Then, as she mounted the stairs to the corridors, cooled by the east-wind, 1325 Distant and soft on her ear fell the chimes from the belfry of Christ Church, While, intermingled with these, across the meadows were wafted Sounds of psalms, that were sung by the Swedes in their church at Wicaco. Soft as descending wings fell the calm of the hour on her spirit; Something within her said, "At length thy trials are ended;" 1330 And, with light in her looks, she entered the chambers of sickness. Noiselessly moved about the assiduous, careful attendants, Moistening the feverish lip, and the aching brow, and in silence Closing the sightless eyes of the dead, and concealing their faces, Where on their pallets they lay, like drifts of snow by the roadside. 1335 Many a languid head, upraised as Evangeline entered, Turned on its pillow of pain to gaze while she passed, for her presence Fell on their hearts like a ray of the sun on the walls of a prison. And, as she looked around, she saw how Death, the con soler, Laying his hand upon many a heart, had healed it for ever. 1340 Many familiar forms had disappeared in the night-time; Vacant their places were, or filled already by strangers. Suddenly, as if arrested by fear or a feeling of wonder, Still she stood, with her colorless lips apart, while a shudder Ran through her frame, and, forgotten, the flowerets dropped from her fingers, 1345 And from her eyes and cheeks the light and bloom of the morning. Then there escaped from her lips a cry of such terrible anguish, That the dying heard it, and started up from their pillows. On the pallet before her was stretched the form of an old man. Long, and thin, and gray were the locks that shaded his temples; 1350 But, as he lay in the morning light, his face for a moment Seemed to assume once more the forms of its earlier man hood; So are wont to be changed the faces of those who are dying. Hot and red on his lips still burned the flush of the fever, As if life, like the Hebrew, with blood had besprinkled its portals, 1355 That the Angel of Death might see the sign, and pass over. Motionless, senseless, dying, he lay, and his spirit ex hausted Seemed to be sinking down through infinite depths in the darkness, Darkness of slumber and death, forever sinking and sinking. Then through those realms of shade, in multiplied rever berations, 1360 Heard he that cry of pain, and through the hush that suc ceeded Whispered a gentle voice, in accents tender and saint-like, "Gabriel! O my beloved!" and died away into silence. Then he beheld, in a dream, once more the home of his childhood; Green Acadian meadows, with sylvan rivers among them, 1365 Village, and mountain, and woodlands; and, walking under their shadow, As in the days of her youth, Evangeline rose in his vision. Tears came into his eyes; and as slowly he lifted his eye lids, Vanished the vision away, but Evangeline knelt by his bedside. Vainly he strove to whisper her name, for the accents un uttered 1370 Died on his lips, and their motion revealed what his tongue would have spoken. Vainly he strove to rise; and Evangeline, kneeling beside him, Kissed his dying lips, and laid his head on her bosom. Sweet was the light of his eyes; but it suddenly sank into darkness, As when a lamp is blown out by a gust of wind at a casement. 1375 All was ended now, the hope, and the fear, and the sorrow, All the aching of heart, the restless, unsatisfied longing, All the dull, deep pain, and constant anguish of patience! And, as she pressed once more the lifeless head to her bosom, Meekly she bowed her own, and murmured, "Father, I thank thee!" 1380 Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from its shadow, Side by side in their nameless graves, the lovers are sleep ing. Under the humble walls of the little Catholic church-yard, In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and unnoticed. Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside them, 1385 Thousands of throbbing hearts, where theirs are at rest and forever, Thousands of aching brains, where theirs no longer are busy, Thousands of toiling hands, where theirs have ceased from their labors, Thousands of weary feet, where theirs have completed their journey! Still stands the forest primeval; but under the shade of its branches 1390 Dwells another race, with other customs and language. And by the evening fire repeat Evangeline's story, 1395 While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced, neighboring ocean Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest. NOTES. LINE 3. Druids. A name applied to the priests among the Celts of Ancient Gaul and Great Britain. Their places of worship were in the forests; they exercised also the functions of prophets, physicians, and judges. 8. The two-fold nature of the calamity that befell the Acadians is foreshadowed in lines 8 and 9. The last three lines of the Prelude give the scope of the theme. 15. Grand-Pre. A village on the Bay of Minas, on the northwest coast of Nova Scotia. A railway runs through it at the present day. Population now about six hundred. 25. Turbulent tides. The tides on the coast of Nova Scotia are very strong, causing a marked swelling and subsiding of the streams. 19-32. These lines give the geography of the place where the scene of the first events is laid. With the aid of a map of Nova Scotia the locality may be charted, and in this way more clearly realized. 34. Normandy. A province in northern France. Reign of the Henrics. Henry II., III., and IV. Kings of France who reigned during the last half of the 16th and the first years of the 17th century. 49. Angelus. The bell tolled at stated times of the day, to indicate the time when prayers were to be said. 1-57. Longfellow had not visited this locality; he probably got some hints for this description from Normandy, through which he had traveled. 63. Hearty and hale. Phrase owing its form, and possibly its current use, to the effect of alliteration; like " cranny and crevice" (130) and "bell and book" (657). Many phrases in common use have a like form "fast and furious," "wild and woolly," etc. 65. Seventeen summers. Compare the way in which the age of her father is stated (62). 72. Hyssop. A bushy herb used by the Israelites in sprinkling the purifying waters. 74. Missal. A prayer-book. |