S uddenly they arrived into the village,
       E very man and boy they wanted.
       V iciously rounded up and imprisoned in the church,
       E ncircled by soldiers, armed and angry.
       N o one allowed to come or to go,
       T hey were guarded all day and all night.
       E nemies for life they became,
       E ach side watching the other,
       N either wanting a fight.
       F orced from our homes, burnt before our eyes;
       I mperialism reigning supreme.
       F amilies torn apart, sons and daughters lost forever,
       T ransported in ships to far away lands,
       Y oung and old together.
       F ar flung across the world.
       I ll gotten property, herds and flocks.
       V ie Acadie Vie!
       E den was not forever lost.
Green grows the grass on the Beaubassin's gentle slopes,
The distant cows, heavy with milk, mooing.
For fisherman, farmer, baker, blacksmith and miller,
Beaubasin's life was quiet, kind and gentle.
A ship entering the harbour, broke the stillness of the day.
Bodes ill for all, for only trouble this lot could bring us.
Fly Acadie fly, the darkness is coming!
The cannon roars, again and again,
The countryside quiet viciously broken.
Redcoats slowly advancing,
Killing intent on their faces.
Flames rising against the suns setting,
Le Loutre burning it all.
Years of effort, generation passed forward,
Destroyed black in a handful of minutes.
We flee into the night, half naked
Carrying only what we can handle.
Amidst cannon, lost children, fire, and chaos,
Will Beausejour welcome us all?
The English victors now celebrate.
Our lands and herds are now George's forever!
Under the cross of St. Andrew, will they prosper?
Acadie is now homeless!
Far flung across the world's lands.
Someday we will be back together,
Brother and sister restored to the family.
The blood in our veins, will match the stains
On the ground, where lives were taken.
Imprisonment, deportation or death,
For many there is not a difference.
Children left orphans, parents gone forever.
Destitute, desperate, hungry and cold,
The young cry day and night for succor.
Yellowed starred blue, white and red,
Flags fly at the border now welcome Acadie
Come home, to celebrate four hundred
Your old lands now cry out in gladness.
The spilt blood on the ground is now long gone
As you walk on the gentle grass slopes
The cows distant mooing is heard, once again
The future is bright with promise, Acadie rises again!
God bless you, dear Acadie forever;
Amen and Amen and Amen
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