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 People have always migrated in search of better climatic conditions or in response to
environmental change. Today, this phenomenon takes on a whole new dimension, as climate
change progressively threatens traditional landscapes and livelihoods of entire communities.
Increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events, such as floods, hurricanes and
droughts, lead to significant population displacement every year on every continent. Every day
we hear and read about ‘environmental’ or ‘climate migrants’.
The Atlas of Environmental Migration is the first illustrated publication mapping environmental
migration, clarifying terminology and concepts, drawing a typology of migration related
to environment and climate change, describing the multiple factors at play, explaining the
challenges, and highlighting the opportunities related to this phenomenon. Through elaborate
maps, diagrams, illustrations and case studies from all over the world based on the most
updated international research findings, the Atlas guides the reader through this complex
phenomenon from the roots of environmental migration to governance.
Dina Ionesco is Head of the Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division at the
International Organization for Migration.
Daria Mokhnacheva works as a thematic specialist at the Migration, Environment and
Climate Change Division at the International Organization for Migration.
François Gemenne is the Executive Director of the Politics of the Earth Programme
at Sciences Po/USPC, and Senior Research Associate at the FNRS, University of Liège
(Hugo Observatory).

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-6sept.indd 1 06/09/2016 10:40

 “The numbers, maps and fine-grained detail of this work illuminate and
delineate the intersection of key challenges of globalization. It brings much
needed explanation and perspective to this contested area. This Atlas really
does try to balance the sky on its shoulders.”
Neil Adger, University of Exeter, UK

“There is a tragic connection between the incapacity of nation states to

respond to migration and to climate change. In both cases, it is the very
notion of sovereignty that seems questioned. One solution is to try to
maintain the status quo, the other to map how inefficient the notion of
sovereignty has become. This is one of the major achievements of this Atlas.”
Bruno Latour, Sciences Po, France

“The fates of individuals and communities most vulnerable to climate change

are often forgotten in political debates. Climate justice, which links human
rights and development to achieve a human-centred approach, requires us to
safeguard the rights of the most vulnerable people and share the burdens and
benefits of climate change and its impacts equitably and fairly. The Atlas of
Environmental Migration deserves much praise for bringing people and their
rights into the heart of the issue of environmental displacement.”
Mary Robinson, President, Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, Ireland

“Climate stresses and the degradation of resources and agriculture are major
drivers of migration in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world. This Atlas
provides a balanced picture of how the mismanagement of the environment
can directly impact people’s lives. It highlights the importance of protecting
our environment thus reducing the risk of forced migration and how coherent
migration-based strategies can provide a lifeline to millions of people.”
Thomas L. Friedman, author and columnist, USA

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-6sept.indd 2 06/09/2016 10:40

 The Atlas
OF ENVIRONMENTAL
MIGRATION
Dina Ionesco
Daria Mokhnacheva
François Gemenne

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-6sept.indd 3 06/09/2016 10:40

 First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Dina Ionesco and Daria Mokhnacheva (IOM), and François Gemenne
The right of Dina Ionesco, Daria Mokhnacheva and François Gemenne to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
The maps produced for the Atlas of Environmental Migration are based on the maps of the United Nations
Geospatial Information Section (2012). The designations employed and the presentation of material on
these maps are not warranted to be error free and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on
the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations or of the International Organization for Migration concerning
the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its
frontiers or boundaries.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Publisher’s note: This book has been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the authors.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
Maps and graphics created by Atelier de Cartographie de Sciences Po, Aurélie Boissière,
Philippe Rekacewicz, Agnès Stienne, Zoï Environment Network
Research and map production coordinated by Daria Mokhnacheva
Typeset in Akzidenz Grotesk Next and Chaparral Pro by Alain Chevallier
Translated and edited by Alexander Bramble
Cover image: © Marie Velardi, ‘Terre-Mer (Oostende)’, 2014, pencil and watercolour on paper, 75 x 109 cm.

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-15sept.indd 4 15/09/2016 18:47

 Contents
Forewords Challenges
VI Supporting environmental migrants: and opportunities
A new imperative
70 Introduction
VIII Climate change: The ultimate injustice
72 Disruption of traditional migration strategies
IX A myriad of opportunities
74 Circular migration
X Acknowledgements
76 Development, adaptation and risk management
XI The authors
78 Demographic pressure in at-risk areas
XII List of experts consulted
80 Urbanization
XIV List of abbreviations and acronyms
82 Security and conflict
84 Managing mass displacement
86 Protecting human rights
Current migration and 88 Individual coping strategies
90 Gender and migration
environmental migration
2 Introduction
4 A long history
6 A political issue Governance and policy
8 A world in motion responses
10 Geography of research
94 Introduction
12 Quantifying and forecasting
98 The cost of environmental migration
16 Disasters and displacement
102 Funding action
18 Forced or voluntary?
106 International law
20 Trajectories
108 Building a new legal framework
22 Time frames
110 Regional legal frameworks
24 Return migration
112 At the crossroads of international agendas
26 Relocation
114 Regional policy processes
28 Immobility
116 International organizations
30 Amenity migration
118 Migration and national adaptation policies
120 Linking mobility and disaster management
122 Linking migration, adaptation and development
Factors of environmental
migration
124 Glossary
34 Introduction 128 Bibliography and sources
38 Geophysical disasters 148 Photo credits
40 Floods, storms and landslides 149 Index
42 Droughts, extreme temperatures and wildfires
46 Ecosystem degradation
50 Sea-level rise and coastal risks
54 Industrial accidents
56 Infrastructure and land grabbing
58 The regional impacts of climate change
64 A multi-causal phenomenon
66 Individual factors

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 Supporting environmental
migrants: A new imperative

O
ur era is experiencing an unprec- In 2014, some 220,000 migrants with All too often still, we forget that on
edented level of human mobility. irregular status crossed the Mediterra- a personal level, numerous factors
Of our planet’s 7 billion people, nean heading for Europe and in 2015, combine to influence the strategy of
more than 1 billion have moved either more than 1 million people followed this each individual, and that migration is all
within or outside of their country of same route – a record number compared but a mechanical response.
origin; namely one person in seven. to previous years. Sadly, the year 2015 And finally, all too often, we are unaware
This mobility is the result of a multi- also witnessed another record: that of the of migrants’ positive contributions to the
plicity of interrelated factors: poverty, number of lives lost – 3,772 in the Medi- economy of their departure or destina-
the search for a better life, the dispari- terranean and 5,393 worldwide. It should tion regions and countries, as well as of
ties between North and South, conflicts, not be forgotten that the phenomenon of the benefits of migration and the role that
labour needs, demographic explosion, migratory flows is global: they can occur migrants could play in climate change
and the digital revolution. But also – in the Gulf of Aden, in the Caribbean adaptation efforts.
which brings me to the goal of the Atlas of between Haiti and the south of Florida, My vision is of a world in which the poten-
Environmental Migration – environmental across the US–Mexican border, or in tial of migration is recognized and valued,
factors, particularly natural disasters and South Asia, to name but a few. but also of a world where those who do
climate change. Faced with this reality, it is no longer time not wish to migrate have the option
In 2015, more than 19 million people for sadness and regret; it is time to act. of staying in their regions and in their
were newly displaced within their coun- To do so, we must first better under- countries. Migration can be managed,
tries due to natural disasters, a figure that stand the complex links between human planned, facilitated and organized in an
does not even take slow environmental mobility, environment, and climate effective and respectful fashion. Poli-
degradation or drought into account. change. Then, we must debunk a certain cies to protect affected populations are
Human migration has always been number of misperceptions. as much a matter of prevention as of
linked to the environment, but polit- All too often, forced displacement is the ability to effectively manage migra-
ical awareness of the importance of this only mentioned when it arises because tion arising from environmental change.
factor is recent. We now know that the of natural disasters. Its human cost of We can, for instance, multiply legal
causes of the migratory crisis that the course remains shocking and much too migration channels; improve the flow of
world is currently experiencing include high, but it leads us to ignore all of the mobility via return or seasonal migration
phenomena such as climate change and other forms of mobility linked to slow programmes; and put in place temporary
its impact on soil degradation, the multi- degradation, and the lot of those who protection measures. IOM does not only
plication and intensification of sudden do not have sufficient means to resort to believe that migration is inevitable in light
events, desertification, water stress, and migration as a survival strategy. of demographic, social, economic and
recurrent drought. All too often, we neglect the internal political realities, but also that it is neces-
We also know that in the future, a signif- or inter-regional reality as well as the sary, and even desirable, for nations
icant number of people will be affected South–South dimension of this envi- to prosper, providing that it is carefully
by sea-level rise, coastal erosion, ocean ronmental migration and put forward managed and respects human rights.
acidification, and soil salinization, and that alarmist scenarios, which are barely Yet, environmental migration does not
migration will be one possible response. consistent with the reality of the situation. solely concern migration policies. It also
All of this adversity and the despera- Or indeed, conversely, we totally ignore has an impact on a large number of
tion that accompanies it lead individuals, the environmental dimension, which is other spheres, particularly development,
most often victims of criminal smug- extremely difficult to isolate due to the humanitarian action, disaster risk reduc-
gling networks, to migrate in dangerous fact that it is entangled with other causes, tion, urban and rural management poli-
conditions by crossing seas and deserts. for instance economic. cies, and, of course, climate policies, upon

