i also found this beautiful poem

Also from 
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=17431

Subject: Lyr Add: JE VIS AVEC VOUS, MA PROMISE (Louis Riel)
From: Q
Date: 24 Nov 09 - 03:54 PM

Lyr. Add: I Live With You, My Betrothed
Louis Riel, 1881, translation Paul Savoie

1
I live with you, my betrothed
Though Mother Church's holy blessing
Has not yet been bestowed
On us. Still, you wear my gold ring.
2
I wedded you. O my lover
In the year of eighty-one,
Close by the cockle-shell river.
Under common law, we were one.
3
If the circuit priest's intention
Is to honor our petition,
We will fly to Fort Benton
To gain our sin's remission.
4
Our hearts require ths blessing
To embolden our bond ...

5
For fifteen years, a lone man
God Almighty I petitioned
To grant me a good woman
Well-born, well intentioned.
6
*Father Primeau assured me
My prayers would be answered.
My loving Master surely
Would grant me what I desired.
7
Yes, His promise has held true.
I have found my heart's pride,
A woman who dispells all rue;
The woman biding by my side.
8
Because no priest was present,
My love, we were forced
To wed this way.
My love, there will be no shame.

(Original French will be posted later)

The formal vows were taken the following year, the ceremony blessed by Father Joseph Damiani.
*Primeau, John Baptiste, was Riel's confessor in Massachusetts.

The poem shows the deep religious feelings of Riel; few of his poems do not.
The poem also shows how Riel wrote his poems; they were dashed off as the thoughts came to him and only rarely corrected or revised. This has led some historians to call his poems doggerel, but they express his feelings and are necessary to the understanding of the man.
"Selected Poetry of Louis Riel," translated by Paul Savoie and edited by Glen Campbell, 1993, Exile Editions.

"The Collected Writings of Louis Riel/Les Ecrits complets de Louis Riel," Ed. in Chief George F. G. Stanley, 1985, University of Alberta Press, occupy five volumes; his poetry, over 500 pages, takes up volume 4 (ed. by Glen Campbell).

another old song

From:
http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=17431

Subject: Lyr Add: RIEL'S FAREWELL
From: raredance
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 10:09 PM

Ah, Riel's Farewell. This song was collected from a Metis in Lebret, Saskatchawan, who claimed that it was a letter that Riel wrote to his mother while he was in jail in Regina. Riel actually has a track record as a poet, having written a couple of songs, including Riel's Letter to his sister Henriette, that survived among the prairie Metis, and even published a small volume of poems in his early years. Thomas Flannagan, a scholar of Riel poetry, doesn't think that this one fits Riel's style. He thinks it was more likely written by on of Riel's followers using an old French tune. The English words are by Barbara Cass-Beggs who collected the song in Lebret.

RIEL'S FAREWELL

I send this letter to you,
To tell my grief and pain,
And as I lie imprisoned
I long to see again

You, my beloved mother,
And all my comrades dear.
I write these words in my heart's blood:
No ink or pen is here.

My friends in arms and children,
Please weep and pray for me.
I fought to keep our country
So that we might be free.

When you receive this letter
Please weep for me and pray
That I may die with bravery
Upon that fearful day.

C'est au cham de bataille
J'ai fait ecrir' douleurs
On couche sur la paille
Ca fait fremir les coeurs

Or je r'cois t'une lettre
De ma chere maman
J'avais ni plum' ni encre
Pour pouvoir lui z'ecrire

Or je pris mon canif
Je le trempis dans mon sang
Pour ecrir' t'un vieu'lettre
A ma chere maman

Quand ell' r'vevra cett'lettre
Toute ecrit' de sang
Ses yeux baignant de larmes
Son coeur sera mourant

S'y jett' a genoux par terre
En appelant ses enfants:
Priez pour votre frere
Qui est au regiment

Mourir, s'il faut mourir,
Chacun meurt q son tour;
J'aim mieux mourir en brave
Faut tous mourir un jour.

(yes I know the French does not contain the proper accent markings)
rich r