Poem by Arthur Weir

L'Ordre de Bon Temps

When Champlain with his faithful band
  Came o'er the stormy wave
To dwell within this lonely land,
  Their hearts were blithe as brave;
And Winter, by their mirth beguiled,
  Forgot his sterner mood,
As by the prattling of a child
  A churl may be subdued.

Among the company there came
  A dozen youths of rank,
Who in their eager search for fame
  From no adventure shrank;
But, with the lightness of their race
  That hardship laughs to scorn,
Pursued the pleasures of the chase
  'Till night from early morn.

And soon their leader, full of mirth.
  And politic withal--
Well knowing that no spot on earth
  Could hold them long in thrall,
Unless into their company,
  Its duties and its sport,
Were introduced the pageantry
  And etiquette of court--

Enrolled them in a titled band,
  _L'Ordre de Bon Temps_ named,
First knighthood's grade for which this land
  Of Canada is famed.
Each one in turn Grand Master was--
  At close of day released--
His duty to maintain the laws,
  And furnish forth a feast.

Filled with a pardonable pride
  In nobles wont to dwell,
Each with his predecessor vied
  In bounty to excel,
And thus it was the festive board
  With beaver, otter, deer,
And fish and fowl was richly stored,
  Throughout the changing year.

At mid-day--for our sires of old
  Dined when the sun was high--
To where the cloth was spread, behold
  These merry youths draw nigh,
Each bearing on a massy tray
  Some dainty for the feast,
While the Grand Master leads the way,
  Festivity's high priest!

Then seated round the banquet board,
  Afar from friends and home,
They drank from goblets freely poured
  To happier days to come.
And once again, in story, shone
  The sun, that erst in France
Was wont, in days long past and gone,
  Amid the vines to dance.

Still later, when the sun had set,
  And round the fire they drew
To sing, or tell a tale ere yet
  Too old the evening grew,
He who had ruled them for the day
  His sceptre did resign,
And drink to his successor's sway
  A brimming cup of wine.

1. The Captured Flag
2. Père Brosse
3. Snowshoeing Song
4. Carlotta
5. The Wife

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