Evangeline: A Tale Of Acadie Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCADE FDAADGHDI JDEI K AILHJAAALACGMNAOPQAA DAADRASTIMOJASAAAA AIUMAAAAVAAVDVWRXAYA VDHC HVVZVAVVA2AVAXYHDAVA AD VVXDVVAB2MVCYC2D2AXV D2V

This is the forest primeval The murmuring pines and the hemlocksA
Bearded with moss and in garments green indistinct in the twilightB
Stand like Druids of eld with voices sad and propheticC
Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their bosomsA
Loud from its rocky caverns the deep voiced neighboring oceanD
Speaks and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forestE
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This is the forest primeval but where are the hearts that beneath itF
Leaped like the roe when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsmanD
Where is the thatch roofed village the home of Acadian farmersA
Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlandsA
Darkened by shadows of earth but reflecting an image of heavenD
Waste are those pleasant farms and the farmers forever departedG
Scattered like dust and leaves when the mighty blasts of OctoberH
Seize them and whirl them aloft and sprinkle them far o'er the oceanD
Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful village of Grand PreI
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Ye who believe in affection that hopes and endures and is patientJ
Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotionD
List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forestE
List to a Tale of Love in Acadie home of the happyI
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PART THE FIRSTK
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In the Acadian land on the shores of the Basin of MinasA
Distant secluded still the little village of Grand PreI
Lay in the fruitful valley Vast meadows stretched to the eastwardL
Giving the village its name and pasture to flocks without numberH
Dikes that the hands of the farmers had raised with labor incessantJ
Shut out the turbulent tides but at stated seasons the flood gatesA
Opened and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the meadowsA
West and south there were fields of flax and orchards and cornfieldsA
Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the plain and away to the northwardL
Blomidon rose and the forests old and aloft on the mountainsA
Sea fogs pitched their tents and mists from the mighty AtlanticC
Looked on the happy valley but ne'er from their station descendedG
There in the midst of its farms reposed the Acadian villageM
Strongly built were the houses with frames of oak and of hemlockN
Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the HenriesA
Thatched were the roofs with dormer windows and gables projectingO
Over the basement below protected and shaded the doorwayP
There in the tranquil evenings of summer when brightly the sunsetQ
Lighted the village street and gilded the vanes on the chimneysA
Matrons and maidens sat in snow white caps and in kirtlesA
Scarlet and blue and green with distaffs spinning the goldenD
Flax for the gossiping looms whose noisy shuttles within doorsA
Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and the songs of the maidensA
Solemnly down the street came the parish priest and the childrenD
Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless themR
Reverend walked he among them and up rose matrons and maidensA
Hailing his slow approach with words of affectionate welcomeS
Then came the laborers home from the field and serenely the sun sankT
Down to his rest and twilight prevailed Anon from the belfryI
Softly the Angelus sounded and over the roofs of the villageM
Columns of pale blue smoke like clouds of incense ascendingO
Rose from a hundred hearths the homes of peace and contentmentJ
Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmersA
Dwelt in the love of God and of man Alike were they free fromS
Fear that reigns with the tyrant and envy the vice of republicsA
Neither locks had they to their doors nor bars to their windowsA
But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of their ownersA
There the richest was poor and the poorest lived in abundanceA
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Somewhat apart from the village and nearer the Basin of MinasA
Benedict Bellefontaine the wealthiest farmer of Grand PreI
Dwelt on his goodly acres and with him directing his householdU
Gentle Evangeline lived his child and the pride of the villageM
Stalworth and stately in form was the man of seventy wintersA
Hearty and hale was he an oak that is covered with snow flakesA
White as the snow were his locks and his cheeks as brown as the oak leavesA
Fair was she to behold that maiden of seventeen summersA
Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the thorn by the waysideV
Black yet how softly they gleamed beneath the brown shade of her tressesA
Sweet was her breath as the breath of kine that feed in the meadowsA
When in the harvest heat she bore to the reapers at noontideV
Flagons of home brewed ale ah fair in sooth was the maidenD
Fairer was she when on Sunday morn while the bell from its turretV
Sprinkled with holy sounds the air as the priest with his hyssopW
Sprinkles the congregation and scatters blessings upon themR
Down the long street she passed with her chaplet of beads and her missalX
Wearing her Norman cap and her kirtle of blue and the ear ringsA
Brought in the olden time from France and since as an heirloomY
Handed down from mother to child through long generationsA
But a celestial brightness a more ethereal beautyV
Shone on her face and encircled her form when after confessionD
Homeward serenely she walked with God's benediction upon herH
When she had passed it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite musicC
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Firmly builded with rafters of oak the house of the farmerH
Stood on the side of a hill commanding the sea and a shadyV
Sycamore grew by the door with a woodbine wreathing around itV
Rudely carved was the porch with seats beneath and a footpathZ
Led through an orchard wide and disappeared in the meadowV
Under the sycamore tree were hives overhung by a penthouseA
Such as the traveller sees in regions remote by the roadsideV
Built o'er a box for the poor or the blessed image of MaryV
Farther down on the slope of the hill was the well with its moss grownA2
Bucket fastened with iron and near it a trough for the horsesA
Shielding the house from storms on the north were the barns and the farm yardV
There stood the broad wheeled wains and the antique ploughs and the harrowsA
There were the folds for the sheep and there in his feathered seraglioX
Strutted the lordly turkey and crowed the cock with the selfsameY
Voice that in ages of old had startled the penitent PeterH
Bursting with hay were the barns themselves a village In each oneD
Far o'er the gable projected a roof of thatch and a staircaseA
Under the sheltering eaves led up to the odorous corn loftV
There too the dove cot stood with its meek and innocent inmatesA
Murmuring ever of love while above in the variant breezesA
Numberless noisy weathercocks rattled and sang of mutationD
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Thus at peace with God and the world the farmer of Grand PreV
Lived on his sunny farm and Evangeline governed his householdV
Many a youth as he knelt in the church and opened his missalX
Fixed his eyes upon her as the saint of his deepest devotionD
Happy was he who might touch her hand or the hem of her garmentV
Many a suitor came to her door by the darkness befriendedV
And as he knocked and waited to hear the sound of her footstepsA
Knew not which beat the louder his heart or the knocker of ironB2
Or at the joyous feast of the Patron Saint of the villageM
Bolder grew and pressed her hand in the dance as he whisperedV
Hurried words of love that seemed a part of the musicC
But among all who came young Gabriel only was welcomeY
Gabriel Lajeunesse the son of Basil the blacksmithC2
Who was a mighty man in the village and honored of all menD2
For since the birth of time throughout all ages and nationsA
Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the peopleX
Basil was Benedict's friend Their children from earliest childhoodV
Grew up together as brother and sister and Father FelicianD2
Priest and pedagogue both in the village hadV

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



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