VI   The Atlas of Environmental Migration

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-6sept.indd 6 06/09/2016 10:40

 which this work places particular impor- than 20 years on environmental migra- encouraging organized and effective
tance. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable tion, in collaboration with researchers responses to the challenges posed by
Development and the Sendai Frame- and university professors, which reflects this kind of migration, at both policy level
work for Disaster Risk Reduction, both current thinking in this domain. It also and for the public at large.
adopted in 2015, formally recognize portrays a vision that places migrants Finally, it is the reflection of our commit-
migrants as a key group, underlining and their communities at the heart of ment to partnership. On the one
not only their vulnerability, but also their concerns. When, destitute and hit by hand with the academic community:
specific strengths. disasters, be they sudden or progressive, researchers, cartographers and students
Since 2010, the importance of human migrants abandon their homes and loved have widely contributed to it; on the
mobility has been recognized by States ones, we must protect them and support other hand, with a broad range of actors
in several decisions adopted during them. When they are engaged in devel- involved in its conception and realiza-
climate negotiations. The reference to opment strategies and involved in adap- tion, either by providing information and
the rights of migrants in the Paris Agree- tation efforts as responsible actors, we expertise or through financial support:
ment negotiated at COP21 in December must assist them. foundations, non-governmental organi-
2015 constitutes an historic step forward With commendable honesty, the authors zations, international organizations, the
in this regard. We must now continue of the Atlas have chosen to not only public and private sectors, and particu-
efforts to integrate mobility-related demonstrate what we know about envi- larly the publishing sphere. I am espe-
issues in the framework of collective ronmental migration but also what we still cially grateful to all of them for accepting
action on climate change and its funding do not know, in order to identify the gaps to take part in this adventure.
in order to be able to address their root that need to be filled. In bringing together I very much hope that this Atlas will serve
causes and to allow migrants to assert in one vision the issues of migratory real- to share and disseminate knowledge and
themselves as responsible, conscien- ities and climatic and environmental real- information and will prove useful to all.
tious, and engaged actors in efforts ities, the authors have helped to shed
against climate change. IOM’s action in more light on the multiple links between William Lacy Swing
this regard has also made progress since these fields. Director General of the International
its Member States approved the creation The choice of an atlas – the kind of work Organization for Migration
of a division devoted to migration, envi- that demands rigour and creativity –
ronment and climate change, which has is courageous as it means having to be
been operational since the beginning able to simplify highly complex equations
of 2015. These are unmistakable signs and to represent them graphically. I am
of the recognition of the link between delighted to have been able to support
environmental and migratory issues. We this endeavour and I would like to pay
can no longer afford to ignore human tribute to the joint efforts of the three
mobility – constitutive of our time – in authors, who bring together academic
collective efforts to protect the future of and international experience.
our planet. The Atlas of Environmental Migration is
The publication of the Atlas of Environ- thus, in my opinion, much more than a
mental Migration forms part of our efforts book.
to spread an informed and balanced It is the reflection of our commitment to
message about contemporary migration. contribute to raising awareness of the
The Atlas is the fruit of specific work importance of the impacts of climate
that IOM has been undertaking for more change on human mobility; and also to

The Atlas of Environmental Migration   VII

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-6sept.indd 7 06/09/2016 10:40

 Climate change:
The ultimate injustice

I
would first like to congratulate the brutally dried, meaning that herds can become human again. The solutions to
authors of this Atlas of Environmental no longer feed, and milk is increasingly fight and adapt to climate change exist:
Migration. This contribution will help us less abundant. When it becomes impos- replace fossil fuels with eternally renew-
collectively to look differently at the situ- sible to feed their family, to live in secu- able energy from the sun, the wind, or
ation of those who have no other choice rity on the land of their ancestors, what water; restore degraded land by recul-
but to leave the land where they were other alternative do people have than to tivating it; preserve biodiversity in order
born. seek refuge elsewhere, in already over- to strengthen the resilience of places
A universal agreement, legally binding crowded capitals, or farther afield, most inhabited by human beings for so long;
the 195 States parties to the United often in the North, where you only have and facilitate migration to better adapt
Nations Framework Convention on to turn on a tap to get drinking water? and to reduce the pressure on fragile
Climate Change, is absolutely essential The social, economic, financial and ecosystems. All of this is within our grasp.
in order to limit temperature rise to no ecological crises that we are experi- It is today simply a matter of wanting and
more than 2oC by the end of the century. encing today are due to our genius, not having the courage to act. The year 2015
It is up to decision makers, and it is up to our powerlessness. Climate change is was a crucial one: it constituted a key
us all to make history if we do not want to very much the fruit of our way of life, of step in the process of two major series
have to suffer it. the economic model that arose from the of international negotiations: on devel-
Climate change is the ultimate injustice. Industrial Revolution at the end of the opment and on climate change. These
Its initial effects are already being felt and nineteenth century. Einstein said that issues must be addressed together. The
do not spare any region or continent in ‘perfection of means and confusion of challenge lying ahead is to allow a popu-
the world … But the consequences of ends seem to characterize our age’. As lation that has never been so large to
episodes of violent rainfall or prolonged the Pope highlighted in the ‘Laudato Si’ attain a quality of life without precedent.
drought, the dramatic effects of storms, Encyclical, it is up to us, believers or not,
hurricanes and typhoons, are not the to take care of our shared home. Both Nicolas Hulot
same for those living in the North and the Encyclical and the Islamic Declara- Special Envoy of the French President for the
South. And it is those who cannot take tion on Global Climate Change, adopted Protection of the Planet (2013–2016)
advantage of any of the progress that during the International Islamic Climate
has been made who are the powerless Change Symposium in August 2015 in
victims. Istanbul, stress the necessary abstemi-
Along with President Hollande, I visited ousness that we should adopt. Ever more
the Philippines where I discovered that religious leaders, scientists and intel-
after each new extreme climate episode lectuals are inviting us to build a world
– as we modestly describe them – the based on protection rather than preda-
population is always a little more desti- tion, on cooperation rather than compe-
tute, sinking each time into ever greater tition, on fair trade rather than free trade,
precariousness. Nor is Africa spared: on sharing rather than on accumulation.
throughout the continent the rainfall cycle For the Mediterranean to once again
is being disrupted. In areas where several become the symbol of freedom and of
harvests per year had always ensured civilization that it represented for centu-
populations’ subsistence, drought means ries, for it to cease to be a graveyard
only one is now possible. Cattle are also where millions of people’s hopes for
affected: pastures are flooded and then a better life are smashed, let’s simply

VIII   The Atlas of Environmental Migration

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-15sept.indd 8 15/09/2016 09:55

 A myriad of opportunities

L
ong ignored, migration and envi- provide alternatives, build social cohe- policies and programmes to attract those
ronmental degradation are both, sion and remove at least some of the trig- investments towards land opportunities.
out of necessity, forcing their way gers for radicalization and conflict. The government and its technical agen-
up political agendas. The fact that this Slow-onset events, such as desertifi- cies are creating the enabling environ-
is happening, at the same time, is not a cation, land degradation and drought, ment to attract migrant entrepreneurs by
surprise. in particular, allow us to plan and inter- offering low-rate credit and land conces-
As climate change and environmental vene. Avoiding environmentally induced sions. So far, demand for land-related
degradation occur, the world’s rural poor displacement and mass migration investment opportunities by the diaspora
are hit first and hit hardest. Three out of involves simultaneously creating resil- has been impressive.
four rural people are poor and 86 per cent ient communities and strengthening By replicating these successes and
depend on the land for survival. Glob- the resources they depend on. Climate- thinking outside of the box on the rela-
ally, at least 1.5 billion people rely on proofing the land can be simple and cost- tionship between migration and envi-
degrading land buffeted by forces seem- effective. Planning a timely intervention ronmental issues, we could harness the
ingly beyond their control. In a time of also means building on the strengths of massive potential of migrants to support
dramatic climate change, as the land dries migrants themselves. Migrants have and the resilience of their home communities.
up and sea levels surge, competition for have acquired a hugely valuable array The Atlas of Environmental Migration
vital natural resources will accelerate and of skills and experience. Given the right is a step forward in raising awareness
communities crumble. The instances of incentives, they have the capacity to of how migration and environmental
seasonal migration that can already be invest and stabilize degraded ecosystems trends are converging. Understanding
observed in response to poor harvests and whole communities. Remittances these dynamics and addressing them
may become cases of permanent migra- into and within sub-Saharan Africa by before too many lives and resources are
tion in the event of crop destruction or migrants annually amount to roughly 40 irreversibly lost is vital for the common
extreme droughts. billion dollars. A huge amount can be future of every single one of us.
Solutions to these challenges based achieved if these funds are well invested.
only on the idea of containment lead to Take Ethiopia for example. The country Monique Barbut
record-breaking poverty, human rights has set a target to restore 15 million Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of
violations and even more forced migra- hectares of degraded and deforested the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification
tion. We are seeing the consequences land into productivity by 2025 — that is
of our lack of holistic action in terms one-sixth of the total land area. House-
of a soaring number of migrant deaths hold remittances of on average about
and increased suffering at sea, in the 500 dollars per year have tradition-
deserts and along international frontiers. ally been used for short-term consump-
Unless both are properly considered and tion needs like food. In the rural areas,
addressed in a timely way, social unrest however, remittances are now increas-
and more violence will inevitably follow. ingly invested in repaying debt and in
Yet, through proactive policies addressing the resilience of the land in the face of
the relationship between people and their climate change. Returning migrants
lands, we can safeguard everyone. We can are introducing new, climate-resilient
support vulnerable communities, before farming methods. This is creating jobs
they are trapped, to rehabilitate their land; for rural youth who might have otherwise
help governments to secure land tenure migrated themselves.
rights and create new jobs for seasonal Well aware of the inter-linkages between
migrants as well as increase opportu- land degradation and migration as well as
nities for land-based investments. By of the development potential of diaspora
turning around degradation trends, we investments, Senegal is also promoting

