How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
Meanwhile had spread in the village the tidings of ill, and on all sides
Wandered, wailing, from house to house the women and children. (487-488)
The first rumors of the English takeover are starting to spread through the village. This is just the tip of the iceberg, though. Many more hard times are on the horizon for these poor Acadians.
Quote #2
These things beheld in dismay the crowd on the shore and on shipboard.
Speechless at first they stood, then cried aloud in their anguish,
'We shall behold no more our homes in the village of Grand-Pré!' (624-626)
Yeah… nothing says suffering quite like standing on a beach, watching your whole village go up in flames. This is the last time these poor villagers will ever see their home.
Quote #3
MANY a weary year had passed since the burning of Grand-Pré,
When on the falling tide the freighted vessels departed,
Bearing a nation, with all its household gods, into exile,
Exile without an end, and without an example in story. (666-669)
Our speaker wants us to know that nobody's suffered like this poor Acadians have. You think you have it rough? These folks' exile has created strife that's beyond compare, and Evangeline's story is made all the more tragic as a result.