For the longest time, I have associated people just missing each other with Evangeline and Gabriel. Whenever two people who were supposed to meet each other couldn't seem to catch one other or get their timing right, my grandaunt would always say, "The two of you are like Evangeline and Gabriel."
I have never really known the story behind these two except that (1) Evangeline was a nurse, (2) Evangeline and Gabriel were lovers who spent their whole life searching for each other and not quite catching up with each other and (3) Gabriel died in the end.
Perhaps everybody else knew who these star-crossed lovers were but I was still somewhat clueless. To put all my questions to rest, I did some research and found out that what I had known all along was all I really needed to know (except that #1 actually came after #2).
Who are Evangeline and Gabriel? Evangeline Bellefontaine and Gabriel Lajeunesse are characters in a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1847.
Are they real people? Well, the poem was written based on true events but there is no real proof of the existence of a real Evangeline and and a real Gabriel. There are a lot of speculation, though.
What happened to Evangeline and Gabriel? Evangeline and Gabriel were separated on their wedding day during the expulsion of the Acadians (French colonists) from Acadie (present-day Nova Scotia, Canada). In 1755, the Acadians were given an ultimatum to swear allegiance to the British Crown or be exiled. Families were torn apart as they were forced to leave. Evangeline and Gabriel were separated into different boats as the ships were loaded for the movement of the Acadians to Louisiana, Quebec, France, and the other Maritime Provinces off Canada's coast.
Evangeline traveled down the Mississippi in search of Gabriel in Louisiana, where she had heard that he was a hunter and trapper. Upon her arrival in Louisiana, she learned that he was in the Attakapas district. She began her journey there, but soon found that Gabriel had just left the region. It was here that she began a lifelong search for her lost love as she wandered through the American frontier.
She eventually gave up her search and joined the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia, dedicating her life to the service of others. Years later, she found her beloved Gabriel, dying from an epidemic. He recognizes her. They have only a few moments together before he dies in her arms.
So in the end, Evangeline's search for Gabriel is over but she is now all alone.
(Sniff! Sniff! What a tragic story! I really don't like sad endings.)
I have never really known the story behind these two except that (1) Evangeline was a nurse, (2) Evangeline and Gabriel were lovers who spent their whole life searching for each other and not quite catching up with each other and (3) Gabriel died in the end.
Perhaps everybody else knew who these star-crossed lovers were but I was still somewhat clueless. To put all my questions to rest, I did some research and found out that what I had known all along was all I really needed to know (except that #1 actually came after #2).
Who are Evangeline and Gabriel? Evangeline Bellefontaine and Gabriel Lajeunesse are characters in a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1847.
Are they real people? Well, the poem was written based on true events but there is no real proof of the existence of a real Evangeline and and a real Gabriel. There are a lot of speculation, though.
What happened to Evangeline and Gabriel? Evangeline and Gabriel were separated on their wedding day during the expulsion of the Acadians (French colonists) from Acadie (present-day Nova Scotia, Canada). In 1755, the Acadians were given an ultimatum to swear allegiance to the British Crown or be exiled. Families were torn apart as they were forced to leave. Evangeline and Gabriel were separated into different boats as the ships were loaded for the movement of the Acadians to Louisiana, Quebec, France, and the other Maritime Provinces off Canada's coast.
Evangeline traveled down the Mississippi in search of Gabriel in Louisiana, where she had heard that he was a hunter and trapper. Upon her arrival in Louisiana, she learned that he was in the Attakapas district. She began her journey there, but soon found that Gabriel had just left the region. It was here that she began a lifelong search for her lost love as she wandered through the American frontier.
She eventually gave up her search and joined the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia, dedicating her life to the service of others. Years later, she found her beloved Gabriel, dying from an epidemic. He recognizes her. They have only a few moments together before he dies in her arms.
So in the end, Evangeline's search for Gabriel is over but she is now all alone.
(Sniff! Sniff! What a tragic story! I really don't like sad endings.)
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