Cidevant – former, recent, previous
“Much they marvelled to see the wealth of the cidevant blacksmith,
All his domains and his herds, and his patriarchal demeanor.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
Tag: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Page 2 of 4)
Thole – a pin, or either of a pair of pins, made of metal or wood and set vertically in the gunwale of a boat to serve as a fulcrum for an oar
“After the sound of their oars on the tholes had died in the distance…”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
Tenebrous – dark, gloomy, obscure
“Over their heads the towering and tenebrous boughs of the cypress
Met in a dusky arch, and trailing mosses in mid-air
Waved like banners that hang on the walls of ancient cathedrals.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
Cumbrous – cumbersome
“It was the month of May. Far down the Beautiful River,
Past the Ohio shore and past the mouth of the Wabash,
Into the golden stream of the broad and swift Mississippi,
Floated a cumbrous boat, that was rowed by Acadian boatmen.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
“Then from a neighboring thicket the mocking-bird, wildest of singers,
Henry Waldsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o’er the water,
Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious music,
That the whole air and the woods and the waves seemed silent to listen.
Plaintive at first were the tones, and sad; then soaring to madness
Seemed they to follow or guide the revel of frenzied Bacchantes.
Single notes were then heard, in sorrowful, low lamentation;
Till, having gathered them all, he hung them abroad in derision,
As when, after a storm, a gust of wind through the tree-tops
Shakes down the rattling rain in a crystal shower on the branches.”
“Thereupon the priest, her friend and father-confessor,
Said, with a smile, “O daughter! thy God thus speaketh within thee!
Talk not of wasted affection, affection never was wasted;
If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters, returning
Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them full of refreshment;
That which the fountain sends forth returns again to the fountain,
Patience; accomplish thy labor; accomplish thy work of affection!
Sorrow and silence are strong, and patient endurance is godlike.
Purified, strengthened, perfected, and rendered more worthy of heaven!”
Father Felician to Evangeline, in Evangeline, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Gleeds – a glowing coal
“Then as the wind seized the gleeds and the burning thatch, and, uplifting,
Whirled them aloft through the air, at once from a hundred house-tops
Started the sheeted smoke with flashes of flame intermingled.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
Refluent – flowing back, ebbing as the tide
“Half the task was not done when the sun went down, and the twilight
Deepened and darkened around; and in haste the refluent ocean
Fled away from the shore, and left the line of the sand-beach
Covered with waifs of the tide, with kelp and the slippery seaweed.
Henry wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline
Tocsin’s Alarum – an alarm bellow the ringing of it; a warning signal
“Deep were his tones and solemn; in accents measured and mournful
Spake he, as, after the tocsin’s alarum, distinctly the clock strikes.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Jocund – merry, cheerful, genial, sportive
“Many a glad good-morrow and jocund laugh from the young folk
Made the bright air brighter…”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow