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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=538411" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Madeleine Vercheres</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">I've told you many a tale, my child, of the<br>old heroic days<br>Of Indian wars and massacre, of villages ablaze<br>With savage torch, from Ville Marie to the<br>Mission of Trois Rivieres<br>But never have I told you yet, of Madeleine<br>Vercheres.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Summer had come with its blossoms, and gaily<br>the robin sang<br>And deep in the forest arches the axe of the <br>woodman rang<br>Again in the waving meadows, the sun-browned<br>farmers met<br>And out on the green St. Lawrence, the fisher-<br>man spread his net.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And so through the pleasant season, till the <br>days of October came<br>When children wrought their parents, and<br>even the old and lame<br>With tottering frames and footsteps, their<br>feeble labors lent<br>At the gathering of the harvest le bon Dieu<br>himself had sent.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For news there was none of battle, from the <br>forts on the Richelieu<br>To the gates of the ancient city, where the<br>flag of King Louis flew<br>All peaceful the skies hung over the seignerie<br>of Vercheres,<br>Like the calm that so often cometh, ere the<br>hurricanes rends the air.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And never a thought of danger had the <br>Seigneur sailing away,<br>To join the soldiers of Carignan, where down<br>at Quebec they lay,<br>But smiled on his little daughter, the maiden<br>Madeleine,<br>And a necklet of jewels promised her, when<br>home he should come again.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And ever the days passed swiftly, and careless<br>the workmen grew<br>For the months they seemed a hundred, since<br>the last war-bugle blew.<br>Ah! little they dreamt on their pillows, the<br>farmers of Vercheres,<br>That the wolves of the southern forest had<br>scented the harvest fair.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Like ravens they quickly gather, like tigers<br>they watch their prey<br>Poor people! with hearts so happy, they sang<br>as they toiled away.<br>Till the murderous eyeballs glistened, and the<br>tomahawk leaped out<br>And the banks on the green St. Lawrence<br>echoed the savage shout.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Oh mother of Christ have pity,' shrieked<br>the women in despair<br>'This is no time for praying,' cried the young<br>Madeleine Vercheres,<br>'Aux armes! aux armes! les Iroquois! quick<br>to your arms and guns<br>Fight for your God and country and the lives<br>of the inocent ones.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And she sped like a deer of the mountain, when<br>beagles press close behind<br>And the feet that would follow after, must be<br>swift as the prairie wind.<br>Alas! for the men and women, and litle ones<br>that day<br>For the road it was long and weary, and the<br>fort it was far away.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">But the fawn had outstripped the hunters, and<br>the palisades drew near,<br>And soon from the inner gateway the war-<br>bugle rang out clear;<br>Gallant and clear it sounded, with never a note<br>of despair<br>'T was a soldier of France's challenge, from<br>the young Madeleine Vercheres.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'And this is my little garrison, my brothers<br>Louis and Paul?<br>With soldiers two- and a cripple? may the<br>Virgin pray for us all.<br>But we've powder and guns in plenty, and<br>we 'll fight to the latest breath<br>And if need be for God and country, die a<br>brave soldier's death.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Load all the carabines quickly, and whenever<br>you sight the foe<br>Fire from the upper turret, and the loopholes<br>down below.<br>Keep up the fire, brave soldiers, though the<br>fight may be fierce and long<br>And they 'll think out little garrison is more<br>than a hundred strong.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">So spake the maiden Madeleine, and she roused<br>the Norman blood<br>That seemed for a moment sleeping, and sent<br>it like a flood<br>Though every heart around her, and they<br>fought the red Iroquois<br>As fought in the old time battles, the soldiers<br>of Carignan.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And they say the black clouds gathered, and a<br>tempest swept the sky<br>And the roar of the thunder mingled with the<br>forest tiger's cry<br>But still the garrison fought on, while the<br>lightning's jagged spear<br>Tore a hole in the night's dark curtain, and<br>showed them a foeman near.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And the sun rose up in the morning, and the<br>color of blood was he<br>Gazing down from the heavens on the little<br>company.<br>'Behold! my friend!' cried the maiden, ' 't is<br>a warning lest we forget<br>Though the night saw us do our duty, our<br>work is not finished yet.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And six days followed each other, and feeble<br>her limbs became<br>Yet the maid never sought her pillow, and the<br>flash of the carabines' flames<br>Illuminated the powder-smoked face, aye, even<br>when hope seemed gone<br>And she only smiled on her comrades, and told<br>them to fight, fight on.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And she blew a blast on the bugle, and lo!<br>from the forest black<br>Merrily, merrily ringing, an answer came peal-<br>ing back<br>Oh! pleasant and sweet it sounded, borne on<br>the morning air,<br>For it heralded fifty soldiers, with gallant De<br>la Monniere.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And when he beheld the maiden, the soldier<br>of Carignan,<br>And looked on the little garrison that fought<br>the red Iroquois<br>And held their own in the battle, for six long<br>weary days,<br>He stood for a moment speechless, and mar-<br>velled at woman's ways.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then he beckoned the men behind him and<br>steadily they advance<br>And with carabines uplifted, the veterans of<br>France<br>Saluted the brave young captain so timidly<br>standing there<br>And they fired a volley in honor of Madeleine <br>Vercheres.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And this, my dear, is the story of the maiden<br>Madeleine<br>God grant that we in Canada may never see<br>again<br>Such cruel wars and massacres, in waking or in<br>dream<br>As our fathers and mothers saw, my child, in<br>the days of the old regime.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=William+Henry+Drummond">William Henry Drummond</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=538411" data-title="Madeleine Vercheres de William Henry Drummond" data-description="I've told you many a tale, my child, of the
old heroic days
Of Indian wars and massacre, of villages ablaze
With savage torch, from Ville Marie to the
Mission of Trois Rivieres
But never have I told you yet, of Madeleine
Vercheres.

Summer had com..."></div>
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