Alexander MacGregor Rose (1846-1898)
Sir Wilfrid Laurier -- Diplomatist
(1)
1I live on Canada en Bas --
2 De fines' lan' you see --
3An' Oncle Sam, a fr'en of mine,
4 He live nex' door to me.
(2)
5Now, long tam' Sam an' me mak' trade,
6 W'enever that we meet,
7An' Sam, he drive de bargain hard,
8 Sometime bigarre! he sheat.
(3)
9I not say mooch about it, me,
10 I never t'ink no harm
11Before I fin' mon Oncle Sam
12 He wan' my little farm.
(4)
13An' w'en I not to heem will give
14 De lan' my fader hown,
15Den Sam get mad an' say to me,
16 "I'll play my hand alone.
(5)
17You kip away; I not will trade,
18 Don' come my place about!"
19Ah! den I see hees leetle game
20 Was w'at you call "freeze-hout."
(6)
21Mais, I can stan' de fros', for hice
22 To me is not'ing new;
23Sir John mak' freeze agains' de Yanks --
24 See if dey lak' it, too.
(7)
25But w'en Sir John t'row up his han'
26 An' die, 'twas change indeed;
27No par'ner lef' could follow up
28 De fin' ole chieftain's lead.
(8)
29An' de Canadian peup' was tire,
30 For dey was not mooch please
31For pay big price for jus' to nurse
32 Les enfants industries.
(9)
33Dey say, "We wan' to buy our t'ing
34 On some mooch sheaper shop,
35Dose enfants industries are sure
36 Long tam' for growing hup."
(10)
37For eighteen year dey pull l'argent
38 From bottom of de purse,
39We t'ink it ees long tam' enough
40 For dem to be on nurse.
. . . . . .
(11)
41Den Tories try for bargain mak'
42 To trade wit' Sam again,
43But was shok off as soon dey spik'
44 By Monsieur Jacques G. Blaine.
(12)
45He say, "My fren's, before we will
46 Wit you reciprocate,
47You mus' agains' ole England mak'
48 One sharp discriminate."
(13)
49Dat took dem Tory breat' away,
50 Dey drop de bees'ness den,
51No more dey go on Washington
52 Nor write dere wit' de pen.
(14)
53By'mbye last year, our Canada
54 T'en she know w'at she wants,
55An' wit' her toe, de mont' of June,
56 She kick de Tory pants.
(15)
57She sen' for Laurier, an' at once
58 Immediatement he comes,
59She say, "Instead of one boule-dogue
60 I'll have one gentilhomme."
(16)
61Sir Wilfrid, soon he tak' de chair,
62 An' dis he plainly state:
63"For Anglan' -- not agains' her -- I
64 Will mak' discriminate.
(17)
65"If Oncle Sam, from out his lan'
66 Will keep Canadian men,
67We'll do de sam' to Yankee, too --
68 An' w'at will he do den?
(18)
69"We'll play de game all sam' lak' heem,
70 An' mak' wan alien law,
71An' more, bigarre! we'll hear him squeal
72 When he ees `hors de bois.'"
(19)
73Den Oncle Sam, he scratch hees head
74 An' say, "Dat's quit' enuff,
75I see Sir Wilfrid Laurier's vat
76 You might call `up on snuff!'"
(20)
77So w'en Sir Wilfrid go to talk
78 'Bout dem Pacific seal,
79Mon Oncle Sam tak' heem one side,
80 An' mak' some smoot' appeal.
(21)
81"I lak' Canadian, yes, for sure,
82 I wan' for be your fren'."
83"We lak' you, too," Sir Wilfrid say,
84 But only now an' den;
(22)
85"For we'en you kick Canadian hout,
86 An' tink to mak' a fuss
87Agains' de Mother Lan', we say --
88 `You cannot bully us.'"
(23)
89"Jes so," say Sam, "we mak hall right,
90 We tak' de whole dat pack,
91Wit' me an' you an' Anglan' too,
92 It mus' be give an' tak'."
(24)
93"Correc'," Sir Wilfrid rise an' say,
94 Den Sam an' he shak' hands,
95To live no more lak' chat et chien,
96 But lak' les bons voisins.
(25)
97Den Wilfrid, he come home again,
98 An' t'ings go well partout,
99De markets rise, de trade increase --
100 Prosperitie renew.
L'ENVOY.
(26)
101I t'ink for dis Canadian lan'
102 For mak' it t'rive an' grow,
103De bes' ees Wilfrid Laurier's smile,
104 De wors' de Tupper blow.
Notes
1] Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919), French-Canadian leader of the national Liberal party from 1887 until his death, and Prime Minister of Canada, 1896-1911.
Canada en Bas: lower Canada, that is, in this case, Quebec.
3] Oncle Sam: "Uncle Sam," the United States of America, a popular name for Canada's neighbour to the south, like the use of "John Bull" for England.
8] bigarre: mild oath, "by God."
21] Mais: but (French).
23] Sir John MacDonald, Conservative political leader (January 10, 1815-June 6, 1891), first Prime Minister of Canada (1867-73, 1878-91). In 1879 he introduced the "National Policy," which added tarifs to imported goods.
32] Les enfants industries: [Canadian] industries in their infancy.
41] Tories: the Conservatives, led by MacDonald and then by Sir Charles Tupper.
44] James G. Blaine, US Secretary of State.
56] Canada elects a Liberal national government under Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
59] boule-dogne: bulldog.
63] On April 23, 1897, the Liberals passed the British Preferential Tariff, which reduced duties on imports from the United Kingdom by 25 percent.
72] hors de bois: out of wood (French).
75] vat: what.
76] `up on snuff': in the know, sharp, up to scratch.
78] In the so-called "Bering Sea dispute," US government ships started seizing Canadian sealing boats in international waters in order to protect American sealers operating in the US-owned Probilof Islands. By 1893 an international court upheld Canadian rights to seal in the Pacific.
95] chat et chien: cat and dog (French). In fact, the US retained its high-tariff protectionist policies throught this period.
96] les bon voisins: good neighbours (French).
98] partout: everywhere (French).
104] De wors' de Tupper blow: the worse that Sir Charles Tupper (1821-1915) -- Conservative Prime Minister in 1896-97 and leader of the Opposition until 1901, well-known for his bullying -- fumes, huffs and puffs.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Poems of A. MacGregor Rose (Gordon), ed. Robert Dey (London: John Heywood, no date): 133-37. British Library
First publication date:
1897
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 2001
Recent editing: 2:2002/2/28
Composition date:
1897
Rhyme: abcb
Other poems by Alexander MacGregor Rose