The Atlas of Environmental Migration   IX

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-6sept.indd 9 06/09/2016 10:40

 Acknowledgements

The Atlas of Environmental Migration was produced At IOM, we also thank for their specific contributions We extend our sincerest gratitude to all the experts
through a partnership between the International Mazen Aboulhosn, Baptiste Amieux, Rudolf Anich, whose research work, contributions, advice and
Organization for Migration (IOM), the Paris Institute Jean-Philippe Antolin, Amal Ataya, Joseph Ashmore, encouragement were fundamental to this project,
of Political Studies (Sciences Po Paris) and the Leena Azzam, Lorena Bacci, Eliana Barragan, and to the young and dynamic community of
University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Tara Brian, Angel Camino, Jean-Philippe Chauzy, researchers that has recently grown in the area
(UVSQ), and thanks to the generous contributions Ricardo Cordero, Abdel Diop, Mohamed Elaraki, of environmental migration. This Atlas is above
of its funding partners. Patrizio Fanti, Rabab Fatima, Monique Frison, Ethel all a recognition of their invaluable work, which
We would particularly like to thank the following Gandia, Elsa Garcia, Salvador Gutierrez, Shintaro serves every day the cause of all the people on
partners for their continuous support: the Bernheim Higashiyama, Agi Hoire, Michele Klein-Solomon, the move in the context of environmental change,
Foundation, COST Action IS1101 of the European Frank Laczko, Gael Leloup, Ray Leyesa, Bernardo and contributes to the promotion of their rights
Union, EPA Ghana, the European Commission, the Mariano, Kerry Maze, Fernando Medina, Susanne and living conditions. Special thanks goes to
Foundation for Population, Migration, Environment Melde, Chiara Milano, Marie Stella Ndiaye, Serena the students of the ‘Environment and Migration’
(BMU–PME), the Heinrich Böll Foundation – Odianose, Nuno Nunes, Kelly O’Connor, Sarah course at the Paris School of International Affairs
European Union, the ISDT Wernaers Fund, the Oliai, Guénolé Oudry, Jorge Peraza, Karoline at Sciences Po Paris for the numerous case studies
Italian Development Cooperation, the National Popp, Patrice Quesada, Daniel Salmon, Guglielmo compiled since 2010.
Research Foundation (Belgium), the Nippon Schinina, Wonesai Sithole, Emily Skovran, Dario Finally, this publication would not have been
Foundation, the Secretariat of the United Nations Tedesco, Monique Van Hoof, Lalini Veerassamy, possible without the dedicated work and creativity
Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Rachel Velasco, Maryna Vyrvykhvost, Kristy Warren, of the talented cartographers and graphic designers
United Nations Development Programme. Sanjula Weerasinghe, and all other contributing who have invested so much of their energy
colleagues at IOM Headquarters and regional and and expertise into this project, and to whom we
The authors would like to express their utmost national offices.
gratitude to all the contributors, colleagues and particularly owe our thanks:
governmental, institutional and academic partners We are extremely grateful to the editorial team Marie-Françoise Durand, Patrice Mitrano, Thomas
who have provided support to this work. at Routledge for their continued support to this Ansart, Antoine Rio and Benoît Martin at the Atelier
endeavour from the very start and for their patience; de Cartographie de Sciences Po Paris;
We are particularly grateful to William Lacy Swing, in particular to Helen Bell, Hannah Champney,
Laura Thompson, Ovais Sarmad, Gervais Appave, Louisa Earls, Margaret Farrelly, Edward Gibbons, Freelance cartographers Aurélie Boissière, Agnès
Shahidul Haque, Jill Helke, Bernd Hemingway and Annabelle Harris, and Bethany Wright, as well as to Stienne and Philippe Rekacewicz;
Sara Abbas at IOM. Martin Barr, our copy editor. And Otto Simonett, Emmanuelle Bournay,
Special thanks goes to Emma Proust and Melissa We would also like to thank Alexander Bramble Matthias Beilstein and Carolyne Daniel at the Zoï
Tui for their assistance in research, and, for their for his precious support and advice throughout Environment Network.
continuous support to the project, to Jo De Backer, the project and for the translation of a part of the
Barbara Bendandi, Alessia Castelfranco, Sabira publication; and our layout designer Alain Chevallier
Coelho, Clara Crimella, Alex Flavell, Lorenzo for his dedicated work and creative solutions to so
Guadagno, Valerie Hagger, Kerstin Lau, Sieun Lee, many challenges.
Eva Mach, Muhammad Rizki, Alice Sironi, Mariam
Traore Chazalnoel, Elizabeth Warn, and Lorelle Yuen
at IOM.

bmu
pme

X The Atlas of Environmental Migration

01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-6sept.indd 10 06/09/2016 10:40

 The authors

Dina Ionesco is the Head of the Daria Mokhnacheva is a François Gemenne is a

Migration, Environment and Climate thematic specialist in the Migration, specialist on environmental geopolitics
Change Division at IOM. In this capacity Environment and Climate Change and migration. He is a senior research
she oversees policies and programmes Division at IOM, focusing on the impacts associate at the University of Liege (FNRS
related to the migration, environment of disasters and environmental change - Hugo Observatory) and the Executive
and climate change nexus and on societies, migration and development, Director of the ‘Politics of the Earth’
coordinates IOM’s contributions to policy and providing support to the elaboration Programme at Sciences Po in Paris. He
processes, such as the climate change of relevant programmes and projects. also teaches courses on environmental and
negotiations and the Nansen Initiative. Before joining IOM, she managed migration policies in various universities,
She has authored several publications environmental projects at UNDP in Russia, including Sciences Po and the Free
and developed numerous progammes and contributed to the DEVAST-Fukushima University of Brussels. His research mainly
including capacity-building activities for project at IDDRI in Paris. She has authored focuses on environmental migration and
decision makers. Prior to joining IOM, she and co-authored several articles, research displacement, on the social dimensions of
worked at the OECD, where she focused papers and book chapters on migration, climate change, and on adaptation policies.
on local development, after a diverse environment and climate change. She He has authored a large number of articles
experience in the non-governmental and holds an undergraduate degree from the and books on these topics.
academic sectors. She holds degrees from University of Cambridge, and studied for
Sciences Po Paris, the University of Sussex her Masters at Sciences Po Paris and
and the London School of Economics. Columbia University.

