Long Mysterywedding Poems

The Legend of Celine, the White Lady

THE LEGEND OF CELINE,  THE  WHITE  LADY


In French Canada  no legend is more tragic than that of Celine, 
A beautiful Quebec maiden who, long  ago, fell in love with Alain. 
He  came galloping by on his white horse,  a handsome young marine -
They wanted marriage and  happily prepared their wedding plan.

They would go to the church  in a horse-drawn  carriage 
They would buy the  tidal watermill near their house by the river 
Next to  Montmorency Falls : a small whitewashed cottage
With garden and daisy flowers;  and he would become the  miller.

But one day Francois was  called to military action in a war terrible-
Every evening, pallid and wan,  she searched by the river  for her lover in vain.
Her beloved lost his life in battle, and Celine's bridal grief was inconsolable. 
“Alain,”  she called, convinced in her heart that they would meet again. 

After a year Celine could stand her  painful  loss no  more - the searching, the calls. 
One ashen moonlit night,  in her immaculate  pearl-blossom wedding  gown
She ran to the river, climbed onto the white horses of the misty Montmorency Falls. 
And disappeared  into mystery, as the swirling  ivory-silver waves swept down.

Calling his name, she slipped into the foamflowers.  Her snowy bride’s dress 
Was transformed into the falls’ watery cascade, and her long wedding-veil floated away
And became  a smaller waterfall nearby,   as she  swooned in the mist’s caress,
Listening  to  the soft loving words  she heard  Alain say.           

On moonlit evenings  the  maiden  in white  is still seen through the misty cloud
Of shimmering water cascading like daisy petals off the falls in their course:     
They say that his name can be heard in the surf and spume  of the torrent loud  
“Alain,  my life-love,  wait for me on your white horse. . . . .”
……………………………

NOTE:   
This is a well-known legend about the tragic love  story of the White Lady of Montmorency
Falls. The waterfalls ( Les Chutes de Montmorency) are located between Quebec City and Ile
d'Orleans, on the St. Lawrence River. These spectacular foamy falls are well worth a
visit.  Their height is 50% greater than Niagara; and the nearby ancient city of Quebec is
unique in North America.