Evangeline is a long narrative poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It was published in 1847 and helped establish Longfellow as one of the most popular poets of the 1800’s. Its full title is Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie.
Longfellow’s poem tells the tragic tale of two young lovers, Evangeline Bellefontaine and Gabriel Lajeunesse. The lovers are French citizens who live in Acadia (now Nova Scotia) during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). They are about to be married when they and their fathers are driven into exile with other Acadians by British soldiers. The two lovers are accidentally separated, and Evangeline begins to search for Gabriel.
Evangeline looks for Gabriel along the Mississippi River and in Louisiana, where the Acadians had resettled. She then returns north and continues her search. Finally, she gives up hope and becomes a nun in Philadelphia. There, as an old woman many years later, she finds Gabriel, who is dying of the plague. After Evangeline dies, she is buried beside him.
Today, many readers may consider Evangeline sentimental and overly dramatic. But the poem remains interesting for several reasons. For example, it shows Longfellow’s concern for the American past, much as his poems The Song of Hiawatha (1855) and The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858) do. It also gives a sense of the vast American wilderness, though many of the descriptions of nature are inaccurate. In addition, the poem portrays a courageous and devoted heroine.
Longfellow considered Evangeline’s long search for Gabriel a kind of modern epic (heroic tale). He wrote the poem in hexameter verse, which contains six poetic feet per line (see Meter). The ancient Greek epic poem the Odyssey was composed in this form. See also Acadia; Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth.