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 List of experts consulted
Adams, Helen Brown, Sophie Fernandes, Duval
Associate Research Fellow, Geography, Environmental Cooperation for Professor in Geography, Pontifícia
College of Life and Environmental Peacebuilding, United Nations Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais
Sciences, University of Exeter Environment Programme
Franck, Marine
Adger, Neil Bruch, Carl Climate Change Officer, United Nations
Professor of Human Geography, University Senior Attorney, Co-Director, International High Commissioner for Refugees
of Exeter Programs, Environmental Law Institute
Gaillard, JC
Ahmed, Dilruba Brügger, Silvia Associate Professor, School of
Director of Social and Economic Division, Director Climate and Energy Programme, Environment, University of Auckland
Center for Environmental and Geographic Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
Information Services Ginetti, Justin
Chenevat, Laurène Head of Data and Analysis, Internal
Aragón-Durand, Fernando Mirova Displacement Monitoring Centre
Researcher, International Consultant
(formerly at the Inter-American Institute for Chun, Jane Gourion-Retore, Mathilde
Global Change Research and ODI) Independent consultant and researcher
Research, Policy and Foresight Section,
Sector for Social and Human Sciences,
Baker, Louise Couture, Jean-Louis UNESCO
External Relations, Policy and Advocacy Advisor to the Executive Secretary,
United Nations Convention to Combat
Coordinator, United Nations Convention to
Desertification
Grassani, Alessandro
Combat Desertification Photographer and freelance journalist

Balamaci, Aida-Bianca Crowley, John

Chief of Section, Research, Policy and
Griffiths, Emma
Knowledge Management Expert, United Head of Communications, UK Government
Foresight, Sector for Social and Human
Nations Development Programme Office for Science
Sciences, UNESCO

Barbut, Monique De Sherbinin, Alex Guélat, Jérémie

Executive Secretary of the United Nations PhD Student and Teaching Assistant,
Associate Director for Science
Convention to Combat Desertification Institute of Geography, University of
Applications, Center for International Earth
Science Information Network, Columbia Neuchâtel
Bintanja, Richard University
Senior Climate Scientist, Royal Hanson, Susan
Netherlands Meteorological Institute Diniz, Alexandre M.A Research Fellow, Engineering and the
Coordinator, Geography Postgraduate Environment, University of Southampton
Birkeland, Nina Programme, Pontifícia Universidade
Senior Advisor, Disasters and Climate Católica de Minas Gerais Hasegawa, Reiko
Change Partnerships and Policy Research Fellow, Politics of the Earth
Department, Norwegian Refugee Council Duvat, Virginie programme at Médialab Sciences Po, and
Research Fellow, University of La Rochelle PhD Student at the University of Liège
Black, Richard (Hugo Observatory)
Pro-Director (Research and Enterprise), El Raey, Mohamed
School of Oriental and African Studies, Professor of Environmental Physics, Henry, Kevin
University of London University of Alexandria Consultant, Analyst and Project
Coordinator, Climate Smart Smallholder
Bower, Erica El-Labbane, Chirine Agriculture, Food Security for All, former
Disasters and Displacement Consultant, Communication Officer, Nansen Initiative CARE France Director
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre Secretariat
Henry, Sabine
Brimblecombe, Simon Entwisle, Chapuisat Professor, Geography department,
Project Coordinator, Social Security Policy Hannah University of Namur
Analysis and Research, International Social Research and Partnerships Officer,
Security Association Nansen Initiative Secretariat Hinkel, Jochen
Senior Researcher, Global Climate Forum
Bronen, Robin Esipova, Neli
Executive Director, Alaska Institute for Director of Research, Global Migration Hulot, Nicolas
Justice, Senior Research Scientist, Institute and FSU and Eastern Europe Regional Special Envoy of the French President for the
of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Director, Gallup World Poll Protection of the Planet from 2013 to 2016

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 Islam, K.M. Nabiul Nicholls, Robert J. Tachie-Obeng, Emmanuel
Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Professor of Coastal Engineering, Senior Programme Officer, Environmental
Institute for Development Studies University of Southampton Protection Agency, Ghana

Jaervinen, Petra O’Hara, Molly Thomas, Alice

Partnerships, Solutions for Displacement Paris School of International Affairs, Climate Displacement Program Manager,
and Reintegration, United Nations Sciences Po Refugees International
Development Programme
Pagnotta, Antonio Venturini, Tommaso
Jensen, David Photographer and freelance journalist Associate Professor and Coordinator of
Head of Environmental Cooperation
Médialab Research, Sciences Po Lecturer
for Peacebuilding, United Nations
Perrin, Nathalie at Digital Humanities Department at King’s
Environment Programme
Max Planck Institute for International, College
European and Regulatory Procedural Law,
Kaenzig, Raoul formerly migration researcher at CEDEM,
Teaching assistant (postgraduate student) Vigil, Sara
University of Liège Research Fellow F.R.S-FNRS, University
at the Institute of Geography, University of
Neuchâtel of Liège (Hugo Observatory) Lecturer at
Piguet, Etienne Sciences Po
Professor in Geography, University of
Le De, Loic Neuchâtel, Vice-President, Federal
Professional Teaching Fellow, School of Warner, Koko
Commission for Migration
Environment, University of Auckland Manager of the subprogramme on
Impacts, Vulnerability and Risks,
Lincke, Daniel Pinto, Al Adaptation programme, UNFCCC
Senior Media Designer, Center for
Researcher, Global Climate Forum,
International Earth Science, Columbia
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
University
Watter, Urs
Research Scientific Assistant, Foundation for
Population, Migration and the Environment
Lux, Stéphanie Pirard, Romain
Advisor to Nicolas Hulot, Special Envoy of Research Fellow Forests, Biodiversity,
Agriculture, Center for International Weber, Walter J.
the French President for the Protection of Master of Law, Attorney at Law, Member,
the Planet (2013–2016) Forestry Research
New York Bar, Weber Law Office,
Chairman of the Board, Foundation for
Magnan, Alexandre Pires Ramos, Erika
Population, Migration and the Environment
Research Fellow, IDDRI Founder, RESAMA, South American
Network for Environmental Migrations
Weikmans, Romain
Mauelshagen, Franz Postdoctoral Fellow, Environment and
Senior Fellow, Institute for Advanced Pugliese, Anita
Managing Consultant, The Gallup Society, Brown University
Sustainability Studies, Potsdam
Organization
McKinnon, Matthew Yonetani, Michelle
Specialist, CVF Support, United Nations Ramet, Philippe Senior Strategic Advisor on Disaster-
Development Programme Advisor on Environment, Transport Induced Displacement, Internal
and COP21, Permanent Mission Displacement Monitoring Centre
Meneghetti, Luisa of France to the United Nations
Research Fellow, Internal Displacement Office and other international Zaccai, Edwin
Monitoring Centre organizations in Geneva Professor, Centre of Studies for
Sustainable Development, Université libre
Milan, Andrea Randall, Alex de Bruxelles and Sciences Po
Programme Analyst at UN Women, Coordinator, Climate Outreach Information
formerly Research Associate at UNU-EHS Network Zickgraf, Caroline
Migration Researcher, University of Liège
Müller, Valerie Simonett, Otto (Hugo Observatory), and Lecturer at
Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI Director, Zoï Environment Network Sciences Po

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 List of abbreviations and
acronyms
ACHR American Convention on Human Rights DfID UK Government’s Department for IDDRI Institut du développement durable et des
International Development relations internationales (Institute for sustainable
ADB Asian Development Bank
development and international relations)
DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo
ALBA Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our
IDM International Dialogue on Migration
Americas DRM disaster risk management
IDMC Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
AOSIS Alliance of the Small Island States DRR disaster risk reduction
IDP Internally Displaced Person
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations DTM Displacement Tracking Matrix
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural
AU African Union EAC East African Community
Development
AUC African Union Commission EACH-FOR Environmental Change and Forced IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute
Migration Scenarios
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation IFRC International Federation of Red Cross and
EC European Commission Red Crescent Societies
BCEAO Banque centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de
l’Ouest (Central Bank of West African States) ECLAC United Nations Economic Commission IGAD Intergovernmental Authority on
BIMSTEC Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi- for Latin America and the Caribbean Development
Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ECOWAS Economic Community of West ILC International Law Commission
BMU-PME Stiftung für Bevölkerung, Migration African States
ILO International Labour Organization
und Umwelt (BMU)-Foundation for Population, EJ Atlas Atlas of Environmental Justice
IO International Organization
Migration and Environment (PME)
ELI Environmental Law Institute
IOM International Organization for Migration (see
CAT Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
EM-DAT Emergency Events Database also OIM)
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
EPA Ghana Ghana Environmental Protection IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
CC climate change
Agency Change
CCCM Camp Coordination and Camp
EU European Union ISSA International Social Security Association
Management
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the ISSP Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Population at the University of Ouagadougou
United Nations
Forms of Discrimination against Women
FEMA Federal Emergency Management IT Information Technology
CEDEM Center for Ethnic and Migration Studies
Agency IUCN International Union for Conservation of
(Centre d’Etudes de l’Ethnicité et des Migrations),
University of Liège Foresight Foresight Project of the United Nature
Kingdom Government Office for Sciences kBq Kilobecquerel
CEGIS Center for Environmental and Geographic
Information Services, Bangladesh GCF Green Climate Fund KNMI Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch
CERPOD Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche en GDP gross domestic product Instituut (Dutch Royal Meteorological Institute)
Population pour le Développement in Bamako GEF Global Environmental Facility LIENSs Laboratoire Littoral Environnement et
Sociétés, University of La Rochelle
CHRR Center for Hazards and Risk Research, GFMD Global Forum on Migration and
University of Columbia Development MCII Munich Climate Insurance Initiative
CIAT Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical MDG Millennium Development Goals
GHG greenhouse gas
CIESIN Center for International Earth Science MECC Migration, Environment and Climate
GIS Geographic Information System
Information Network, Columbia University Change
GMG Global Migration Group
CIFOR Center for International Forestry Research MECLEP Migration, Environment and Climate
HBF Heinrich Böll Foundation (see also HBS) Change: Evidence for Policy
CO2 carbon dioxide
HBS Heinrich Böll Stiftung (see also HBF) MICIC Migrants in Countries in Crisis Initiative
COHRE Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
HFA Hyogo Framework for Action MRS Migration Research Series
COIN Climate Outreach Information Network
IAI Inter-American Institute for Global Change NAP National Adaptation Plan
COP Conference of the Parties to the United Research
Nations Framework Convention on Climate NAPA National Adaptation Programme of Action
Change IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee NASA-SEDAC National Aeronautics and Space
COST European Cooperation in Science and IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Administration’s Socioeconomic Data and
Technology Studies, Potsdam Applications Center

ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and NGI Norwegian Geotechnical Institute

CPI Climate Policy Initiative
Political Rights NGO non-governmental organization
CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child
ICERD International Convention on NI Nansen Initiative
CRED Centre for Research on the Epidemiology the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
of Disasters NRC Norwegian Refugee Council
Discrimination
CRS Convention on the Reduction of NWRD National Water Resources Database,
ICESCR International Covenant on Economic,
Statelessness Bangladesh
Social and Cultural Rights
CSSP Convention relating to the Status of OAS Organization of American States
ICMPD International Centre for Migration
Stateless Persons OAU Organization of African Unity
Policy Development
CVF Climate Vulnerable Forum OCHA Office for the Coordination of
ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross
CVM Climate Vulnerability Monitor Humanitarian Affairs
ICRMW International Convention on the
DCCED Department of Commerce, Community Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers ODA Official Development Aid
and Economic Development, Alaska and Members of Their Families ODI Overseas Development Institute
DECCMA Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate ICRPD International Convention on the Rights OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation
Change : Migration and Adaptation) of Persons with Disabilites and Development

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 OECD DAC Organization for Economic SOAS School of Oriental and African Studies UNGA United Nations General Assembly
Co-operation and Development’s Development SRES Special Report on Emissions Scenarios
Assistance Committee UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for
TCLM Temporary and Circular Labour Migration Refugees
OIM Organisation internationale pour les Programme
migrations (see also IOM) UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
TPMA Thematic Programme on Migration and
OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation Asylum UNISDR United Nations International Strategy for
in Europe
TPS Temporary Protection Status Disaster Reduction
PIK Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung
(Potsdam Institute for Climate Research) UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UNU-EHS United Nations University Institute for
UK United Kingdom Environment and Human Security
PPGG Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geografia
(Postgraduate Programme in Geography at PUC UN United Nations UP Unió de Pagesos de Cataluña (Catalan
Minas) Farmers’ Union)
UNCBD United Nations Convention on Biological
PRONASOL National Solidarity Program Diversity
USA United States of America
(Programa Nacional de Solidaridad) UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat
PUC Minas Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Desertification USAID United States Agency for International
Minas Gerais (Pontifical Catholic University of Development
UNDESA United Nations Department of Economic
Minas Gerais) and Social Affairs USD United States Dollar
RCP Regional Consultative Process on Migration UNDP United Nations Development Programme
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
RESAMA Rede Sul Americana para as UNECE United Nations Economic Commission
Migraçaões Ambientais (South American for Europe V20 Vulnerable Twenty Group of Ministers of
Network for Environmental Migration) Finance
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
RSE Recognized Seasonal Employers Programme WB World Bank
UNEP/GRID-Geneva United Nations Environment
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Programme Global Resource Information WCDRR World Conference on Disaster Risk
Cooperation Database Geneva
Reduction
SADC Southern African Development Community UNESCAP Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific WFP World Food Programme
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific WHO World Health Organization
SIDS Small Island Developing States
and Cultural Organization
SLM Sustainable Land Management WMO World Meteorological Organization
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention
SLR sea-level rise on Climate Change WWF World Wildlife Fund

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01-AtlasMigrationEN-OIM-6sept.indd 1 06/09/2016 10:41
 Current migration
and environmental
migration

T
he first theories on migration, elaborated A polymorphic concept
at the end of the nineteenth century, took Climate change brought about the ‘rediscovery’ of the
account of environmental conditions. But environment as a determining factor in migration, from the
this factor was rapidly forgotten, a state of moment that it was – justly – described as a considerable
affairs that continued up to the beginning of threat to human populations, which would first and foremost
the 1990s. materialize in the form of massive population displacement.
Current migration policies carry the scars of Although some precursory work on this phenomenon was
this oversight. They are still grounded in a touched upon in 1948, and then during the 1970s, the issue
binary understanding of migration inherited from the post-war started to be seriously addressed in the 1990s, notably following
years: either migrants are forced to flee for political reasons, the publication of a report commissioned by the United
in which case they can seek international protection, or they Nations Environment Programme in 1985. Since the middle
move voluntarily for economic reasons, and their reception of the 2000s, the impacts of climate change have become a
is thus solely the responsibility of States. This binarism has reality and the world has been rocked by several major natural
clearly resurfaced during the summer of 2015 with the influx disasters. Environmental migration has thus been included on
of refugees, notably Syrians, to Europe, and the resulting the migration studies agenda.
asylum crisis. Governments and the media have hastened to This generic concept, however, conceals a myriad of different
stress the distinction between refugees (political) and migrants dynamics. The term environmental migrants can include both
(economic), as if sorting were necessary in order to take in one Bangladeshi villagers forced to abandon their land due to
group and send back the other, whose migratory project and repeated flooding and American retirees moving to Florida to
presence would be illegitimate. It is, however, recognized that spend more time in the sun; or the inhabitants of small Pacific
such a distinction does not stand up to the reality of migratory islands that migrate abroad before sea-level rise makes their
dynamics, in which political, economic and environmental land uninhabitable and Haitians housed in a camp because
factors are interwoven. their homes have been destroyed by an earthquake. It can
The emergence of environmental migration at the forefront be argued that the only thing these different instances of
of the scene since the middle of the 2000s has shattered this migration have in common is their link to the environment.
dichotomy. It has not only demonstrated that the environmental Environmental migration can be forced and voluntary,
factor had quite simply not been considered when migration temporary and permanent, domestic and international, without
law and refugee law were shaped following the Second World forgetting the flip side, namely the forced immobility of many
War, despite the fact that this phenomenon is extremely old; populations, trapped by the impacts of environmental changes.
but also that migration could act as a climate change adaptation The term ‘environmental migration’ covers such a range of
solution – a fact that has called into question the traditional different situations that it sometimes even seems inadequate
dividing line between forced and voluntary migration. and tends to be replaced by the term ‘mobility’. Mobility, a
more consensual term, includes different forms of movement
and refers to the ability to migrate. It also helps to circumvent
the extremely blurred division between forced and voluntary
migration.

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 Different types of migration

Voluntary Voluntary
Proactive Proactive
Short-term Long-term

Voluntary
Reactive Voluntary
Short-term Reactive
Long-term
Independent of empirical reality, these
terms are also political constructs that Voluntary
are useful for highlighting the growing
Forced
importance of environmental degradation Proactive
as a factor of migration. It is not so much a Long-term
Forced
matter of creating a particular category of Proactive Level of
migration as of drawing attention, as this Short-term coercion
Proactive
Atlas does, to a neglected factor, whose
importance will increase in the future. Level of
preparedness

An awkward definition Reactive

Forced

How then can environmental migrants

be defined? In the absence of a Forced
Short- Duration Long- Forced
term term Reactive
legal definition, or at least one that is Reactive Long-term
Short-term
internationally accepted, IOM’s definition
is often the one used: ‘Environmental Source: Conceived by F. Gemenne. © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Boissière, 2015.
migrants are persons or groups of
persons who, predominantly for reasons of sudden or is really taking the risk of deciding either way, and everyone
progressive change in the environment that adversely affects is satisfied with the ambiguity arising from a definition that is
their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their habitual intentionally broad and flexible.
homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently,
and who move either within their country or abroad’. Numbers and words
Deliberately broad, in order to encompass all types of This first part of the Atlas of Environmental Migration initially
population movement, this definition is under discussion within deals with the estimates of the current number of environmental
the academic community as it includes, by definition, a large migrants and the different projections that have been
number of people, a fact that may alarm certain governments developed. On what methods and models are these estimates
and reduce their funding capacity in the future. and projections based? What types of migration are referred
If it is a given that all migration is intrinsically multi-causal, should to and how exactly are they measured? What are the criteria
the definition include all those who migrate on environmental used to distinguish them? Part 1, while demonstrating how
grounds, be they marginal in the decision or not, or only those research on these issues has developed considerably over the
for whom environmental degradation is the determining factor? past few years, also underlines the complexity of the equation
Should it only cover cases of forced migration or all forms of linking migratory, environmental and climatic variables, and
mobility? And what about forced immobility? underscores the difficulty of establishing clear categories of
All of these questions are not purely methodological, but also migration, particularly when it comes to discerning them on the
political, as the nature and wording of the definition will give ground.
rise to the formulation of responses. At the current time, no one

