A sad but beautiful poem of a love separated by man and land. ( )

Originally published in 1847, I have an 1893 leatherbound, very used edition that I may have paid a "little" sum for from Abebooks.com online. But, as justification, this little book depicts the plight of the deportation and love lost and found of my ancestry, the Acadians, in poetry form. In this poem, Evangeline is separated from her love during the Great Deportation. She does eventually find him in America, after many of the Acadians found their way to Louisiana, but a little too late. He had found a new love and was married. This poem is well-known throughout our culture. Although, Evangeline is fictional, you will find a memorial and statue of her on the grounds of the St. Martin du Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville, Louisiana. And you will also find a park on Bayou Teche, also in St. Martinville, with an old, beautiful oak tree named after her as well, "Evangeline Oak". ( )

Beautiful Poem from 1847 ( )

It is amazing that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow could put so much into a 52 page poem. There is the love story, of course, and the themes of devotion and persistence, but there is also faith, forgiveness, the cruelties of war, injustice, extreme loss, strength of character, and reclamation.

The descriptive quality of his poetry is mesmerizing. I felt I could see the Acadian village, the Louisiana bayou and the western mountains. Does this not describe the spread of an epidemic perfectly:
And, as the tides of the sea arise in the month of September,
Flooding some silver stream, till it spreads to a lake in the meadow,
So death flooded life, and, o'erflowing its natural margin,
Spread to a brackish lake, the silver stream of existence.

You can both feel the spreading of the disease and in an eerie way, see it.

I read this once, long ago, when I was a girl. Then it was just the love story that I came away with. It was like reading Romeo and Juliet as a teenager. This time, I left the poem with so much more! ( )

An epic poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. IMHO, it is the greatest "love story" ever written. This poem is based on a true historical event, the expulsion of the Arcadians from Nova Scotia in the mid 18th century. ( )

Has been in our home library for years, pulled it out while weeding books, and read it in one day; long historical background introduction

heart breaking, historical poem/love story. this poem (100 pages long) is mostly a historically-based account of how the Acadians (French Canadians) in Nova Scotia were deprived of their land and homes and forcibly removed by the British (pre-1776) despite a peace treaty and how subsequently settled in Louisiana leading to the French influence in New Orleans.

makes you want to go to Nova Scotia, Maince, etc as if there wasnt already enough reason.
( )

Written in poetry and prose, Longfellow's Evangeline transports the reader to simpler times. The beauty and depth of his story-telling style pulls the reader into the heart of the event. With well-chosen words, he leads you on an imaginative journey. Haunting and inspiring. Beautiful artwork and decals.
Thompson & Thomas, Minnehaha Edition (1895) ( )

"This is the forest primeval..." During my 6th grade year, the local jr high decided to remove this hoary old treasure from the 8th grade curriculum. Many education-minded parents regretted the decision. Just shows me that we are smart to continually revise the canon.
(Look, Ma! I FINALLY read it!) ( )

This review is of this stupid Amazon free Kindle edition, not Longfellow's great poem. THIS EDITION COMPLETELY OMITS THE PRELUDE. The prelude sets the tone for the entire poem, and nicely mirrors the final stanza. Apparently the "group of volunteers" who converted the hard copy to an ebook were a bunch of Philistines who thought that the book's Part the First began at the Roman numeral one, and that the few preceding stanzas were just a bunch of stuff somebody added for no good reason. Well, since this edition is free, I guess one shouldn't expect to receive the complete work. This is so bad because anyone new to poetry might not know the prelude was omitted, and thus be robbed of a slice of Longfellow's genius that goes a long way to making Evangeline the masterpiece that it is. Shame on those volunteers. ( )

Nova Scotia to Louisiana, the story of the diaspora of Acadie in 1755 - told in verse. ( )

Beautifully illustrated with drawings and paintings from earlier editions, this is a wonderful collectors edition. I recently saw the Charlottetown Centre for the Arts production of the musical version of Evangeline and the story line they used did not always follow the one I thought existed. Thus I read the full poem to check what Longfellow had really written especially the part where the musical suggested Evangeline and Gabriel had been married. They were not married in the poem, just betrothed.
The introduction by Fergusson is full of interesting details about why the poem was written and from what sources Longfellow took his geography lessons as he described Evangeline's travels. ( )

With map and "postcard" photos of The Evangeline Country of Nova Scotia (Acadia). First published in 1847, ninety two years after the culmination of "le grand derangement", and before the history of the deportation had been investigated. Ironically, the French colonists had never been a threat to anyone, but they were pawns in foreign rivalries.

The "story" of a bridal couple separated by the forced deportation until each was old but still searching for the other may have aspects of truth. The theme of constancy and love.

"This is the forest primeval."

Serene, relentless, first published in 1847, ninety-two years after the neutral town of Gran Pre was destroyed, and its inhabitants removed and separated, during the hostilities between new England and new France, in which Acadia was a pawn. The story of a girl separated from her lover in that derangement, grown old looking for each other, and finally finding each other again, on the threshhold of death. ( )

Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The beautiful, lyrical poem about the Acadians after the discovery of America.
One of the most beautiful openings in the history of literature:

"This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean
Speaks, and in the accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.

I am certain that many of us here on LT know those words by memory.

"Evangeline is just a beautiful, lovely poem a little over 100 pages long about love and loss; the searching and finding of it again only to realize it is too late.

My copy has been handed down in the family and is a very delicate April, 1908 copy. It was copyrighted in 1900. My grandfather gave it to my father as a young man & my father gave it to me when I graduated from H.S. in 1966. I try to make sure I read this every year.

I read this for the first time in the fifth grade and have never forgotten it. I very highly recommended "Evangeline" for anyone who loves poetry and beautifully written prose. I rated it 5 stars. ( )

Having grown up in Canada, this was required reading and I must say, it was, and remains, one of my favourites. It is hugely tragic, but incredibly interesting as a history.

Longfellow's work details the exile of the French Acadians from Nova Scotia by the English in the mid-18th century, many of whom ended up in Louisiana (the word "cajun" being a bastardization of "acadian,") and the lifelong search of one woman named Evangeline for her love Gabriel from whom she was separated during the exile.

There is some debate as to Evangeline's actual existence, but the fact is, whether she existed or not, under another name (as many believe) or not at all, but she is immortalized in a beautiful epic poem, in a parish in Louisiana and in a driving route in Nova Scotia.

Longfellow's poem brings to the forefront an oft-neglected piece of both Canadian and American history in a beautiful, if tragic, story. ( )

Longfellow's classic poem about the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia is a bit creaky, but still intriguing for those who have never read it. The dactylic hexameter lines dance through the poem of love lost, love sought, resignation and the final culmination of spiritual transcendance. Longfellow's attempt to create a North American legend has spawned tourist attractions from Nova Scotia to Louisiana. ( )

tale of Acadia

Book Description: 1895, LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth. Evangeline : A Tale of Acadie. Minnehaha Edition. Chicago : Smith-Andrews Publishing Co., (1895). Pp [1]-98,i-viii. Illustrated. 8vo, gilt-decorated green cloth, t.e.g. 'Decorated with leaves from the Arcadian Forests'