Monsieur Joliat

Monsieur Joliat

Original Text
Wilson MacDonald, Quintrains of "Callender" and other Poems (Toronto: S. J. Reginald-Saunders, 1935): 41-46.
1Boston she have good hockey team;
2    Dose Senators ess nice.
3But Les Canadiens ees bes’
4    Dat ever skate de ice.
5Morenz he go lak’ one beeg storm;
6    Syl Mantha’s strong and fat.
7Dere all ver” good, but none ees quite
8    So good as Joliat.
9I know heem well; he ees ma frien’:
10    I doan know heem himsel’;
11But I know man dat know a man
12    Who know heem very well.
13Enfant! Dat Joliat ees full
14    Of hevery kind of treek.
15He talk heem hockey all de day
16    And sleep heem wit’ hees stick.
17He’s small but he ees bothersome
18    Lak’ ceender in de eye.
19Maroons all yell: “Go get som’ ‘Flit’
20    And keel dat leetle fly.”
21Garcon! he's slippery; oui, oui--
22    Lak’ leetle piece of soap.
23I tink nex’ time I watch dat boy
24    I use a telescope.
25He’s good on poke-heem-check, he is:
26    He’s better on attack.
27He run against beeg Conacher
28    And trow heem on hees back.
29He weegle jus’ lak’ fish-worm do
30    Wen eet ees on a hook;
31An’ wen he pass de beeg defence
32    Dey have one seely look.
33He weigh one hondred feefty pound.
34    Eef he were seex feet tall
35He'd score one hondred goal so queek
36    Dere’d be no game at all.
37Wen I am tire of travais-trot
38    I put on coat of coon
39And go to see Canadiens
40    Mak’ meence-meat of Maroon.
41When Joliat skate out I yell
42    Unteel I have a pain.
43I trow my hat up in de air
44    And shout, “Hurrah,” again.
45“Shut up, Pea Soup,” an Englishman
46    Sarcastic say to me;
47So I turn round to heem and yell:
48    “Shut up you Cup of Tea.”
49Dat was a ver’ exciting game:
50    De score eet was a tie;
51An’ den dat leetle Joliat
52    Get hanger een hees eyes.
53He tak’ de puck at odder goal
54    An’ skat heem down so fas’
55De rest of players seem asleep
56    As he was going pas’.
57He was so queek he mak’ dem look
58    Jus’ lak’ a lot of clown.
59An’ wen he shoot de wind from her
60    Eet knock de hompire down.
61Dat was de winning goal, hurrah;
62    De game she come to end.
63I yell: “Bravo for Joliat;
64    You hear: he ees ma friend.”
65De Henglishman he say: “Pardon,”
66    An’ he tak’ off hees hat:
67De Breetish Hempire steel ees safe
68    Wen men can shoot lak’ dat.”
69An’ den he say, “Bravo,” as hard
70    As Henglishman can whoop:
71“I tink to-night I’ll change from tea
72    To bally ole pea-soup.”

Notes

1] Aurèle Joliat (1901-86), star hockey player for the Montreal Canadians, 1922-38, and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, was a medium-height lightweight who had speed and held his own against much bigger players.
The Boston Bruins, 1924-. Back to Line
2] The Ottawa Senators, 1908-54, won four Stanley Cups and placed first in the regular season seven times in the 1920s.
Dose: those.
ess: is. Back to Line
5] Howie Morenz (1902-37), star hockey player for the Montreal Canadians, 1923-34, whom a national Canadian press poll in 1950 voted the outstanding hockey player of the previous fifty years. Back to Line
6] Sylvio Mantha (1902-74), star hockey player for the Montreal Canadians, 1923-36, and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, was among the best two-way defensemen of his time. Back to Line
7] Dere: they're. Back to Line
9] heem: him. Back to Line
13] Enfant!: mild oath in French ("child"). Back to Line
14] hevery: every.
treek: trick. Back to Line
19] Montreal Maroons (1924-38), the second National Hockey League team in that city.
'Flit': tin of insecticide attached to a pump to spray out the liquid fly killer. Back to Line
21] Garcon!: mild oath in French ("boy").
oui: "yes" in French. Back to Line
25] poke-heem-check: poking one's hockey stick at one's opponent puck-carrier to get possession of the puck, and then crashing into him bodily. Back to Line
27] Lionel Conacher (1900-54), a Toronto hockey, football, and baseball player, and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, nicknamed "the Big Train." He played for National Hockey league teams from 1925 to 1937, including the Montreal Maroons (1930-33, 1934-37). Back to Line
32] seely: silly. Back to Line
37] travais-trot: riding a horse (?"travis" in English means a horse's stall in a stable). Back to Line
38] coon: racoon. Back to Line
45] Pea Soup: demeaning name for a French Canadian. Back to Line
48] Cup of Tea: demeaning name for an Anglophone. (Montreal has a strong English-speaking population.) Back to Line
52] hanger: anger. Back to Line
59] shoot the wind: shoot (the puck) really fast. Back to Line
60] hompire: umpire. Back to Line
67] steel: still. Back to Line
72] bally: mild oath, like "blasted," "confounded," ... Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire / Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
abcb
Form
quatrains