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 A long history

Examples of population case, from the broader socio-economic The Dust Bowl migration was the single
movements associated with context. Dust storms resulting from most important population movement
environmental changes and severe droughts and poor agricultural within the United States, involving about
disasters are numerous techniques depleted arable land, and left 2.5 million migrants, among whom about
throughout history. thousands of farmers from Oklahoma, 200,000 moved to California. Despite
Texas and Arkansas with no choice but the historical significance of this event,
In 1755, the earthquake of Lisbon to sell their farms and move westwards the role of environmental changes as
destroyed most of the city, inducing in the 1930s. The environmental ‘push’ drivers of migration had been largely
mass displacements towards other parts factors were obvious in the migration overlooked until the human impacts of
of Portugal, with some of the displaced decision, but these factors were mixed climate change became a reality.
later returned to Lisbon. The Dust Bowl with the broader economic context of the
migration is another classic example of Great Depression, as well as inadequate Not only climate change
mass migration associated with envi- farming techniques. The prospects of a Yet it is important to remember that
ronmental events, though such events better life in California played a crucial environmental migration is not only a
cannot be disentangled, as is often the role as a ‘pull’ factor. climate change issue. On the contrary,
environmental conditions have always
been determinant in the distribution of
the population on the planet. Around
45,000 years ago, Europe was settled by
modern humans thanks to its favourable
climate and abundant resources. Coastal
and deltaic regions were settled because
their soil was more fertile. It is thus likely
that climate change, as a major, global
environmental disruption, will also affect
the distribution of the planet’s population.
Indeed, if environmental conditions are
key explanatory factors of the patterns
of historical population settlements,
it is probable that land degradation,
ecosystem disruption and resource
depletion induced by climate change will
‘Lisbon in ruins’, engraving by J. A. Steisslinger, 18th Century. COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF LISBON. change these patterns of settlement.

Human migration and environment throughout history

Migration to southern
Mesopotamia Migration waves
-4000 in Central Europe
Prolonged drought pushes 300 to 500
Migration through populations from northern
Fall of Akkadian
Empire Migrations Period in
Bering Strait Mesopotamia to the
-2200 Central Europe and
-25 000 to -20 000 Tigris-Euphrates Delta
America weakening of the
A land bridge across the offering rich coastal Decline of the Empire
Migration Roman Empire partly
Bering Strait exposed by habitats as a result of partially due to droughts related to droughts and
from affecting the entire region
the drop in sea levels post-glacial sea level rise. deforestation
Mesopotamia during the Wisconsin This results in the from the Aegean Sea to the
Europe to Europe Indus, drying up irrigation
glaciation likely to have development of irrigated
-50 000 to allowed migration from agriculture and emergence canals and causing the
-40 000 Asia to North America of the first cities abandonment of cities
Asia

-50 000 -40 000 -30 000 -20 000 - 4000 -3000 -2000 0 100 200 300 400

Drought Glaciation Climate and diseases Earthquake Human-made degradation

4 The Atlas of Environmental Migration

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 Current migration and environmental migration

Atmospheric surface air temperature and global sea level since 50,000 BC, relative to present

Time
- 50 000 - 45 000 - 40 000 - 35 000 - 30 000 - 25 000 - 20 000 - 15 000 - 10 000 - 5 000 0 1950
0 0
-2 - 10
-4
- 20
-6
-8 Atmospheric - 30
- 10 temperatures
- 40
- 12 - 50
- 14
- 60
- 16
- 18 Global sea level - 70
- 20 - 80
Atmospheric
- 90
temperatures
Deg C - 100
- 110
Global
sea level - 120
Metres - 130
Source: Bintanja et al. (2005). © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Stienne, 2015.

Major demographic changes around 1200–1300 BC: whole villages 1852; more than 2 million people fled
Some key catastrophic events and and regions were then abandoned. In the country, and many settled in the
the displacement they induced have Greenland, Viking settlements disap- United States.
also dramatically altered the demo- peared around 1400 BC, as they could not Despite their historical importance, such
graphic patterns of certain cities and survive the Little Ice Age. examples of migration flows remain little
regions. Some regions emptied them- Other regions experienced major demo- known and sparsely documented, which
selves almost completely: around 2200 graphic shifts because of environmental might have given rise to the belief that
BC, the fall of the Akkadian Empire, in disruptions: the population of Ireland was climate change created a new type of
what today is Iraq, was associated with reduced by about one-quarter because migration. History proves otherwise.
major droughts that extended from of the Great Irish Famine of 1845 to
the Aegean Sea to the Indus. Droughts
were also responsible for the decline of
the Anasazi empire in Central America Collapse of Norse
settlements in
Greenland
Decline of the 1400 to 1500
Anasazi Soil degradation, failure
Decline of the Mayan 1150 to 1350 to adapt to the
civilization Great Irish Famine
Successive mega environment and to
800 to 900 1845 to 1852
droughts in the extremely cold Lisbon earthquake
Decline associated with the present-day Four temperatures, and Potato blight caused by
Huns invasion and tsunami warmer and damper
collapse of agricultural productivity, Corners region of the conflict caused the
406 1755 weather led to the
wars and famines largely caused by United States and abandonment of
Cold temperatures severe droughts and deforestation concomitant settlements by Norse Nearly a quarter of the destruction of crops
likely to have caused resulting in the depopulation and abandonment of Anasazi farmers and herders in city's population lost resulting in an unprece-
the freezing of the abandonment of cities settlements Greenland their lives, and tens of dented famine.
Rhine River, allowing thousands were 2 million people emigrated
the Huns to invade Gaul displaced to improvised and 1 million died, reducing
d and weaken the Roman camps, and to the rest the total population in
Empire of Europe Ireland by 20–25%

400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000

Source: Bintanja et al. (2005). © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Stienne, 2015.

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 A political issue

Although research on Migration, environment and climate change terms on Google Search
environmental migration remains The size of the words is proportional to the number of pages returned by Google.com when searching for each term (2012)

relatively new, it has been

Environmental Environmental
marked by many conflicting
Climate Refugee
viewpoints and perspectives,
refugee displacee
reflecting different policy
agendas. Environmental
Climate-
induced Ecological migrant
refugee
migration has also become a migrant Eco-
political construct, which does Environmentally-
not always match empirical induced Climate migrant
reality. migrant Environmentally migrant Eco-
displaced
Early studies on the topic were dominated
person Climate-
refugee
by the stark divide between an alarmist induced
(or maximalist) perspective and a scep- Environmental Ecologically migrant

tical (or minimalist) perspective. The

migrant Ecological displaced
alarmist perspective, upheld primarily
by environmental scholars and NGOs,
refugee person
Source: Venturini et al. (2012) © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Boissière, 2015.
viewed migration as an unavoidable
by-product of climate change, a humani-
tarian disaster in the making. Meanwhile, of a failure to adapt to environmental public perceptions and policy debates,
migration scholars usually adopted a changes, but rather as a powerful adap- revealing a certain discrepancy between
more sceptical perspective, insisting tation strategy. This radical change in the empirical realities of environmental
that migration was always multi-causal the framing of environmental migration migration and its political construc-
and there was no reason to create a new was first induced by growing empirical tion. Some continue to view environ-
category of ‘environmental migra- research, which showed that migration mental migration as a diversion from
tion’. The opposition was not just a was not necessarily a last resort for people the political and economic root causes
disciplinary divide, as both perspec- confronted with environmental changes. of migration, while others focus on the
tives were promoting a different policy This suited the agenda of many inter- humanitarian disaster that it represents.
agenda: ‘alarmists’ were keen to national organizations, keen to portray Increasingly, critical perspectives (from
alert policy-makers to the threats of migration in a more positive light. Migra- post-colonial studies among others)
climate change, whereas sceptics were tion was ‘officially’ acknowledged as an have also challenged the very concept
concerned that a new migration category adaptation strategy in the Cancún Adap- of environmental migration. Policy-wise,
might scare off governments and lead tation Framework, adopted in December while many have insisted that migra-
to even more stringent migration poli- 2010. Since then, international nego- tion ought to be promoted as an adap-
cies. The alarmist perspective, however, tiations on climate change have often tation strategy, it also often continues
was dominant; soon enough, environ- been considered as the most appropriate to be framed as a threat to security and
mental migrants became the human face policy forum in which to address environ- stability, with claims that mass migra-
of climate change, and migration came mental migration. tion flows could lead to competition
to be considered as an unavoidable for natural resources, social unrest and
by-product of climate change. Inhabit- Competing framings conflicts.
ants from small island States in particular, In 2011, the Foresight report on Migra-
threatened by sea-level rise, were instru- tion and Global Environmental Change,
mental in the endeavour to prompt polit- commissioned by the UK government to
ical action on climate change. a panel of distinguished scholars, formal-
ized a certain consensus in the scien-
A Copernican revolution tific community as to the patterns and
Around 2010, however, another concep- key characteristics of the environment–
tualization emerged as migration came migration nexus. Despite this consensus,
to be viewed no longer as the signal different framings continue to exist in

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 Current migration and environmental migration

Demonstration in favour of Tuvalu’s proposal for a new binding protocol at the COP15. Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2009. © GREENPEACE FINLAND 2009

The evolution of the discourses on environmental migration

Marginal discourse Migration
Discourse Dominant discourse (mainstream) Origin of the discourse
scholars

Antagonism Reconciliation Evolution

1997–1998 2009–2010

Not the
Epiphenomenon root cause

Migration scholars
Migration Sceptics
scholars

Adaptation
strategy

Migration scholars
Environmental scholars
International organizations
Policy-makers
1990s
2007-2008
Humanitarian
disaster Threat

Environmental scholars Think tanks

Media Defence sector Source: Conceived by F. Gemenne
NGOs Military © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco),
Gemenne, Boissière, 2015

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 A world in motion
Australia and
New Zealand

Main migration pathways, as per 2013

The map does not represent actual Note:
flows of migrants in 2013: the arrows The term ‘migrants’ refers to individuals born in, or
show the origin and destination holding the citizenship of, a country other than
of migrants over time. Irregular that in which they live.
migration is not accounted for. The UN DESA figures report the stock of migrants
Regions referred to in this map are by country as per 2013, and are derived from data
geographical regions based on the obtained mainly from most recent national
UN DESA classification. population censuses.

