Evangeline

In dappled sunlight, shadows gray
Neath the whispering aspen green
I clear the moss and grime away
From gravestone marked Evangeline
 
No family, no house provides
Your silent stone—it dateless stands
O’er muddied tomb, your bones inside—
Your grave-soil tilled by unnamed hands
 
The faded carving of your name
Worn smooth by Time and Nature’s will
Laid bare for all the world to claim
Your self but dust your grave to fill
 
I bid you say, Evangeline
What tragedy buried you here?
What songs were heard, what sights were seen
Before the maggot came your peer?
 
Did passion grace your youthful breast
Chaste lips yet free from mouths untrue?
Beneath the willow did you rest
And summer’s vows exchange anew?
 
Perhaps, in shade of starlit dusk
And willow tree, he stole a kiss
He drank your honeyed, tender musk
And you drank his—could it be this?
 
O! Speak to me of marriage, please
A good husband, handsome and hale
Avowals made on bended knees
A cottage built in sundrenched vale
 
Together growing gardens bright
In wooded glen did you repose?
‘Tween branches was there trellis white
Hung high to help the thriving rose?
 
By streambed did you willow place
As token of your prosp’rous love
And intertwine your hands as lace
And bless what joy may come thereof?
 
With child, dear Evangeline
Were you got heavy, ripe, ere long?
A sweet-faced daughter, fair and green
Or son, mischievous and strong?
 
O! Tell me how in vale they played
Their clothes unkempt by Nature’s hand
Barefoot in glassy stream they strayed
Mild youths of halcyon land

Their rosy mouths kissed mother’s cheeks
But lips, still sweet, are man’s domain—
Evangeline, did he then seek
Your kiss, that honeyed musk again?

Did you still love your husband dear
Though doubtless dun had turned his eyes?
Did vale and children still give cheer
To you, now elderly and wise?
 
Or did you dream of better days—
Of posies tucked in golden locks
Lively youths with flattering praise
And summ’ry rest upon the rocks?
 
If so, perhaps, expecting this
He took your hand and led you far
And gave you one more gentle kiss
By willowbrook, beneath the stars
 
And, peace regained, did you then sleep
Beside him in your vale of green?
His hand in yours, from his firm keep
Did you pass on, Evangeline?
 
All this and more I would you say
Were heavy earth not ‘tween us now
For dateless, houseless do you lay
A whisper neath an aspen’s bough
 
You might’ve lived a span of days
For all this stone has answered me
But silence may go many ways
So I’ll give you your willow tree  

{A/N: This was written for my English class for an assignment where our poetry was supposed to mimic different periodic themes. This one was supposed to be reminiscent of the Romantic style - ergo lots of nature/natural symbolism, idealistic portrayals of common life/love, sorta kinda morbid, etc. It was also supposed to be 10-20 lines long... heh.}