Evangeline and Other Poems

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Book by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Extremely popular works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, in the United States in his lifetime, include The Song of Hiawatha in 1855 and a translation from 1865 to 1867 of Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow educated. His originally wrote the "Paul Revere's Ride" and "Evangeline." From New England, he first completed work of the fireside.

Bowdoin College graduated Longefellow, who served as a professor, afterward studied in Europe, and later moved at Harvard. After a miscarriage, Mary Potter Longfellow, his first wife, died in 1835. He first collected Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841).

From teaching, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow retired in 1854 to focus on his writing in the headquarters of of George Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the Revolutionary War for the remainder.

Dress of Frances Appleton Longfellow, his second wife, caught fire; she then sustained burns and afterward died in 1861. After her death, Longfellow had difficulty writing and focused on from foreign languages.

Longfellow wrote musicality of many known lyrics and often presented stories of mythology and legend. He succeeded most overseas of his day. He imitated European styles and wrote too sentimentally for critics.

Reviews

[Laurie DelaCruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am, admittedly, not a huge fan of poetry. But Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had a way of writing that is so beautiful. His word pictures were so descriptive, you could easily picture the scene he was describing. His epic poem Evangeline was chock-full of gorgeous phrases and feelings.

[Cheryl]

Yes I read it. Finally. I think I first heard of it as a girl, half a century ago. Maybe then, with a more agile mind, and more of an interest in romance, I'd have appreciated it more. Now, the only poem I liked in this collection was the last, in which he expresses his grief for his dead wife, *The Cross of Snow."

As the intro. says, Longfellow was writing in the European tradition. At about the same time, Walt Whitman was breaking new ground for America. I prefer Whitman.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know... you would have thought that this is something I should have read already. I'm a Cajun. My dad traced our ancestors back to Grand-Pre and to France. In fact we went to France a couple of years back and found the home of some of our ancestors that after fleeing Grand-Pre resettled in central France. I grew up in the swamps of Louisiana after my great-great-great... grandfather fled south. This is about my culture and I overlooked this gem for 47 years.

Well, it was a good read, though sad. Saturday I lounged on the couch and read it not once but twice. Beautifully written; the imagery in high definition.

----

Suddenly rose from the south a light,
as in autumn the blood-red

Moon climbs the crystal walls of
heaven, and o'er the horizon

Titan-like stretches its hundred hands
upon mountain and meadow,

Seizing the rocks and the rivers, and
piling huge shadows together.

Broader and ever broader it gleamed
on the roofs of the village.

Gleamed on the sky and the sea, and
the ships that lay in the roadstead.

Columns of shining smoke uprose, and
flashes of flame were

Thrust through their folds and withdrawn,
like the quivering hands of a martyr.

Then as the wind seized the gleeds and
the burning thatch, and, uplifting,

Whirled them aloft through the air, at
once from a hundred house-tops

Started the sheeted smoke with flashes
of flame intermingled.

These things beheld in dismay the
crowd on the shore and on shipboard.

Speechless at first they stood, then
cried aloud in their anguish,

"We shall behold no more our homes
in the village of Grand-Pre!"

[Kelly Hohenstern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful poem

Love the imagery this poem evoked. I could almost hear the wind in the trees and see the beautiful forests and animals. The love story beautifully depicted. Delicate, yet everlasting

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Dover Thrift Edition makes an economical and convenient introduction to the work of Heendry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), the American poet who sort of provided the antithesis to Walt Whitman by always looking back to the continental European canon in writing verse on American themes. The volume contains his long poem "Evangeline" and is rounded out with 9 shorter poems.

"Evangeline" (1847) is a long poem in dactylic hexameters on the expulsion of the Acadians, the French settlers of Nova Scotia who were forced out by the British in 1755. The poem opens with a depiction of happy life in an Acadian village, around the time that the lovely maiden Evangeline is betrothed to the handsome blacksmith's son Gabriel. Immediately after, the British military comes in, and the couple are separated. Evangeline spends long years searching for Gabriel from Louisiana to Michigan and on to Philadelphia. Besides reminding his contemporary readers of the historical tragedy of the Acadian expulsion, "Evangeline" seems to be Longfellow's tribute to the North American continent and its diversity from the chilly zones of eastern Canada to the feverish bayous of the Cajun land. I enjoyed the plot, and Longfellow is to be praised for successfully creating a long poem in English in dactylic hexameters, as this metre is not at all appropriate for English. I was surprised to see that dactylic hexameter lacks a certain gestalt that other metres have; I love to memorize verse, but little of "Evangeline" could be committed to memory when written in this verse form.

