Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie is an epic poem by 19th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The first epic by an American author, it was published in 1847 and immediately became extremely popular. It went through five editions within a year of publication and sold more than 30,000 copies in a decade, a very large number for the time. The story is based on a legend, which is itself based on a real event: the forced removal by the British of the Acadian people from Nova Scotia, Canada, which began in 1755. The popularity of Evangeline continued for a hundred years or so, and it was translated into 130 languages. In the second half of the 20th century, the poem’s popularity declined, in part due to changing social ideals regarding the role of women. Readers can still enjoy it, however, for its beautiful descriptions of nature in colonial America and its long-suffering, patient, devoted heroine Evangeline, who for many years searches for her husband, Gabriel, following their cruel separation during the deportation.

Poet Biography

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine (which was then part of Massachusetts) on February 27, 1807. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick and then studied modern languages for three years in Europe before returning to Bowdoin in 1829 to teach. He married in 1831, but his wife died of a miscarriage four years later. In 1836, Longfellow became a professor at Harvard University, where he taught foreign languages and later European literature of many languages. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). He published Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie in 1847 and another epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha, in 1855. The latter is about the adventures of a legendary Indigenous American hero. Both epics became enormously popular, and by the mid-1850s Longfellow achieved national renown, not only for the epics but also for his many lyric poems. He resigned from Harvard in 1854 in order to have more time to write. In 1861, Longfellow published the well-known “Paul Revere’s Ride,” about the American patriot, and included it under a different title (“The Landlord’s Tale”) in Tales of a Wayside Inn in 1863. However, another personal tragedy struck in 1861, when his second wife, Fanny Appleton, whom he had married in 1843, died in an accident after her dress caught fire. As Longfellow dealt with his grief, he put his creative energies into translating. His most notable achievement in that field was his translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy in 1867. In the last decade or so of his life, Longfellow was the most popular and frequently read poet in America, and he was also famous internationally, his work having been translated into several languages.

Longfellow died on March 24, 1882, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Poem Text

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie. 1847. Poets.org.

Summary

After a brief prelude describes an old-growth forest and the Nova Scotian village of Grand-Pré that used to lie adjacent to the forest, Part the First, Canto I describes the idyllic rural setting. Grand-Pré is a peaceful village where the people are happy and content. Benedict Bellefontaine is the wealthiest farmer there, and he lives with his beautiful 17-year-old daughter, Evangeline, who manages the household. Many young men are her suitors, but she is interested only in Gabriel Lajeunesse, the son of Basil the blacksmith. Basil is a friend of Benedict, and their children grew up together like brother and sister. Now Evangeline and Gabriel are engaged to be married. In Canto II, the village continues its harmonious life as autumn arrives. Benedict sings songs by the fireside. Sitting close to him, Evangeline spins flax for the loom. Basil joins them at the fireside and delivers serious news. English ships are assembled at the mouth of the river, with their cannon pointed at Grand-Pré. Their purpose is unknown, but many in the village are alarmed and have fled to the forest. Benedict hopes for a peaceful solution.

In Canto III, René Leblanc, the public notary, is also optimistic. He believes God is just and justice will triumph. René draws up the legal documents for the marriage of Evangeline and Gabriel, which is to take place the following day. At the beginning of Canto IV, the guests assemble in the orchard to celebrate the wedding. The English soldiers arrive, and their commander announces that everything in the village is forfeit to the British crown. The villagers will be expelled and transported to other lands. The villagers are angry. Basil protests but a soldier drags him away. Father Felician rebukes the people for their anger, demanding that they remember the example of Christ and ask that the wicked be forgiven. The evening service follows. Meanwhile, Evangeline walks to the village, where she consoles the sorrowful women.

Five days later, as Canto V begins, the villagers assemble with their household goods at the seashore. Evangeline waits calmly. She tells Gabriel that if they love each other, nothing can harm them. Gabriel and his father Basil are put on separate ships, while Evangeline and her father look on. She is in despair. Night comes, and the remaining villagers camp on the beach. Overnight, the village burns down. Evangeline’s father collapses and dies and is buried by the sea.

In Part the Second, Canto I, many years have passed. The Acadians were scattered in many areas and wandered from place to place, from the lakes in the north to the savannas in Louisiana. Evangeline endures everything with patience and continually searches for Gabriel. Sometimes she hears a rumor that he has been sighted, but nothing comes of it. People suggest that she marry Baptiste Leblanc, son of the notary, who has loved her for many years, but she says no; she remains true to Gabriel.

Canto II relates some incidents from her many years of searching. There was a river trip in a boat with others who were searching for lost kin. They traveled far south, and Evangeline was optimistic. The narrative then shows Gabriel on a boat with hunters and trappers. The boat passes near where Evangeline and her companions are sleeping, but Gabriel does not see the boat moored on the opposite bank. Later, Evangeline continues her journey, and they arrive at one of the most beautiful spots in Louisiana.

Canto III begins with a herdsman surveying his herds. It turns out that he is Basil the blacksmith. Evangeline and the priest greet him, and there is mutual delight, but Evangeline is disappointed to learn that Gabriel departed that very day. Gabriel sorely misses Evangeline and always spoke of his troubles, and Basil sent him away to trade mules with the Spanish and follow the trail up the Ozark Mountains trapping beaver. Basil says they will follow him the next day. Michael the fiddler, who has long been living with Basil, arrives with his friends, and there is a great reunion and feast. Evangeline, however, is sad, and wanders alone outside calling for Gabriel. The next morning, she and Basil follow Gabriel’s path but they do not find him. At the town of Adayes, they learn that he left the previous day.

In Canto IV, Gabriel had reached the Ozark Mountains. Basil and Evangeline and their Indigenous guides follow in his tracks. A sorrowful Indigenous woman enters their camp and tells of the murder of her husband. Evangeline weeps. In the morning they start off again, and by sunset reach a Jesuit mission, where the priest, the Indian Black Robe chief, welcomes them. He says Gabriel had been there but left six days ago for the north. He will be back in the fall. Evangeline stays at the mission, while Basil returns home. Months go by, fall comes, but Gabriel does not return. Nor does he return in winter or the following spring. In summer there is a rumor that he has a lodge in Michigan on the Saginaw River. Evangeline travels there, but the lodge is empty. Many years pass. Evangeline wanders far and wide in search of Gabriel. She becomes old.

In Canto V, Evangeline goes to Philadelphia, the city where she first landed after her exile from Acadia. She has given up her quest to find Gabriel, although she has not forgotten him. As a Sister of Mercy, she lives a life of service and devotion, helping the needy. When an outbreak of disease afflicts the city, Evangeline tends to the sick. One Sabbath morning, at an almshouse, she is moving among the sick when suddenly she gives a cry of anguish. She has spotted a dying old man and knows he is Gabriel. At his side, she calls out his name and he recognizes her. She kisses him as he dies and offers her thanks to God.

A brief Epilogue explains that the two lovers now lie side by side in the church graveyard, and then the poem returns to where it began: The ancient forest still stands in Acadie, but another race now lives where the Acadians once did.