Claudel, Calvin

English

University of New Mexico

New Mexico Quarterly
Volume 14 | Issue 4 Article 21
1944
St. Malo on the Gallows
Calvin Claudel
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Recommended Citation
Claudel, Calvin. "St. Malo on the Gallows." New Mexico Quarterly 14, 4 (1944). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmq/vol14/iss4/
21
NEW MEXICO QUARTERLY REVIEW,
FRENCH NEGRO FOLK POEMS
ST. MALO ON THE GALLOWS
Ah! young folk, come to mourn
For poor St. Malo on the gallows.
They hunted him with their dogs
And shot him down with a gun.
They hauled him from the cypress swamp,
His arms tied behind him
And his hands bound in front. "
They tied him to a horse's tail
And dragged him right on off.
Before those gentlemen in the Cabildo
He was accused of making a plot
To cut the heads off all the whites.
They asked him who his comrades were,
And poor St. Malo said nothing at all.
The judge read out his sentence,
And ordered a gallows built.
They pulled the horse, the cart moved on
,And poor St. Malo was left hanging alone!
The sun was already an hour up
While he was hanging on the levee.
They left his body swinging there
To feed the buzzards from the air.
POEM
Get ribbon cane.
Yes sir, I say,
Try all you can
To buy a steam engine.
Madame went to the store
To take her case to a lawyer.
Mr. O. J. Momette is trying
To get a steam engine.
Translated by CAL V INC L A U DEL
1
Claudel: St. Malo on the Gallows
Published by UNM Digital Repository, 1944


St. Malo on the Gallows

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St. Malo on the Gallows

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