The Ballad of the Chinese Workers

Years ago, our own dear land,
In eighteen eighty-one,
Had a mighty railway planned
From coast to coast to run.
 
Hopeful men came flowing forth
In search of livelihoods;
Roused by tales of what laid north
And for what truths it stood.
 
Courage, justice, liberty:
What they expected here.
Freedom, fairness, bravery,
Not prejudice and fear.
 
It took four years to succeed;
In eighteen eighty-five,
We’d at long last done the deed
But lost one thousand lives.
 
 
Yes, one thousand lives were lost;
While fourteen thousand more
Lived and seemed to dull the cost
As better to ignore.
 
 
In a little grassy plain
A few small blocks of wood
Mark the bones that ne’er again
Went home they way they should.
 
Let your mind now wander out
To where theirs once did stand,
In their hearts no trace of doubt
But aspirations grand.
 
What did they think when they saw
The prejudice in store?
No refuge in love or law
From an unequal war.
 
Canada, our nation sweet,
Once not so long ago,
Sold its soul just to complete
This path that suffered so.

The Ballad of the Chinese Workers

Baapooh Chung

Grade 12

University Transition Program
Burnaby, British Columbia

I feel injustice over what happened during the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway since I am of Chinese heritage myself.

Related Essays

  • The Prison of Culture

    The Prison of Culture

    Grady Thompson

    Vancouver, British Columbia

    I am an First Nation Canadian and wanted to represent my culture in this project, since it is such a big part of Canada's History.

  • The Mistakes of the Past

    The Mistakes of the Past

    Evelin Melekh

    Winnipeg, Manitoba

    I chose this question because, as a Canadian Jewish women, my identity is strongly impacted by past events.

 
View all essays