Dat 's de way dem woman 's doin' for help along each oder,
For Pierre Labelle he 's comin' now an' den for Rosalie—
Of course dere 's many tam too, dey got to be godmoder—
An' w'en dey want godfader, w'y dere 's only Pierre an' me.
Twenty year so hard we 're workin', twenty year reapin', sowin',
Choppin' tree an' makin' portage, an' de chil'ren help us too—
But it 's never feelin' lonesome w'ile de familee is growin',
An' de cradle seldom empty, an' we got so moche to do.
Den w'en all de work is finish, w'at dey 're callin' de surveyor
He 's comin' here an' fin' us, an' of course so well he might—
For it 's easy job to foller, w'en de road is lyin' dere,
So blin' man he can walk it wit' hees eyes closed, darkes' night.
An' de nex' t'ing dere 's a township, an' de township bring de taxes,
An' it 's leetle hard on us too, dat 's way it seem to me—
An' de Gover'ment, I s'pose dey 'll never t'ink at all to ax us
For de small account dey 're owin' mese'f an' Rosalie.
So we 'll see de beeg procession very soon come up de reever—
Some will settle on de roadside, some will stay upon de shore—
But de ole place we be clearin', I don't t'ink we 'll never leave her,
Dough we 're all surroun' by stranger an' we 're
in de worl' wance more.
Natural Philosophy
Very offen I be t'inkin' of de queer folk goin' roun',
And way dey kip a-talkin' of de hard tam get along—
May have plaintee money too, an' de healt' be good an' soun'—
But you 'll fin' dere 's alway somet'ing goin' wrong—
'Course dere may be many reason w'y some feller ought to fret—
But me, I 'm alway singin' de only song I know—
'T is n't long enough for music, an' so short you can't forget,
But it drive away de lonesome, an' dis is how she go,
"Jus' tak' your chance, an' try your luck."