Elson Grammar School Literature Part 41

What purpose do the introductory lines to Part First serve?

Which lines give you the best picture of Acadie?

Which lines best describe the Acadians?

Explain: "There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance."

What characteristics had Evangeline? Find lines that tell you.

What picture does the poem give you of the home of Evangeline?

Who was Gabriel?

Describe the visit of Basil and Gabriel.

What were the characteristics of Father Leblanc?

Which lines in Longfellow's description of the contract and the evening scene at the farmer's are the most beautiful?

Describe the betrothal feast in your own words.

What message did the voice of the thunder convey to Evangeline?

Describe in your own words the embarkation, and the death of Evangeline's father.

Note the devotion of Evangeline as shown in her wanderings in search of Gabriel in the United States: The visit of Evangeline to the Acadian settlement in Louisiana, the southern home of Basil; Evangeline and Basil follow Gabriel to the West; Evangeline as a Sister of Mercy in Philadelphia; Gabriel found dying; The concluding stanza of the poem.

Which of the above descriptions impressed you most? Which is most pathetic?

Which do you like best?

Trace the journeyings of Evangeline on your map.

Find the lines that describe the burning of Grand-Pre. What can you say about this description?

In this poem there are many beautiful descriptions. What kinds of scenery are described? What kinds of people are described?

What had a life of sorrow taught Evangeline? Which lines tell you?

What led her to devote herself to the service of others?

What finally became her sole hope and wish?

Why does this poem endure? Do you like it? Why?

Which lines do you think are most beautiful?

Words and Phrases for Discussion.

"This is the forest primeval"

"Naught but tradition remains of Grand Pre"

"List to a Tale of Love in Acadie, home of the happy"

"Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of heaven"

"Under the open sky, in the odorous air of the orchard"

"Fairest of all the maids was Evangeline, Benedict's daughter n.o.blest of all the youths was Gabriel, son of the blacksmith"

THE BUILDING OF THE s.h.i.+P

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

"Build me straight, O worthy Master!

Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel, That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!"

The merchant's word Delighted the Master heard; For his heart was in his work, and the heart Giveth grace unto every Art.

A quiet smile played round his lips, As the eddies and dimples of the tide Play round the bows of s.h.i.+ps, That steadily at anchor ride.

And with a voice that was full of glee, He answered, "Ere long we will launch A vessel as goodly, and strong, and staunch, As ever weathered a wintry sea!"

And first with nicest skill and art, Perfect and finished in every part, A little model the Master wrought, Which should be to the larger plan What the child is to the man, Its counterpart in miniature; That with a hand more swift and sure The greater labor might be brought To answer to his inward thought.

And as he labored his mind ran o'er The various s.h.i.+ps that were built of yore, And above them all, and strangest of all, Towered the Great Harry, crank and tall, Whose picture was hanging on the wall, With bows and stern raised high in air, And balconies hanging here and there, And signal lanterns and flags afloat, And eight round towers, like those that frown From some old castle, looking down Upon the drawbridge and the moat, And he said, with a smile, "Our s.h.i.+p, I wis, Shall be of another form than this!"

It was of another form, indeed; Built for freight, and yet for speed, A beautiful and gallant craft; Broad in the beam, that the stress of the blast, Pressing down upon sail and mast, Might not the sharp bows overwhelm; Broad in the beam, but sloping aft With graceful curve and slow degrees, That she might be docile to the helm, And that the currents of parted seas, Closing behind, with mighty force, Might aid and not impede her course.

In the s.h.i.+p-yard stood the Master, With the model of the vessel, That should laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!

Covering many a rood of ground, Lay the timber piled around; Timber of chestnut, and elm, and oak, And scattered here and there, with these, The knarred and crooked cedar knees; Brought from regions far away, From Pascagoula's sunny bay, And the banks of the roaring Roanoke!

Ah! what a wondrous thing it is To note how many wheels of toil One thought, one word, can set in motion!

There's not a s.h.i.+p that sails the ocean, But every climate, every soil, Must bring its tribute, great or small,

And help to build the wooden wall!

The sun was rising o'er the sea, And long the level shadows lay, As if they, too, the beams would be Of some great, airy argosy, Framed and launched in a single day, That silent architect, the sun, Had hewn and laid them every one, Ere the work of man was yet begun.

Beside the Master, when he spoke, A youth, against an anchor leaning, Listened, to catch his slightest meaning.

Only the long waves, as they broke In ripples on the pebbly beach, Interrupted the old man's speech.

Beautiful they were, in sooth, The old man and the fiery youth!

The old man, in whose busy brain Many a s.h.i.+p that sailed the main Was modelled o'er and o'er again;-- The fiery youth, who was to be The heir of his dexterity, The heir of his house, and his daughter's hand, When he had built and launched from land What the elder head had planned.

"Thus," said he, "will we build this s.h.i.+p!

Lay square the blocks upon the slip, And follow well this plan of mine.

Choose the timbers with greatest care; Of all that is unsound beware; For only what is sound and strong To this vessel shall belong.