[The following historical occurrence forms the foundation of the poem. When Acadia, the present Nova Scotia, was ceded by France to Great Britain in 1713, the French colonist population were compelled to take an oath of allegiance to Great Britain. In the next war between England and France, in Canada, the Acadians were accused of having given assistance to the French at the siege of Beau Séjour. As a punishment, they were deprived of their houses and lands, and cattle, and removed from the province suddenly, in vessels provided by the British Government. Friends and relatives lost each other in this sudden calamity; and the poem tells how Evangeline, the heroine, was separated in the confusion from her betrothed, and at length, after a weary life of resignation and toil, only met him again to close his eyes as he lay dying in a public hospital, in which she ministered as a Sister of Mercy.] INTRODUCTION. THIS is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic, |