Little of the remaining poems in this volume appeal to me, as I'm not a big fan of typical English rhymed poetry of this period. Nonetheless, "The Cross of Snow", which Longfellow wrote in memory of his second wife, is quite moving. "Divina Commedia", a series of six sonnets the poet wrote while translating Dante, have some interesting metaphors.

[essie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rare is the poem that fills my heart with longing and love. Rare is the poem that is read through glimmering tears. Yet such is the poem of Evangeline. Take up this treasure, let your eyes fall upon its resplendent beauty, let your heart be filled with the love therein that one day, perhaps, our own tales could boast of such faithfulness as that of Evangeline.
"Talk not of wasted affection, affection was never wasted;
If it enrich not the heart of another, it's waters, returning
Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them full of refreshment;
That which the fountain sends forth returns again to the fountain." - Evangeline, page 36

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.”

“Keenly the lightning flashed, and the voice of the echoing thunder told her that God was in heaven, and governed the world He created!”

[Danny Druid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wasn't prepared for how intensely good this book was. Henry Longfellow's love for his European ancestors shines through in every word, and as a man of European descent who is also intensely proud of the accomplishments of his ancestors this book really resonates with me.

The first couple of poems in this book are just plain fun. Especially "The Skeleton in Armour", which could easily be told at a campfire for both its atmospheric creepiness and for its homage to the Scandinavian sagas. In the "Divine Commedia" Henry's heart pours out love for his Christian heritage. Any person of European descent has a Christian heritage of beautiful art, architecture, and heroism that he or she should be proud of, and if "Divine Commedia" doesn't awaken that in you... you have a problem.

Of course, the mainstay of this poem is "Evangeline". To be honest, this poem starts off very slow. The descriptions of natural scenery take up the bulk of the poem, and while they are very creative and prettily worded, the truth of the matter is that there is simply too many of them, especially at the beginning. However, as soon as the characters are introduced (which takes too long) I was seriously hooked. Evangeline is nothing less than my favourite female character. It really shows how the traditional woman who strived for chastity, devotion and kindness was a tremendous blessing for anyone who knew her. Evangeline inspires reverence in all the characters in the story, and I have to say she inspires that in me too. Surely a slut will receive attention from dog-like men, but that is nothing like the reverence that the traditional woman gets for her virtue.

I am a real sucker for stories that romanticize past cultures, and the Acadians get the romanticization they deserve here. I have to say I am curious as to why their lifestyle resembles so much the Hutterites, the Shakers, and partly the Amish. Were socialistic, pacifistic agricultural Christians just really, really popular 200 years ago?

After Evangeline and the rest of the cast gets introduced the conflict begins. At first, Henry's poem makes you think that it is going to be very pastorally optimistic, kind of sickeningly sweet but still good. But no. Instead, Evangeline is genuinely one of the saddest things I ever read. Seriously, I was NOT prepared for it. I read this at work and it just killed me. It is just one tragedy after the other, made all the worse by the fact that the innocence of the Acadians has been spoiled and by the fact that Evangeline is such a good person. When Evangeline resolves to find Gabriel since her heart belongs to him, and when she fails to find him and so devotes his life to Jesus instead, I realized how profoundly spiritual of a poem I was reading.

Evangeline doesn't find "True Love", but amid life's tragedies she does find God, which is both better than "True Love" and all the world's fortunes anyway. By the end of the story Evangeline is a full-on saint. A real spiritual woman, and easily my favourite heroine in literature.

I also enjoyed the story 10 times more being from Nova Scotia, of course, and enjoyed all the references to beautiful Louisbourg.

May the European race return to its traditional spiritual ideals. Aum / Amen.

[Valerie]

I recently read an edition of Evangeline in which about half the book was taken up by critical material. This version is almost solely the texts of this and other poems, though there is information (in the table of contents) as to where to find the originals. It claims to be 'unabridged'--we'll see how Evangeline compares. Ok, it's more or less comparable, less most of the glossary and critical material. There are some glossing footnotes, which still don't cover things like Longfellow's use of the word 'desert'.

