excitement. Many of these exiles were unable ever again to find trace of those they had lost. It is said that Hawthorne first discovered and gave to Longfellow the legend upon which the poem is founded, surrendering his own intention of building a novel upon it in order that Longfellow might use it. The following selection covers only a part of " Evangeline." This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indis tinct in the twilight, Stand like Druids of eld with voices sad and prophetic, Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neigh- boring ocean Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest. This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts that beneath it Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voices of the huntsman? Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acdian farmers,-- Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands, Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of heaven ? Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers forever departed! Scattered like dust and leaves, when the mighty blasts of October Seize them, and whirl them aloft and sprinkle them far o'er the ocean. Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful vil- lage of Grand-Pre |
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