Tu Es Mon Compagnon de Voyage!

© August '09    photo by ctmck

I think it much better that, as we all go along together, that every man paddle his own canoe

Character of 'The Indian' in The Settlers in Canada by Captain Marryat (1844)

Tu es mon compagnon de voyage!
Je veux mourir dans mon canot
Sur le tombeau, près du rivage,
Vous renverserez mon canot

When I must leave the great river
O bury me close to its wave
And let my canoe and my paddle
Be the only mark over my grave

From 'Mon Canoe d'écorce' ('My Bark Canoe')

 translated by Frank Oliver Call

August is laughing across the sky
Laughing while paddle, canoe and I,
Drift, drift,
Where the hills uplift
On either side of the current swift.

Be strong, O paddle!
Be brave, canoe!
The reckless waves
you must plunge into.
Reel, reel.
On your trembling keel,
But never a fear my craft will feel.

Song: My Paddle Sings, 
E. Pauline Johnson