Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LES GRAND ALLIES, by CHARLES E. WATERMAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LES GRAND ALLIES, by                    
First Line: You want to know how I came t' be
Last Line: But amerique for les grand allies.
Subject(s): France


You want to know how I came t' be
Zee wife o' top sergean' Comp'ny C?
Eet was een zee ville Petite Mailly
Where I leeve befo' zee great array
O' Allemands march 'cross zee Rhine
To fight zee French who lay behin',
An' our poo' ville between zee two
Was razed, laid flat, zee old, zee new.
An' ev'ry leeving theeng was heed
Beneath zee ru-eens! Some were deed,
An' some were maimed, an' some were held
As een a vice where they were felled
Beneath debris. Zee last was I.
I moaned, "Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu," I cri'
"Have pee-ty Lord! Send succor down!"
An' as I moan' I saw peering roun'
A poilu clad een olive green—
A sight as glad as wren-bird's sheen.
An' he saw me an' made a shout
When up ran crowds o' men so stout
Zey leefted off zee beams with ease
An' flung zee bricks agains' zee breeze;
An' my goal doo', unbarred, swung free.
Down came a han' to help, an' he
Of olive green made joyful soun',
Gest-ulated—flung arms aroun'.
I deed not know what he parle,
But trusted I hees eyes. Zey sai',—
"Come, come, French girl. I weel be near;
Come, come, for you have naught to fear."
So followed I behin' zee line
To watch an' work through lagging time—
To work so hard for poilu green
When rested he, an' when unseen
Amid zee smoke o' war to pray.
Oh, Holy Mother, how I pray
Zat he might pass through fiery hive
An' he come back to me alive!
So followed I behin' zee line,
Ready to act at any time,
At any theeng; an' so I flew
With hasty steps meed mud an' dew
To hospital feeled wi' wrecks o' storm
When shrapnel-shell tore up hees form,
To watch o'er heem through long, hot days,
To watch o'er heem through long night's haze.
An' when he op'ed hees eyes from pain
He saw me there to urge to health again.
One day, he gaze at fleecy sky,
An' saw zee clouds go sailing by,
An' say,—"French girl, zee sea is wide,
But zee sun shines on z'-other side!
Could you leave all an' follow me,
An' be for aye my grand allie?
Could you leave kin an' la belle France,
An' cling to trail of Cupid's chance?"
Not all was clear, but I say, "Oui,
For aye an' aye I'll be grand allie!"
An' so one morn to snare drum's beat
We march 'tween row o' wren-hued feet—
Zee feet o' poilus, Comp'ny C—
Zey flung red roses fo' he an' me,
Fell in as guards to chaplain's tent.
Zee chaplain-capitaine on duty bent,
Een low deep words said, "Daughter, hear!
Eet's far to zee country of your dear!
Can you leave all to go with heem
An' ne'er regret zee old home scene?"
An' I tell heem zee story old,
Een my best 'Mericaine an' bold
Straight looking een the sergean's eye,
"Ah, where you go zere, too, go I;
Your kith and kin shall be my own,
An' never more I'll walk alone!"
Zee chaplain bowed an' said, "Aman!"
Zee boys o' C cheered something gran',
Zee ban' for me play zee Marseillaise,
But Amerique for Les Grand Allies.





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