He still lives at Agen, on the Garonne, and long may he live there to delight his native land with native songs!" It is unnecessary to quote the poem, which is so well-known by the numerous readers of Longfellow's poems, but a compressed narrative of the story may be given.
The legend is founded on a popular tradition.

Castel-Cuille stands upon a bluff rock in the pretty valley of Saint-Amans, about a league from Agen.

The castle was of considerable importance many centuries ago, while the English occupied Guienne; but it is now in ruins, though the village near it still exists.

In a cottage, at the foot of the rock, lived the girl Marguerite, a soldier's daughter, with her brother Paul.

The girl had been betrothed to her lover Baptiste; but during his absence she was attacked by virulent small-pox and lost her eyesight.
Though her beauty had disappeared, her love remained.