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Pine,
Rose and Fleur de Lis
by
Susie Frances Harrison
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AT
ST HILAIRE
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Combien
des enfans? Why, twenty-five!
Now, by all the Gods and every Saint,
I wonder the woman is left alive
To tell the tale! How many survive?
She answers me, calm and without constraint,
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5 |
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Mossieu? Why, twenty-five.”
Not one ever lost? Not one; they thrive,
Do little ones in this parish quaint.
I wonder the woman is left alive,
Who has less than twelve. The bigger the hive,
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10 |
The
greater the honour, no sign of complaint—
Combien des enfans? Why, twenty-five.
The men don’t care and the priests contrive
At mass the duty of parents to paint,
But I wonder the women are left alive.
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15 |
Her come Antoine, Josephte, Max, who drive
The rest—fifteen. At the sight you faint.
Combien des enfans? Why, twenty-five!
I wonder the woman is left alive.
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