As for the 'other poems', I've yet to read them. I'll have to do so before I can comment. Don't care much for them, truth be known. "The Skeleton in Armor" is frankly ridiculous. It's obviously written by somebody who knew nothing about Vikings, and didn't see that as a reason not to write about them. Many of the other poems are essentially travelogues by somebody who doesn't seem to have gotten outside the cities and towns during his visits to places like Italy. Dickens, for example, has better descriptions of the Alps in David Copperfield, though I don't believe Dickens himself went there often. At least they're not almost entirely elided, as in these poems. Ok, the church bells are impressive. Might try getting out on to the hillside, at least once or twice. Come to that, there aren't a lot of mountains in the works of Longfellow I've read. Maybe he didn't care for them.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this collection even better than The Children's Own Longfellow. For one thing, this volume includes both parts of Evangeline, whereas The Children's Own Longfellow included only the first part. This volume also contains the sonnets Mezzo Cammin and The Cross of Snow, a rumination on the death of Longfellow's wife, and six sonnets that Longfellow wrote while translating the Divine Comedy.

I didn't realize until recently what a talented, learned man Longfellow was, translating poetry from languages such as Spanish, German, French, Swedish, Danish, and Italian. Longfellow also wrote Evangeline in dactylic hexameter, the traditional meter of ancient Greek and Roman epic poetry--no small accomplishment.

[Bethany Richter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't spend much time in poetry. But from my limited foray, Longfellow is my favorite.

I love rhyming, I'm not a fan of obscure symbolism. I like a ballad. Longfellow delivers.

Favorites: Evangeline,

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book as a gift from a friend. It is a nice collection of poems by Longfellow, both short and lengthy (for a poem).

[Kate Daly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evangeline is an all-time favorite, which I share with my grandmother.

[Deena Scintilla]

Read this YEARS ago but want to read it again with more maturity.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. One of my Favorites.

[LaRae☕️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 16-year-old child and I read this for homeschool, because I wanted her to study Evangeline, a story in verse about the expulsion by the British of the Acadians from Old Nova Scotia. From the Note: “It is written… in dactylic hexameter, the traditional meter of ancient Greek and Roman epic poetry, which has a six-foot line, each foot comprising one stressed, followed by one or two unstressed, syllables. The effect in English is sometimes bizarre, but a strange, haunting music does pervade these sometimes quite beautiful poems.”

She felt the story was very sad, as it is meant to be, as people were forced from their homes, and thousands died, with some survivors ultimately settling in Louisiana (eventually becoming Cajuns). I asked if she could think of anything in America that was similar, where people were ripped from their homes. It led to a discussion about FDR, and his extreme racism, and his imprisonment and illegal seizure of property of American citizens who were interned during World War II.

It was a wonderful discussion, and if it were the only poem that we read, this would be five stars. However, the book contains other shorter, lyric poetry of Longfellow, the style of which I do not like quite as well.

To appreciate the beautiful cadence of the dactylic hexameter, we read some bits aloud:

“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 accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.”

[Rob Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother read this in school, and loved it. When I hit school, it had fallen out of the carruculum. I dare say, it is virtually unknown expcept for English majors today. I finally sat down and readi it, and my only disappointment was that I did not do so long ago. It is a love story with the back ground of the expelling of the Acadians in 1755. Two lovers are torn apart and transported. Evangeline spends the rest of her life in search of her beloved. Yes, it is a romance, but one that puts Harliquin to shame.

[Caitlin Conlon]

It's difficult for me to rate this. On one hand, the language was lovely. On the other hand, it was laid on a bit thick in parts. On a third hand, these poems were written in the 1800's so who am I to really judge pieces written so far away from where I am?

I'll just say that I'm glad I read these poems, and Evangeline was very interesting, but Longfellow isn't a poet that intrigues me as much as other writers from his time.

[anise · Rating 4 out of 5]

And I thought how like these chimes
Are the poet’s airy rhymes,
All his rhymes and roundelays,
His conceits, and songs, and ditties,
From the belfry of his brain,
Scattered downward, though in vain,
On the roofs and stones of cities!
For by night the drowsy ear
Under its curtains cannot hear,
And by day men go their ways,
Hearing the music as they pass,
But deeming it no more, alas!
Than the hollow sound of brass.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longfellow is an excellent writer. After watching “I Heard the Bells”, I wanted to read some of his works. I enjoyed most, but not all of the works selected for this compilation, hence the 4 stars. Evangeline was a sad epic tale and I learned a few new things about history that I didn’t know before.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost good enough to make you forget that this is a tale about European colonizers and missionaries who never should have been in North America to begin with. Almost good enough to put a lump in your throat. Almost.

[Julia Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never really read much poetry but after this I might start. I found that I could understand it and I equally enjoyed the long Evangeline prose as well as the shorter ones in the beginning and end. Will read it again for sure.

[Mika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't prepared at how good this book was! Evangeline broke my heart. "So close yet so far." Sigh.

[ᰔvaleria vicenteᰔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for school