Testament: "Brother... Who Is That Fellow." Louis Riel, Untitled Poem 1st Pub. L'Opinion Publique (19 Feb. 1870)
Uploaded by
Guigno SchmuerzTestament: "Brother... Who Is That Fellow." Louis Riel, Untitled Poem 1st Pub. L'Opinion Publique (19 Feb. 1870)
Uploaded by
Guigno Schmuerz"Brother... who is that fellow.
"
Louis Riel, Untitled Poem
1st pub. L'Opinion Publique (19 Feb. 1870)
also P. de M., L'Oeuvre Vridque de Louis Riel, Montral 1934, p. 52-3
An interpretation of a Taras Shevchenko poem by Darcy John Bouchard, li Exule
Testament
When I am dead, O my grave dug
on this land of grass and berries,
remember; lay my bones low in silent tomb
bury me underneath a mound, and let me slumber
out where my beloved Prairie stretches free,
unbounded.
And raise an ancient stone by li rivire kisiskciwan
mid the rolling plains
with precious-sweet SOUTH BRANCH earth around my own cherished homeland:
Beloved;
so that I might gaze on fields, parkland without
bounds - there
midst hilly-meadows grassy sward,
whence one may see wide-skirted wheat-lands
spreading before them
- splendid scapes Id love once more to see
that the mighty girth of acres - fair land and wide - I
will lie
and watch li rivire kisiskciwans plunging banks...
that my eyes may gaze on, and my ears may
hearken to
how quiet the swift water flows;
listen through the years
to the whispering waters silent roar echoing in my
ears,
as it carries rolling to the shallows of Lake
Winnipegs murky waters;
so far from Batoch et li Coule-des-Tourond;
I hear the swift-water call, as blood, a racing flood
that flows
far from li rivire Petit Castor,
and it bears in fierce endeavour the hated-blood of
foes no longer there.
Then, at last, shall I forsake where my ashes are
but washed away;
I will leave them all, and depart these hills and fertile
fields for ever;
I will leave the life I have led; when the plains are
swept by blood!
Leave all behind and fly away. - Soar up unto the
Throne of God
there before kis-manitow in eternal heaven on high,
Ill plead my Communion Prayer.
But till that Day of Liberty happens, that hour, that
moment
I shall know naught of the Divine Care of God - What
is reverence of God to me now?
O grant me a burial! - Then, standing boldly together
around my grave
sunder your heavy chains and shatter every link,
make ye haste, your fetters to tear in twain lest no
one of you be slave.
Rise ye up to be done with me and set you free,
drenched with the unholy tyrants foul blood - for rain
- as the Baptismal Water of your New Liberty:
Bless your fair freedom, which you have gained, with
the sprinkled Blood of Kinship
that my name and what is remembered of me thrives
in your great kindred:
Thence shalt spring up a family new and free. Cherish it, lest it perish.
Quietly remember, also. - Dont forget! Sometime
in your glorious State of Being, do not fail to make a
mention of our STOLEN LIFE
and gently speak, fair and true of me, with soft, kind
words of good intent.
Victoria (BC) 201?
Prire ds li Premier Lndz du li mois la mmoire de St-Louis David Riel des Mtis
O Louis,
QUI Son pour l'amour de Dieu
et quelque chose faire un Exempoator de lObissance,
meilleurs vux ou surmonter les chafaud sur ce matin
il y apport DIEU vanter les mrites de patientia dans vita
Dornavant ce vous autres prs de DIEU, tre nos okimahkn
Chief
et je charri la Dieu de Ciel et terre trs peu souffrances quelle nous endurons
avec lii dsire ladepte sur la voie
qui As Tu Eu donc rebondi aux formes gnreuses
Nous avons demand par ses nos Erus Iehu
cest DIEU rendons vis atteindre
la Laboris Triomphant quelle avait-Il est a Dbut
pour la bien-tre des li Natio Macutetis.
Amen Amen Amen
St.-Louis David, pray for us.
St.-Louis David, pray for us.
St.-Louis David, pray for us.
300 days indulgence
Alors, allez au ciel!"