Migrant stock, 2013 South-East Asia

(millions) and Pacific
East
Asia
18.4 migration corridors
between regions

10 intra-regional migration corridors

1 Russia India

0.4
Central
Asia,
Only stocks above 400,000 Belarus, Indian
are represented (94% of total Ukraine subcontinent
international migrant stock)
North
America

Persian
Outside Gulf
Schengen Near East
and Caucasus
Mexico
Schengen

North
Africa
Central America East and
and Caribbean Central Africa

West
Africa

Southern
Africa
South
America
Source: UNDESA (2013b) © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Sciences Po, 2015

International migration Migration is a defining feature of turmoil, fast technological progress, and
trends, 1965–2013 As a % the modern world order. economic and demographic changes,
of the population has taken on a much more global and
3.2
Some have referred to the last decades pervasive scope. Compared to previous
of the twentieth century as the ‘age of migration patterns, contemporary popu-
3
migration’, where increased and accel- lation movements are more diverse in
erated movements of people have their shape, direction and drivers.
2.8
become central to national and interna-
tional politics, the globalized economy, Moving North or South?
2.6
social progress and individual well- While policy discourse tends to focus
being. People have always migrated in on the implications of migration from
2.4
search of better opportunities and fled developing countries to developed
poverty, violence and environmental regions, recent studies show that South–
2.2
change; however, mobility in the last few South movements (from one devel-
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Source: UNDESA (2013a) © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco),
decades, shaped by past colonial migra- oping country to another) are as large
Gemenne, Sciences Po, 2015 tion, the twentieth century’s political as movements from South to North

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 Current migration and environmental migration

Some estimates and demographic dynamics, is estimated

People estimated Refugees worldwide in to greatly exceed international migration.
People newly displaced to be displaced forcibly 2014, including 14.4 This type of migration is difficult to quan-
by rapid-onset disasters by development projects million refugees of
on average every year concern to UNHCR, and tify, as data availability and methodolo-

26.4
every year

15 M
5.1 million Palestinian
refugees under gies vary from one country to another.
UNRWA’s mandate However, the United Nations estimates

19.5 M
763
Internal migrants,

million
living outside of their region of birth (2005) that there are 763 million people world-
wide living within their country but
outside their region of birth. Estimates
2.44
People in forced
also exist for internal displacement due
labour as a result
of trafficking at
million
1.8 Asylum seekers
to conflict and violence, which is moni-
any given time
million tored by the UNHCR and IDMC.
International migrants,
living outside of their country of birth million People displaced by conflict and

231.5
or citizenship (2013)
People affected violence within the borders of their Learning from existing patterns
by statelessness own country, including 11 million The complexity and variety of methodol-

38
(at least) people newly displaced in 2014

10 M
ogies designed to calculate the number
of migrants, whether international or

million
internal, makes any comparison between
figures on different types of migration
40,000
million
Lives lost during
migration since 2000
difficult, and often meaningless. In addi-
tion, there are still many unknowns; for
Sources: Cernea (2006), IDMC (2015a, 2015b), ILO (2005), IOM (2013, 2014), UNDESA (2013c, 2013d), UNHCR (2015)
© IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Sciences Po, 2015 instance, it is hard to determine to what
extent existing migration patterns are
influenced by gradual environmental
(from developing to developed coun- linked to environmental factors. Accurate change.
tries), and represent more than one-third statistics by type of migration are seldom The study of global migration patterns
of total international migration. Migra- available, except when migrants fall into helps to shed light on the complexity
tion between developed countries repre- a clear legal category or benefit from of the subject: in most cases, environ-
sents around one-fifth of global flows, special assistance, such as refugees or mental migration will be shaped by
and a growing percentage of migrants those benefiting from family reunifica- pre-existing channels at the national,
move from North to South. In absolute tion programmes, who are recorded by regional and international levels. It
terms, there are more migrants coming relevant national and international agen- is therefore essential to understand
from developing countries, where the cies. In most cases, however, migratory existing migration systems, and the diffi-
population is higher; however, in relative situations are complex, rarely fall into culties in terms of estimation, assess-
terms, people from developed countries a single category, and may evolve over ment and categorization, which are also
are more likely to migrate. time. Furthermore, the global figure does relevant to the study of mobility related
not account for a number of migratory to environmental change.
Assessing global migration situations for which statistics are hard
The number of international migrants to obtain – typically the case of many Four migration pathways, 2013
has more than doubled over the last 30 forced forms of cross-border migration,
In millions
years and, despite a slowdown following including victims of smuggling and traf-
the 2008 global economic crisis, reached ficking, and an exponentially growing 54 North
232 million migrants in 2013, which number of irregular migrants. Quanti-
represents around 3.3 per cent of the fying these types of migration is chal-
global population. This global figure, lenging, due to their hidden nature, and
which measures ‘stocks’ of migrants in only rough estimates are available for 75.6 13.3

a given country at a given moment in these flows. Finally, the global figure
time as recorded through national statis- does not reflect seasonal, circular or
tics and censuses, shows just one facet other temporary movements, which may
of the complex world migration patterns, also include temporary cross-border South 77.6
and provides no indication as to the displacement due to natural disasters.
reasons for and nature of movements.
Behind it lie various types of migration An age of mass internal migration
across borders, including labour migra- The focus of political discourse on inter- Calculations made using UN DESA classification of countries
into developing and developed regions (see
tion, migration for education, refugee national migration diverts attention away http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm).
For a detailed discussion on ‘North’-‘South’ classification and
movements, family reunification, return from one of the predominant forms of terminology, please see IOM World Migration Report 2013.
migration, or retirement and amenity migration: internal migration within coun-
Source: IOM (2013) © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco),
migration, some of which may also be tries, driven by urbanization, economic Gemenne, Sciences Po, 2015

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 Geography of
research

Research on the links Regional distribution

between migration, Yet, the understanding of local impacts
environment and climate change and issues, and empirical data in
has grown significantly. particular, remains limited and unbal-
anced. The University of Neuchâtel
While migration and the environment is has recorded 447 empirical studies on Hotspots and blind spots
not a new area of research (the first publi- migration and environment published Some areas and regions in the world
cations date back to the 1980s), a more across the globe from 1980 to 2014. receive much more attention than others.
recent wave of interest and demand for Most studies focused on Africa (167 Countries such as Bangladesh or Small
evidence helped to fuel new research in studies), Asia-Pacific (137) and the Island Developing States have become
the early 2000s: the number of publica- Americas (124). In contrast, only 11 emblematic of climate change and
tions produced on the topic has grown studies focused on Europe and 8 on migration. The plight of hurricane victims
from around 10 per year in the 1990s to countries in the Middle East. in New Orleans or the challenges facing
nearly 10 times as many in the last few
160
years, averaging almost 100 publications
on migration and environment every
year since 2008. 140

Research and policy awareness 120

The state of knowledge on the migra-
tion–environment nexus has improved Number of publications and case studies 100
considerably over the past 10 years, and on migration, environment
flagship studies and publications such as and climate change (1980–2013)
the 2009 EACH-FOR project or the 2011 80
Foresight Report have contributed to the Source: Piguet et al. (2015)
© IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Sciences Po, 2015
development of a more solid theoretical 60
framework, helping to understand and
conceptualize migration in the context of All publications
40
global environmental change. This may Empirical
in turn have contributed to raising policy case studies only
and global awareness as well as encour- 20

aging further research on this subject.

