Testimony Of Jean-Jacques Le Page - Tony Gardner

My name is Jean-Jacques Le Page, I wish my confession be read
For now I am withered with age, and I wish to die pure in my bed

On a June day fifty years gone, when the clouds dreamed across the blue sky
And the wild roses drank the warm sun, on the headland walked Paulette and I

So often we paused and embraced, we were young and our ardour was strong
Fearing not disapproval we faced, for we knew that our families were wrong

Paulette was not of my faith, and not from an old Guernsey line
While my family tree we could trace, right back to the Conqueror's time

Yet purely we loved and time passed, until was selected for me
A bride of a far higher caste, I was charged that was how it should be

Then Paulette's family was told, to keep her well out of my way,
By those too blind and too old, who thought us just children at play

So that day in the warm summer sun, on the high southern cliffs we stood there
Where the gorse glows and wild rabbits run, we held hands and leapt into the air

I was caught by a tree near the top, she was torn from my grasp with a moan
And treacherous fate took the life, that I treasured much more than my own.

A passer-by rescued and found me and thought we had both slipped and fell
My family were glad I was sound, thinking privately all turned out well.

So I married the one that they chose, and for forty years kept up the sham
Now my wife and my parents repose, and I want to regain who I am

Soon I'll pass to that far distant shore, where Paulette will be waiting for me
And things will be just as before, The way that God meant them to be

And so says Jean-Jacques Le Page.

Tony Gardner