My Favorite Poems (Voume 2): Evangeline

Day 114 (Written Wednesday April 4) ~ Making his first of two appearances on my list of favorite poems is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem, Evangeline, is actually what would be considered an epic poem. Translation: it takes a long time to read because it is long and difficult (written in the measure of dactylic hexameter, the same one used by Homer in writing The Iliad and The Odyssey).
This poem, published in 1847, tells the story of the young girl Evangeline, an Acadian girl, in search of her lost love Gabriel, due to the Expulsion of the Acadians. The Acadians are the ancestors of the Cajuns (the word Cajun is a Native American mispronunciation/contraction of the word Acadian). They were French settlers in Nova Scotia who were expelled en masse by the British during the French and Indian War (1755-1763). Most of them found themselves settling in what would eventually come to be known as the Atchafalaya Basin (bayou) in Louisiana. They settled in the parts of the country that no one wanted because it was hostile climate, terrain and filled with hostile Indians, which the Acadians befriended and eventually intermarried with. They lived off the land, catching, trapping, shooting and growing what they needed to survive. Through mixed cultures, difficult circumstances, survival instincts and heartbreak, was born the Cajun culture I love so dearly.
In the poem Evangline (gospel/good news) Bellefontaine (beautiful fountain) is separated from her fiance Gabriel because of the Great Upheaval. She then spends the rest of her life searching the landscapes of America for her lost true love. (Spoiler Alert!) She eventually finds him in Philadelphia as an old woman. She is working with the Sisters of Mercy among the poor, treating those dying during an epidemic, where she finds Gabriel, who dies in her arms.
I love the poem because it is a beautiful, tragic story that leaves the reader with the mixed emotions of a happy ending and tragedy. I also love its connection to the Cajun culture I love. I don’t recommend reading it before bedtime (unless you want to use it as a sleep aid) and without learning how to read its measure. But if you do, I assure you that you will be treated to a hypnotic story that will stay with you for life.