Card 0 of 1
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 eld, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean (5)
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.
(1847)
What is the purpose of lines 1-2 in the passage?
Lines 1-2 introduces the poet’s lengthy, detailed personification of the forest and its trees. By saying that the pines are “murmuring” and the hemlocks are “bearded with moss, and in garments green,” the author ascribes human actions and attributes to inanimate objects. Since this personification continues to the end of the excerpt and also includes the ocean, the best choice is “To begin to personify the natural world.”
Passage adapted from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Evangeline.” (1847)
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