Evangeline Part 6

Thus, on a Sabbath morn, through the streets, deserted and silent, 1320 Wending her quiet way, she entered the door of the almshouse.

Sweet on the summer air was the odor of flowers in the garden, And she paused on her way to gather the fairest among them, That the dying once more might rejoice in their fragrance and beauty.

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 a.s.siduous, 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 pa.s.sed, 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 consoler, Laying his hand upon many a heart, had healed it forever. 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 a.s.sume once more the forms of its earlier manhood; 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 pa.s.s over.

Motionless, senseless, dying, he lay, and his spirit exhausted 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 reverberations, 1360 Heard he that cry of pain, and through the hush that succeeded 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 eyelids, Vanished the vision away, but Evangeline knelt by his bedside.

Vainly he strove to whisper her name, for the accents unuttered 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 cas.e.m.e.nt. 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 sleeping.

Under the humble walls of the little Catholic churchyard, 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.

Only along the sh.o.r.e of the mournful and misty Atlantic Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom.

In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are still busy; 1395 Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of homespun, And by the evening fire repeat Evangeline's story, While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced, neighboring ocean Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.

PICTURES

Perry Pictures helpful in the Study of Evangeline:

Christ Church, Boston, 1357; The Sheepfold, 3049; The Blacksmith, 887; Evangeline, 23; The Wave, 3197; Spring, 484; Pasturage in the Forest, 506; Sheep-Spring, 757; Milking Time, 601; Angelus, 509; Haymaker's Rest, 605; Landscape, 490; Priscilla Spinning, 3298; Shoeing the Horse, 908; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 15; Priscilla, 1338; Autumn, 615; September, 1071; Deer by Moonlight, 1005; Winter Scene, 27-B.

We supply the above at one cent each, if twenty or more are ordered. They may be a.s.sorted, as desired.

NOTES.

PART ONE.

I

1. A PRIMEVAL FOREST is one which has not been disturbed by the axe.

3. DRUIDS were Celtic priests. Their religious ceremonies were carried on in oak groves, the trees being regarded as sacred.

10. GRAND PRE (gran-pr[=a]) means large meadow.

20. BASIN OF MINAS, an arm of the Bay of Fundy.

25. THE TIDES in the Bay of Fundy rise to the height of 60 feet. What is the ordinary rise of the tide?

29. BLOMIDON is a promontory about four hundred feet high at the entrance of the Bay of Minas.

33. THE HENRIES were rulers of France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

34. NORMANDY, a district in northern France bordering on the English channel.

39. KIRTLE, a petticoat.

49. THE ANGELUS was a bell which called people to prayer. What do you know of the painting called "The Angelus?"

57. Real misery was wholly unknown, and benevolence antic.i.p.ated the demands of poverty. Every misfortune was relieved, as it were, before it could be felt, without ostentation on the one hand and without meanness on the other.

It was in short, a society of brethren. ABBE REYNAL.

72. HYSSOP, a plant. A branch of it could be used like a sponge. It was a symbol of purification from sin.

74. CHAPLET OF BEADS, a string of beads used in praying. MISSAL, a prayer book.

96. See Luke XXII, 60, 61.

111. A PATRON SAINT was a Saint who was supposed to exercise a special care over the people of a town or district.

115. Lajeunesse (la-zhe-n[)e]s').

144. There was a saying among the people that "If the sun s.h.i.+nes on St.

Eulalie's day there will be a good crop of apples." It was February 12th.

II.

149. THE SCORPION is one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The sun enters this sign in late October.

153. For the reference to Jacob, see Gen. x.x.xII, 24-30.