DE GUARDS OF LAFAYETTE
Ma Rosie say to me today,
"You mus' prepare, ol' man,
For to join de Allied army
In de ranks of Honcle Sam.
De worl' is full commotion
Since explosion of de Hun,
An' de dev's to pay for Belgium
An' "position in de sun".
I say, "all rat, ol' woman,
Let de summon come today,
An' you'll fin' ol' Joseph ready
For to arm an' march away!
I'm as good for carry knapsack
An' to shoulder up ma gun
As I was in Reil rebellion
On de far Saskatchewan."
De home of ma adoption
Is as good a place for me
As across de line in Canadaw,
Ma native counteree.
Ma work, ma home, ma frien's, are here—
In fac', de whol' dem set!
So w'at can I do but join wit you
In de Guards of Lafayette!
I don't care me for nobodda
But stan' up for w'at's right,
An' if Honcle Sam he geeve de word
An' say we got to fight:
Good-bye ma work on Amoskeag,
I leave it quick you bet,
An' join de boy wit' utmos' joy
On de Guards of Lafayette!
So don't mak' fuss abo't dis cuss,
An' don' be tak' it hard
If I, ol' Joe, go soon to show
Ma colors in de Guard.
You say I got some babby—
I mus' stay rat by dem? Nit!
I will march beneat' ol' Glory
In de Guards of Lafayette!
O ain't it mak' sensation
On de streets of Manchestar
W'en de order come from Honcle Sam
To march us off to war.
Nobodda'll know dat dis is Joe
From dear ol' Nicolet,
W'en off I march jus' stiff lak starch
In de Guards of Lafayette!
Dear Woodrow, would you be so good
As send us Teddy R.,
To be commander of de chief
An' leader of de Guar'?
Dis war, ma friend, is quick to end
If battle stage is set
For bol' Ted, on Armageddon
Leading Guards of Lafayette!
O sure it's be proud day for me
I nevair saw before,
W'en Johnny Bull an' Honcle Sam
Fight sides by side once more!
It's mak' one combination
Dat's tarnation sure to win
W'en Old Glory joins de Allies
On dat rough road to Berlin!
Mos' place I go dey ask me, "Joe,
Who start dis gol darn war?
Was it de Sultan-Kaiser,
Or de Austro Hungry Tsar?"
I hanswer, "well, it's hard to tell
Who start dis hell abroad,
But spite of Hun, de gas an' gun,
We'll finish it, ba God!"
Den Rosie, dear, dry up de tear,
An' cheer up lak ma joy—
You know de Hun is turn his gun
On leetle girl an' boy!
Now dat we mus' join in de fuss
And Honcle Sam say, "Get!"
Jus' wish us well an' shout lak hell
For de Guards of Lafayette!
THE LUMBERJACK
——————
We have songs on many topics,
New and old, beneath the sun,
But, alas, in many cases,
Minstrelsy is overdone;
So I'll sing a song of labor—
Where the muse is rather slack—
And my theme shall be of timber
And the hardy lumberjack.
Now republican traditions
Are so grafted in our bones,
That e'en monarchs of the forest
Must be tumbled from their thrones.
And to raze those ancient strongholds
We have armies of the axe,
Plucky pioneers of progress,
Known to all as lumberjacks.
He may lack the wings of angels
And the sanctity of saints:
If a town's in need of painting
He may furnish all the paints.
Yet he lapses but a moment
And again he hies him back
Close unto the heart of nature,
Does the lonesome lumberjack.
There amid his wild surroundings
And the crooning of the trees,
He finds balm for mind and body
Borne on every passing breeze.
There is something strangely healing
In the magic of the myrrh,
In the odor of the cedar
And the fragrance of the fir!
Grind your axes, O my heroes,
Point your peavies, file your saws;
Let your ropes and chains and cables
Be examined now for flaws.
Fire up the iron donkey,
Till each rivet feels the strain,
Lumberjack has had his outing
And returns to camp again!
There is music in the axe fall
As it sounds upon the ear;
There is music in the sawing
When the dust is flying clear—
Aye, there's music for the lumberjack
Magnificent of sound,
In the crashing of the timber
As it thunders to the ground.
He will never lack for music
While the owl is keeping time
With the ceaseless serenading
Of the frog within the slime.
But the music ever sounding,
With the sweetest of appeals,
Is the ding-dong of the iron gong
That calls him to his meals!
He's a credit to his calling,
To his country and his clan:
There is not a dude among them—
Every lumberjack's a man.
And you'll find him ever cheerful,
In the sunshine or the rain,
From the camps of B. Columbia
To the lumber camps of Maine.
He may show a rough exterior,
But his heart is warm within—
Mark him poring o'er that letter,
Just received from home and kin:
Tears will gather hot and blinding
And he cannot hold them back,
Reading words from distant loved ones
to their absent lumberjack!
'Tis, perchance, a loving message
From a sweetheart far away,
Or a tender admonition
From a mother old and gray.
O, ye lumberjacks, remember,
That wherever ye may roam,
There are anxious hearts awaiting
For an answer "back at home"!
When the sun in golden glory
Hath descended in the west,
They indulge in song and story
Till they seek their bunks for rest:
There to dream of scenes of childhood,
Amid mountain stream or glen,
Till old Sol in morning splendor
Calls them to their tasks again.
Soft and soothing are the voices
As the shades of evening fall,
Stealing gently through the forest—
Brooding calmly over all.
By yon lake a loon is calling
And the night bird answers back,
Keeping vigil o'er the slumbers
Of the weary lumberjack.
O, the lumberjack is loyal
And he'll surely see to it,
In the grind against the Kaiser
That each axe will "do its bit";
He will spruce up for the allies
Till ten thousand airplanes hum,
All to win the war for freedom
And democracy, by gum!
Chorus
Grind your axes, O my heroes,
Point your peavies, file your saws,
Let your ropes and chains and cables
Be examined now for flaws:
Fire up the iron donkey
Till each rivet feels the strain,
Lumberjack will help the Allies
Win the war with ship and plane!