Evangeline
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1847
- Form
- Epic poetry
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 80 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Approachable1 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendHarvard Classics, Volume 42P. F. Collier, 1910The poem is in the public domain and included in every collected Longfellow; this volume is freely available online.
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A narrative poem in dactylic hexameter, the most popular American poem of its century. In 1755 the British expel the French settlers of Acadia in Nova Scotia; Evangeline is separated on her wedding day from her betrothed Gabriel. She searches for him for years across Louisiana, the western prairies and the Ozarks, always just missing him, and finds him at last as an old woman nursing the poor in a Philadelphia almshouse, where he dies in her arms. The forest primeval opening became a schoolroom staple.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Evangeline are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
