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Title: Yankee Families
Author: William Henry Drummond [
More Titles by Drummond]
You s'pose God love de Yankee
An' de Yankee woman too,
Lak he love de folk at home on Canadaw?
I dunno--'cos if he do,
W'at 's de reason he don't geev' dem familee
Is dere anybody hangin' roun' can answer me
Wile I wait an' smoke dis pipe of good tabac?
An' now I 'll tole you somet'ing
Mebbe help you bimeby,
An' dere 's no mistak' it 's w'at dey call sure sign--
W'en you miss de baby's cry
As you 're goin' mak' some visit on de State
Dat 's enough--you need n't ax if de train 's on tam or late,
You can bet you 're on de Yankee side de line.
Unless dere 's oder folk dere,
Mebbe wan or two or t'ree,
Canayen is comin' workin' on de State--
Den you see petite Marie
Leetle Joe an' Angelique, Hormisdas an' Dieudonne,
But you can't tole half de nam'--it don't matter any way--
'Sides de fader he don't t'ink it's not'ing great.
De moder, you can see her
An' she got de basket dere
Wit' de fine t'ing for de chil'ren nice an' slick--
For dey can't get fat on air--
Cucumber, milk, an' onion, some leetle cake also
De ole gran'moder 's makin' on de farm few days ago--
W'at 's use buy dollar dinner mak' dem sick?
But look de Yankee woman
Wit' de book upon her han',
Readin', readin', an' her husban', he can't get
Any chance at all, poor man,
For sit down, de way de seat's all pile up wit' magazine--
De t'ing lak dat on Canadaw is never, never seen.
Would n't she be better wit' some chil'ren? Wall! you bet!
No wonder dey was bringin'
For helpin' dem along
So many kin' of feller I dunno--
Chinee washee from Kong Kong
An' w'at dey call Da-go, was work for dollar a day,
But w'en dey mak' some money, off dey 're goin', right away--
Dat 's de reason dey was get de nam' Da-go.
Of course so long dey 're comin'
From ev'ry place dey can,
Not knowin' moche, dere 's not'ing fuss about
Only boss de stranger man--
But now dem gang of feller dat 's come across de sea--
He 's gettin' leetle smarter, an' he got de familee--
So Uncle Sam mus' purty soon look out.
I wonder he don't know it--
It 's funny he don't see
Dere 's somet'ing else dan money day an' night--
Non--he 'll work hese'f cra-zee,
Den travel roun' de worl', an' use de money too--
De King hese'f can't spen' lak de Yankee man is do--
But w'ere 's de leetle chil'ren? dat's not right!
W'at 's use of all de money
If dere ain't some boy an' girl
Mak' it pleasan' for de Yankee an' hees wife
W'en dey travel on de worl'?
For me an' Eugenie dere 's not'ing we lak bes'
Dan gader up de chil'ren an' get dem nicely dress--
W'y it 's more dan half de pleasure of our life.
I love de Yankee woman
An' de Yankee man also,
An' mebbe dey 'll be wiser bimeby--
But I lak dem all to know
If dey want to kip deir own, let dem raise de familee--
An' den dey 'll boss de contree from de mountain to de sea,
For dey 're smart enough to do it if dey try.
[The end]
William Henry Drummond's poem: Yankee Families
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