Evangeline

By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Narrated by: Leonard Wilson

"Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie" is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the expulsion of the Acadians. The idea for the poem came from Longfellow's friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Longfellow used dactylic hexameter, imitated from Greek and Latin classics, though the choice was criticized.

It was published in 1847 and became Longfellow's most famous work in his lifetime. It remains one of his most popular and enduring works. The poem had a powerful effect in defining both Acadian history and identity in the nineteenth and twentieth century. More recent scholarship has revealed the historical errors in the poem and the complexity of the expulsion and those involved, which the poem ignores.©2017 SAGA Egmont (P)2017 SAGA Egmont

Excellent

The greatest epic poem in the English language. Longfellow’s timeless classic endures so long as love itself endures.

A Timeless Classic

This is one of the most beautiful pieces of literature that I've ever listened to. I highly recommend it to one and all!!

a beautiful epic poem

Longfellow wrote this poem in the 1800s to share the plight of the Acadian Expulsion – the Great Upheaval – of the 1700s. When I’ve talked about it with anyone recently, I’ve usually been met with blank stares. If you haven’t heard of it, here are the basics: the Acadians came from France and settled in the Nova Scotia area in 1604. The French didn’t bother them and they made friends with the native Mi’kmaq. They were left to their own devices until the British got the land in 1713. They were still unbothered until 1730 when the British tried to get them to swear fealty to Britain. In the mid-1700s both France and England built forts. This didn’t help the Acadian people who were brutally imprisoned and exiled. Some went as far as Louisiana, the group now known as Cajuns. Some were sent to France, some came to the British colonies south of Canada.

Evangeline is a young fictional Acadian woman. She is newly betrothed to her beloved Gabriel. They are separated in the Expulsion. Longfellow wrote this beautiful epic poem. I loved listening to the audiobook narrated by Leonard Wilson, but there are some other versions available. My suggestion is to pair this poem with some non-fiction articles or a book or documentary if you are unfamiliar with the history. Longfellow didn’t always get all historic details correct, but he was expert at capturing the essence of a story.

Longfellow should be read and known by all

Evangeline is the most romantic of all novels save the Bible. You will enjoy, feel and then weep.
The most beautiful and sad romantic novel ever written.
Longfellow lives on.

so boring

narrator put me to sleep, such a dull voice. even speeding it up didn't help.