Evangeline
Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie is a poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It describes an Acadian girl named Evangeline Bellefontaine, who was separated from her love, Gabriel Lajeunesse, by the Great Expulsion of the Acadians. Evangeline was sent to New England, but Gabriel was sent to Louisiana. After becoming a nurse in Philadelphia, she discovers that one of her patients was Gabriel. The sight of him caused a fatal emotional shock to Evangeline. They died with each other united and were buried together.
The figure of Evangeline has since become a central part of Acadian culture, despite Longfellow having no links to it. Evangeline was not a usual Acadian name before the poem, but today it is commonplace.
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Categories: American poems | Acadia | French and Indian War | Poetry stubs