OH MY DARLING CLAMANTINE

Preface:The Original Poem Titled The same Is a Children's poem composed of just two stanzas.When I went thro it for the first time in a library at SURREY (Near London)sometime in 2002, while on a holiday to my son's house in UK, I felt an urge to rewrite the same to correct what I considered as the following shortcomings in the ORIGINAL----
1)No link between the two stanzas. 2)The cause for losing the child is not clear.3)The last line of the second stanza of the original "Dreadful Sorry Clamantine"immediately after saying "you are lost and gone forever"conveys wrong message to the children for whom the poem was meant.

The composer (self) of this revised version therefore recomposed the original with the following changes----
1)A Link between the original two stanzas made.
2)Last line of the original second stanza changed.
3)Story developed further to have a happy ending.
4)Also given a musical stance for narration.
This revised version is dedicated to the same children to whom the original was meant.I leave it to them to decide whether or not the changes made by me on the original serve the purpose.

For a better appreciation of the changes made for the Readers,I,as the composer of this revised version, also present the two stanzas from the original for a ready comparison.

ORIGINAL


In The Cavern,On A Canyon
Excavating For A Mine
Sat A Miner,Forty Niner
And His Daughter CLAMANTINE.

Oh My Darling,Oh My Darling
Oh My Darling Clamantine
You Are Gone And Lost Forever
Dreadful sorry CLAMANTINE.

Revised

In The Cavern ,On A Canyon
Excavating For A Mine
Sat A Miner, Forty Niner
And His Daughter CLAMANTINE.

Little Darling ,Who Was Then Five
Lost Her Mother When Born
Brought Up By The Father Miner
Whose Only World was Clamantine.

So It Was On An Off Day
Little Clamantine Was At Site.
Holding To Her Father's Right Arm
Looking Down The Deep Mine.

As The Child Was So Engrossed
A Tiny Spider Teased Her Eyes
Clamentine Then Left Her Hand Hold
To Catch The Spider Flying High.

Poor Child Then Slipped And Down Fell
She Fell Down With A Bang
Though The Miner Saw Her Falling
Twas by then too late.

Oh My Darling,Oh My Darling
Oh My Darling CLAMANTINE
You Are Gone And Lost Forever
And With You My World, Dear Child.

With My World Lost,How Do I Live
Oh Tell Me, Darling Child
So Saying Father Miner
Also Fell Down In The Mine.

On The Next Day,Other Miners
When They All Came To The Mine
Both Bodies Found Embraced
In Their New World At Site.

Oh My Darling,Oh My Darling
Oh My Darling CLAMANTINE
We Will Now Live Our New Life
Oh My Darling,You Are Mine.

So Screaming As He Got Up
Father Miner From His Sleep
Thanked JESUS For HIS Kindness
In Making All This But A Dream.

His Little Daughter,Darling Clamantine
Found Sleeping By His Side
But Since Startled By His Screaming
Also Got Up From Her Bed.

Looking At Her Loving Father
His Little daughter Gave A Smile
Touched By The Warmth It Gave
He Took His Daughter In His Stride.

Holding Her Tight Father Miner
Thanked JESUS Once More
And Then He Uttered These Words
To His Darling Little Child.

Oh My Darling,Oh My Darling
Oh My Darling CLAMANTINE
We Will Always Be Together
Oh My Darling,YOU ARE MINE.


Composed By BAIYU----------LONDON AUGUST 2002
@allrights reserved.do not copy.