{"id":1774,"date":"2015-05-03T09:39:17","date_gmt":"2015-05-03T16:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alteritas.net\/pastis\/?page_id=1774"},"modified":"2025-11-08T08:40:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T16:40:34","slug":"cadieuxs-lament","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alteritas.net\/pastis\/translations\/cadieuxs-lament\/","title":{"rendered":"Cadieux’s Lament"},"content":{"rendered":"

By this boulder near Calumet Falls<\/span>
\nI languish alone as Death calls.<\/span>
\nDear Echos, but you hear my sigh<\/span>
\non this last portage I ply.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frail birds, your sweet melodies<\/span>
\nare music at my obsequies.<\/span>
\nHad I wings like yours I would fly,<\/span>
\nnot in my grave putrefy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alone through the woods I\u2019d hurried.<\/span>
\nFor the fate of my friends I\u2019d worried.<\/span>
\nHad they drowned in the chute?<\/span>
\n Did the Iroquois catch them on route?<\/span><\/p>\n

One day coming back from a jaunt,\u00a0<\/span>
\nI saw smoke coming up from my haunt.<\/span>
\n My first thought: something\u2019s amock.<\/span>
\nOnce again the Iroquois\u2019ve struck.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an instant I hit the dirt<\/span>
\nand crept through the bushes alert.<\/span>
\nBut the faces I spied at my hearth<\/span>
\nwere French. Joy flooded my heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

[….]<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I expire alone. My knees quake,<\/span>
\nmy voice falters. My friends break\u00a0<\/span>
\ncamp, while that great Voyageur,<\/span>
\nDeath, stays on for my massacre.<\/span><\/p>\n

A wolf sneaks up to my home.<\/span>
\nThe jerky he scents is my own.<\/span>
\nScat from here, beast, away by God,<\/span>
\nelse your hide feel the blast of a wad.<\/span><\/p>\n

A raven comes to perch on my eaves.<\/span>
\nHe preys on whatever grieves.<\/span>
\nCarnivore, I cry, though I lie supine,<\/span>
\nthere is much better meat than mine.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the swampy woods he made his redoubt<\/span>
\nthere lies at least one Iroquois scout<\/span>
\nwith much more succulent flesh and bone.<\/span>
\nMy stinking cadaver, pray\u00a0leave it alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nightingale, fly to my loyal mate.<\/span>
\nLet her break to the children my fate.<\/span>
\nThey have my love. I\u2019ve kept my faith.<\/span>
\nForget poor Jean, this wraith.<\/span><\/p>\n

So now as I give up the ghost<\/span>
\nI count on the Saviour uttermost.<\/span>
\nO Holy Virgin, I implore your charms.<\/span>
\nAllow that I die in Your arms.<\/span><\/p>\n

After La complaint de Cadieux<\/i> (anon.)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Petit Rocher de la Haute Montagne,
\n<\/i>Je viens finir ici cette campagne!
\nAh! doux \u00e9chos, entendez mes soupirs,
\n<\/i>En languissant je vais bient\u00f4t mourir.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Peits oiseaux, vos douces harmonies
\n<\/i>Quand vous chantez, me rattach\u2019 \u00e0 la vie :
\n<\/i>Ah! si j\u2019avais des ailes comme vous,
\n<\/i>Je s\u2019rais heureux avant qu\u2019il ne fut deux jours!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Seul en ces bois, que j\u2019ai eu de soucis,
\n<\/i>Pensant toujours \u00e0 mes si chers amis.
\n<\/i>Je demandais : H\u00e9las! sont-ils noy\u00e9s ?
\n<\/i>Les Iroquois les auraient-ils tu\u00e9s ?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Un de ces jours que, m\u2019\u00e9tat \u00e9loign\u00e9,
\n<\/i>En revenant je vis une fum\u00e9e.
\n<\/i>Je me suis dit : Ah! Grand Dieu qu\u2019est ceci ?
\n<\/i>Les Iroquois m\u2019ont-il pris mon logis ?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Je me suis mis un peu \u00e0 l\u2019ambassade,
\n<\/i>Afin de voir si c\u2019\u00e9tait embuscade.
\n<\/i>Alors je vis trois visages fran\u00e7ais,
\n<\/i>M\u2019ont mis le coeur d\u2019une trop grande joie !<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

[….]<\/p>\n


\nMes genoux plient, ma faible voix s\u2019arr\u00eate.
\n<\/i>Je tombe … H\u00e9las, \u00e0 partir qu\u2019il s\u2019appr\u00eatent :
\n<\/i>Je reste seul … Pas un qui me console,
\n<\/i>Quand la mort vient par un si grand d\u00e9sole !<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Un loup hurlant vient pr\u00e8s de ma cabane
\n<\/i>Voir si mon feu n\u2019avait plus de boucane.
\n<\/i>Je lui ai dit : Retire-toi d\u2019ici,
\n<\/i>Car, par ma foi, je perc\u2019rai ton habit !<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Un noir corbeau, volant \u00e0 l\u2019aventure,
\n<\/i>Vient de percher tout pr\u00e8s de ma toiture.
\n<\/i>Je lui ai dit : Mangeur de chair humaine,
\n<\/i>Va-t\u2019en chercher autre viande que mienne.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Va-t\u2019en l\u00e0 bas, dans ces bois et marais,
\n<\/i>Tu trouveras plusieurs corps iroquois.
\n<\/i>Tu trouveras des chair, aussi des os.
\n<\/i>Va-t\u2019en plus loin, laisse-moi en repos !<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Rossignolet, va dire \u00e0 ma ma\u00eetresse,
\n<\/i>\u00c0 mes enfants qu\u2019un adieu je leur laisse,
\n<\/i>Que j\u2019ai garde mon amour et ma foi,
\n<\/i>Et d\u00e9sormais faut renoncer \u00e0 moi !<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

C\u2019et donc ici que le mond\u2019 m\u2019abandonne
\n<\/i>Mais j\u2019ai secours en vous Sauveur des hommes !
\n<\/i>Tr\u00e8s Sainte Vierge, ah! m\u2019abandonnez pas.
\n<\/i>Permettez-moi d\u2019mourir entre vos bras !<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By this boulder near Calumet Falls I languish alone as Death calls. Dear Echos, but you hear my sigh on this last portage I ply. Frail birds, your sweet melodies are music at my obsequies. Had I wings like yours I would fly, not in my grave putrefy.\u00a0 Alone through the woods I\u2019d hurried. For … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Cadieux’s Lament”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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