National Policy



Oor fader lef' ole France behin', dat's
many year ago,
An' how we get along since den, wall! ev'ry
body know,
Few t'ousan' firse class familee was only come
dat tam,
An' now we got pure Canayens; t'ee million
peop' bedamme!

Dat's purty smart beez-neese, I t'ink we done
on Canadaw,
An' we don't mak' no grande hooraw, but do
it tranquillement
So if we're braggin' now an' den, we mus' be
excuzay,
For no wan's never see before de record bus'
dat way.

An' w'y should we be feel ashame, 'cos we
have boy an' girl?
No matter who was come along, we'll match
agen de worl';
Wit plaintee boy lak w'at we got no danger
be afraid,
An' all de girl she look too nice for never come
ole maid.

If we have only small cor-nere de sam' we
have before
W'en ole Champlain an' Jacques Cartier firse
jomp upon de shore
Dere's no use hurry den at all, but now you
understan'
We got to whoop it up, ba gosh! for occupy
de lan'!

W'at's use de million acre, w'at's use de belle
riviere,
An' t'ing lak dat if we don't have somebody
leevin' dere?
W'at's mak' de worl' look out for us, an' kip
de nation free
Unless we're raison' all de tam some fine large
familee?

Don't seem long we buil' dat road, Chemin
de Pacifique,
Tak' honder dollar pass on dere, an' nearly two
t'ree week,
Den look dat place it freeze so hard, on w'at
you call Klon-dak,
Wall! if we have to fill dem up, we got some
large contrac'!

Of course we're not doin' bad jus' now; so
ev'rybody say,
But we dunno de half we got on Canadaw to-
day,
An' still she's comin' beeger, an' never mak'
no fuss,
So if we don't look out, firse t'ing, she'll get
ahead of us.

De more I t'ink, de more I'm scare, de way
she grow so fas',
An' worse of all it's hard to say how long de
boom'll las'
But if she don't go slower an' ease up leetle
bit,
Bimeby de Canayens will be some dead bird on
de pit.

Den ev'ry body hip hooraw! an' sen' de
familee
Along de reever, t'roo de wood, an' on de
grande prairie,
Dat's only way I'm t'inkin arrange de w'ole
affaire
An' mebbe affer wíle dere won't be too moche
lan' for spare.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:14 min read
58

Quick analysis:

Scheme abcbdxed efffgaah gijicfdf gcackexx xcfcxcxI ebkxfldb aafflafa hafaifxf fIfcxcjc
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,990
Words 405
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

William Henry Drummond

William Henry Drummond April 13 1854 April 6 1907 was an Irish-born Canadian poet He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom in 1898 and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1899 more…

All William Henry Drummond poems | William Henry Drummond Books

0 fans

Discuss the poem National Policy with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "National Policy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40722/national-policy>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    22
    hours
    36
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    An esteemed poet appointed by a government or conferring institution such as the Royal Household is called?
    A Pulitzer
    B Poet Laureate
    C British Writer
    D Official