de shaintee camp way up de reever, drivin`
   hees own cariole,
An` he meet blagger` feller been drinkin`, jus`
   enough mak` heem ack lak fou,
Joe Vadeboncoeur, dey was call heem, an` he`s
   purty beeg feller too!

Mebbe Joe he don`t know  it`s de Curé, so he`s
   hollerin`, "Get out de way,
If you  don`t geev me whole of de roadside,
   sapree! you go off on de sleigh."
But de Curé he never say not`ing, jus` poule
   on de line leetle bit,
An` w`en Joe try for kip heem hees promise,
   hees nose it get badly hit.

Maudit! he was strong leetle Curé, an` he go
   for Jo-zeph en masse
An` w`en he is mak` it de finish, poor Joe
   is n`t  feel it firse class, 
So nex` tam de Curé he`s goin` for visit de
   shaintee encore
Of course he was mak` beeges` mission never
   see on dat place before.

An` he know more, I`m sure dan de lawyer,
   an` dere`s  many poor habitant
Is glad for see Fader O`Hara, an` ax w`at he
   t`ink of de law

W`en dey get leetle troub` wit` each oder, an` 
   don`t know de bes` t`ing to do,
Dat`s  makin` dem save plaintee monee, an` 
   kip de good neighbor too.

But w`en we fin` out how he paddle till canoe
   she was nearly fly
An` travel racquette on de winter, w`en snow-
   dreef is pillin` up high
For visit some poor man or woman dat`s waitin`
   de message of peace,
An` get dem  prepare for de journey, we`re
   proud on de leetle pries`!

O! many dark night w`en de chil`ren is put
   away safe on de bed
An` mese`f an` ma femme mebbe sittin` an` 
   watchin` de small curly head
We hear somet`ing else dan de roar of de ton-
   der, de win` an` de rain;
So we`re bote passin` out on de doorway, an` 
   lissen an` lissen again.

An` it`s lonesome for see de beeg cloud sweep-
   in` across de sky
An` lonesome for hear de win` cryin` lak some-
   body`s goin`to die,
But de soun` away down de valley, creepin`
   around de hill
All de tam gettin` closer. closer, dat`s de soun`
   mak` de heart stan`still!

It`s de bell of de leetle Curé, de music of deat`
  we hear,
Along on de black road ringin`, an` soon it was
   comin` near
Wan minute de face of de Curé we see by de
   lantern light,
An` he`s gone from us, jus` lak a shadder, into
   de stormy night.

An` de buggy rush down de hill an` over
   de bridge below,
W`ere creek run so high on de spring-tam,
   w`en mountain t`row off de snow,
An` so long as we hear heem goin`, we kneel
   on de floor an` pray
Dat God will look affer de Curé, an` de poor
   soul dat `s passin` away.

I dunno if he need our prayer, but we geev` it
   heem jus` de sam`,
For w`en a man`s  doin` hees duty lak de Curé
   do all de tam
Never min` all de t`ing may happen, no matter
   he`s  riche or poor
Le bon Dieu was up on de heaven, will look
   out for dat man, I`m sure.

I`m only poor habitant farmer, an` mebbe
   know not`ing at all,
But dere`s  wan t`ing I`m always wishin`, an` 
   dat`s  w`en  I get de call
For travel de far-away journey, ev`ry wan on
   de worl` mus` go
He `ll be wit` me de leetle Curé `fore I`m
  leffin` dis place below.

For I know I`ll be feel more easy, if he`s
  sittin` dere by de bed
An` he`ll geev` me de good-bye message, an` 
   place hees han` on ma head,
Den I`ll hol` if he `ll only let me,  dat han` till
   de las` las` breat`
An` bless leetle Fader O`Hara, de Curé of 
   Calumette.
Source
The script ran 0.002 seconds.