Lyrics
The Padre
“I was William Henry Davis
from Edmonton’s parish of Bonnie Doon.
I followed St. Paul to Calvary,
my flock, the 8th Canada Brigade.
Compassion I felt and bravery I feigned;
and ‘The Padre’ was my name.
And it’s a good life if we forgive it.
And when we forgive it’s a good life, it’s a good life.
I buried Lieutenant Jack Campbell,
said a prayer for Captain Johnny Woods.
I tripped on a skull in the Paschendaele spring
rain-washed of dignity’s muddy grave.
The tag was missing but I knew by the teeth
the remains of Smilin’ Jaf Eaton.
I gave a service for Sergeant-Major Dunlop
and by whom I saw God’s Son’s cry.
Shot in the stomach at Abraham’s Heights,
my dying God mouthed to the black wind, ‘why?’
A stretcher-bearer offered up a ‘Woodbine;’
and for that last grace Death will wait a while.
My bones lie in Quesnel beside my men.
My Atonement, the Battle of Amiens.
Cleansed of my big and dark Irish heart
by the good shrapnel through which I came.
I was William Henry Davis
ah, but ‘The Padre’ was my name.”
