Angelique's Farewell 2007 by Marion Parsons Farewell Montreal, I make my amends Before my accusers, my foes and my friends And beg for the pardon of God and the Crown For striking the fire that swallowed the town. Farewell my Ti-Claude, mon seul bien-aime But I cannot follow and you could not stay So if you should come to the land of the free The blackened Atlantic will tell you of me. Farewell mes enfants, I leave you alone With wet clay to suckle and blankets of stone My love gave me one and le Sieur gave me two But none doomed to linger a cold winter through. Farewell ma Maitresse, you devil of whores Who fed by the labour that never was yours So when you grow feeble, to heaven you plead May God show you mercy as you showed to me. Farewell mon esprit, perhaps you shall fly As smoke from my pyre escapes to the sky Perhaps you shall vanish like ash in the wind No cross left to mark me, no bones and no kin. Notes: Marie-Joseph Angelique was a slave who was hanged in 1734 for setting her mistress' house on fire; the fire spread and destroyed most of old Montreal. It was apparently part of an attempt to escape with her lover Claude Thibault, who did get away successfully. After being hanged, Angelique's body was burned and the ashes thrown to the wind. mon seul bien-aime: my only beloved (I don't know how to do the accent; it's pronounced ay-MAY. mes enfants: my children le Sieur: the Lord, i.e., her late owner Lord Francheville ma Maitresse: my mistress mon esprit: my spirit
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