Almost good enough to make you forget that this is a tale about European colonizers and missionaries who never should have been in North America to begin with. Almost good enough to put a lump in your throat. Almost.

This Dover Thrift Edition makes an economical and convenient introduction to the work of Heendry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), the American poet who sort of provided the antithesis to Walt Whitman by always looking back to the continental European canon in writing verse on American themes. The volume contains his long poem "Evangeline" and is rounded out with 9 shorter poems.

"Evangeline" (1847) is a long poem in dactylic hexameters on the expulsion of the Acadians, the French settlers of Nova Scotia who were forced out by the British in 1755. The poem opens with a depiction of happy life in an Acadian village, around the time that the lovely maiden Evangeline is betrothed to the handsome blacksmith's son Gabriel. Immediately after, the British military comes in, and the couple are separated. Evangeline spends long years searching for Gabriel from Louisiana to Michigan and on to Philadelphia. Besides reminding his contemporary readers of the historical tragedy of the Acadian expulsion, "Evangeline" seems to be Longfellow's tribute to the North American continent and its diversity from the chilly zones of eastern Canada to the feverish bayous of the Cajun land. I enjoyed the plot, and Longfellow is to be praised for successfully creating a long poem in English in dactylic hexameters, as this metre is not at all appropriate for English. I was surprised to see that dactylic hexameter lacks a certain gestalt that other metres have; I love to memorize verse, but little of "Evangeline" could be committed to memory when written in this verse form.

Little of the remaining poems in this volume appeal to me, as I'm not a big fan of typical English rhymed poetry of this period. Nonetheless, "The Cross of Snow", which Longfellow wrote in memory of his second wife, is quite moving. "Divina Commedia", a series of six sonnets the poet wrote while translating Dante, have some interesting metaphors.

Beautiful poem

Love the imagery this poem evoked. I could almost hear the wind in the trees and see the beautiful forests and animals. The love story beautifully depicted. Delicate, yet everlasting

Got this book as a gift from a friend. It is a nice collection of poems by Longfellow, both short and lengthy (for a poem).

This edition of selected poems by Longfellow features the epic poem "Evangeline", which narrates the tale of two lovers separated during "The Great Upheaval", or Britain's forced removal of the Acadian people to the American colonies during the French and Indian War. The poem relies heavily on natural imagery and invocations of the Trinity, and is written in dactylic hexameter, which was also used for Homer's [b:Illiad|692108|Illiad and Odyssey of Homer|Barbara Leonie Picard|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nocover/60x80.png|678446] and [b:Odyssey|1381|The Odyssey|Homer|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349112871s/1381.jpg|3356006].

Despite really liking some of the other (shorter) poems in this collection, I'm not a huge fan of this poem. The natural descriptions are stunning and surprisingly, the poem is easy to read despite the meter (I remember finding Homer difficult in high school). But the story doesn't resonate with me.

I suspect that my reaction may be tainted with my position as a 21st-century reader as opposed to a 19th-century reader. For one thing, I think the readers of the 19th century had longer attention spans than I do. Forty-seven pages of metered poetry was a struggle. Also, I can't help but feel that the story of separated lovers wandering the lands in search of each other year after year after year may have been a newer concept to those readers of the past. Or maybe it's that they had a particular fascination with the colonies and early America welcoming the distressed Acadians, uprooted from their homes by common-enemy Britain. Longfellow was known (and criticized) for giving readers what they wanted.

Apparently, Longfellow's account of "The Great Upheaval" has long been considered the most popular (though biased) version. There is even a monument dedicated to the fictional Evangeline in Louisiana. I'm glad I read the poem as it was Longfellow's most-read work, but I had more luck with other poems such as "Carillon" and "Mezzo Cammin."

It's difficult for me to rate this. On one hand, the language was lovely. On the other hand, it was laid on a bit thick in parts. On a third hand, these poems were written in the 1800's so who am I to really judge pieces written so far away from where I am?

I'll just say that I'm glad I read these poems, and Evangeline was very interesting, but Longfellow isn't a poet that intrigues me as much as other writers from his time.