0
1980 1990 2000 2010

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 Current migration and environmental migration

Research on migration,
environment and climate change
Number of case studies
by country studied
55

25
10
5
1

communities in Shishmaref or Tuvalu Most studied countries

(% of total number of case studies globally)
have captured academic and media
attention. A few countries in West Africa
0.2 0.5 1.1 2.5 12.3 Not available
and in the Greater Horn of Africa, where
Source: Piguet et al. (2015) © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Sciences Po, 2015
desertification affects pastoralists, have
also attracted much research.
Meanwhile, many very vulnerable regions and Central and South Africa. Evidence is environmental migration in areas which
and countries receive less attention: very weak in Europe, despite increasingly receive less visibility, but which are no
there remain numerous blind spots in frequent small-scale disasters displacing less affected by the impacts of environ-
Central and South America, Central Asia, local communities every year, and in the mental change.
Middle East, despite frequent weather
shocks affecting farmers.
About the CliMig database
Regional distribution North–South research divide
of case studies on migration Another geographic imbalance is related The CliMig bibliographic database
and environment (1980–2014) is a project undertaken by the Insti-
to unequal research capacity in devel-
(%)
tute of Geography of the University of
oping and developed countries: while Neuchâtel (Switzerland), as part of an
most research focuses on countries effort to facilitate access to knowledge
in the South, it is mostly conducted and research on environmental migra-
Americas
tion. The database is the first compre-
Africa 28 by researchers based in the North.
hensive search tool for both researchers
37 Improving research capacity in devel- and a wider audience, bringing together
oping regions and countries is essential international publications and case
in order to build stronger evidence on studies focusing specifically on envi-
ronmental migration. Publications in the
Middle East 2 database are categorized by area, type
Asia-Pacific
of environmental hazard, methodology
2 31
and thematic focus, thereby providing
Europe detailed information about the scope of
existing research on this topic.
Source: Piguet et al. (2015) © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco),
Gemenne, Sciences Po, 2015

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 Quantifying and forecasting

In the debate on environmental population movements. And when people, notably in the context of disas-
migration, one of the most they do exist, these statistics are rarely ters, but not stocks. Aside from evolving
natural questions is also one of compatible: environmental and climatic censuses of displaced people carried out
the most contentious: how many phenomena are generally evaluated per on the ground for operational purposes, it
people are today displaced square kilometre, whereas demographic is currently not known how many people
because of environmental data are generally measured on the scale remain displaced a year after their initial
degradation? And how many will of administrative units. movement.
be displaced tomorrow? Knowing how to quantify and predict
New research methods environmental migration is an issue that
From reports to declarations, the most Yet, great progress has recently been greatly goes beyond the research sphere;
unreasonable estimations circulate as made in terms of data collection without precise estimates, it would be
to the number of people displaced due methods. While the majority of current difficult to make appropriate political
to environmental degradation. The first studies devoted to the subject are of decisions to protect those displaced both
estimate dates from 1988, when Jodi a qualitative nature, a whole host of today and in the future.
Jacobson, from the World Watch Insti- empirical methods exist, which, with
tute, put the figure at 10 million. In 1993, specific cases, can be used to establish Complicated forecasting
Norman Myers, Professor of Ecology at quantitative data, such as historical Predicting the future is even more deli-
Oxford University, put forward a figure of research, comparisons between regions cate. Estimates on future migrations
25 million. or countries, analyses cross-examining linked to environmental change are still
regional and individual data, field studies, extremely fragile. They are often trapped
A key factor of migration etc. Although they generally deal with in a determinist perspective, as if the
The truth is that even if it can be supposed limited geographical areas, longitudinal number of future environmental migrants
that the environment is one of the prin- studies have helped to identify long-term exclusively depended on future envi-
cipal factors of migration throughout trends. ronmental degradation, independent of
the world, a precise figure is impossible In most cases, however, current esti- the political, economic or demographic
to establish. That would, first, suppose mates only measure flows of displaced context. Many fanciful predictions have
that a strict definition for these migrants
exists; and, second, that the environ- Number of empirical case studies by type of methodology used
ment could be isolated as a distinc- (1980–2013)
tive factor for migration – something
that is not always the case. The average The CliMig database of the University of qualitative field studies – the latter, using
number of people displaced every year Neuchâtel is the most comprehensive ethnographic methods, being the most
repository of case studies on environ- common form of empirical research. The
due to natural disasters is 25.4 million,
mental migration. A case study as defined depth of the analysis can vary significantly
or one every second. In addition to this by CliMig is a study of an area or a country between a case study entirely dedicated
figure, the figure relating to the number based on empirical research. Case studies to one country and a case study providing
of people displaced by more insidious use different methodologies, ranging from an overall picture of global or regional
spatial analysis and sample surveys, to trends.
environmental degradation would also
be needed, degradation that includes Comparisons between
sea-level rise or deforestation, but this Qualitative different regions or countries
figure is not known. Finally, the number case studies Analysis
of environmental migrants is all the more 50 crossing
difficult to estimate as it combines both regional and
21
136 individual data
voluntary and forced migrants, and both
short and long-term displacement.
79 Analysis
based
Insufficient data on individual
The basic lack of data constitutes an surveys
essential difficulty. Migration related to 81 51
the environment is often short distance, Hotspots
identification Historical research
within the borders of one single country,
and regional case studies
and many countries do not possess the
Source: Piguet (2010) © IOM (Mokhnacheva, Ionesco), Gemenne, Sciences Po, 2015
requisite statistical tools to track internal

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Other documents randomly have
different content
justice and wisdom that did not consider me fit to associate with
those, whose birth is recognized by a parent’s pride and fondness.
But—I must be cognizant of the relation, whatever it is, that I bear
you. I cannot, I will not consent to appear nominally your daughter,
when you scorn to receive me as such.
“Mother—in my dead mother’s name I thank you for the
generous love you have ever shown me—for the generous care with
which you have attended to the development of the talents God
gave me. For I am fitted thus to labor for myself. I thank you for
that watchful providence that has made me what I am, a woman
self-reliant, and strong in spirit. I thank you for it all, from a heart
that has learned only to love and honor you in the past eighteen
years. And I call down the blessing of the Infinite God upon you, as I
depart. Hereafter, always it will be the endeavor of my life to live
worthily of you—to be all that you have in your charity capacitated
me to be. Duncan, you will not forget me—I do not ask it. But, pray
for me, and live up to the fullness of your heart and your intellect.
There is a happy future for you. I have no word of counsel, no
feeble utterance of encouragement to leave you—you will not need
such from me. God bless and strengthen you in every good word
and work—it shall be the constant hope of the sister who loves you.
Mother, fare you well.”
This letter was written on that Sabbath-eve, on which our story
opens—written in a perfect passion, yes, of grief, and of despair. The
anger that Rosalie may at first have felt, gave way to the wildest
sorrow now, but her resolution was taken, and her heart was really
strung to bear the resolution out.
After her sudden and most unlooked-for disappearance, the
mother and son sought long, and I cannot tell, you must imagine
how anxiously, for the young girl. But their search was in vain, and
at last, as time passed on, she became to the villagers as one who
had never been. But never by the widow was Rosalie forgotten. And
oh! there was in the world one heart at least that sorrowed with a
constant sorrow, that hoped with a constant hope for her.
He had lost her—and Duncan sought for no other love among
women. When all his searching for Rosalie was proved to be
unavailing, the minister applied himself with constant industry to his
profession—he forgot ease and comfort, and personal enjoyment, in
the works of his calling. And verily, he met here with his reward, for
as he was a blessing to the people of his parish, in turn they almost
adored him. He was a spiritual physician, whom God empowered to
heal many a wounded, stricken heart; but there was a cross of
suffering, that he bore himself, which could not be removed: It was
his glory, that he bore it with martyr-like patience; that he never
uttered a reproachful word to her, through whom he bore it. As
years passed away, the gifted preacher’s impassioned eloquence and
stirring words, bowed many a proud and impenitent soul, with
another love than that which he wished to inspire, but he still sought
not among any companionship, or close friendship; they said at last,
considering his life spent in the most rigid performance of duty, that
“he was too high church to marry;” that he did not believe such
union consonant with the duties of a minister of the cross!—But, the
mother knew better than this; she knew a name that was never
spoken now, in Rosalie’s old home, that was dearer than life to the
heart of her son—and desolate and lonely as she was, she never
dared ask him to give to her a daughter—to take unto himself a
wife!

——
 CHAPTER II.
In a splendid old cathedral, a solemn ceremonial was going
forward on the morning of a holy festival. A bishop was to be
consecrated.
A mighty crowd assembled in this edifice to witness the
ceremony, and the mother of Duncan Melville was there, the
happiest soul in all that great company, for it was her son on whom
the high honor was to be laid!
How beautiful was the pale, holy countenance of the minister,
who in the early strength of his manhood, was accounted worthy to
fill that great office, for which he was about to be set apart! He was
a man “acquainted with grief;” you had known it by that resigned,
submissive expression of his face: you had known that the passions
of mortals had been all subdued in him, by the holy light of his
tranquil eyes. Duncan had toiled—he had borne a burden.
A thousand felt it, looking on the noble front, where religion
undefiled, and peace, and holy love, and charity, had left for
themselves unmistakable witnesses: and more than all, one being
felt it, that had not looked upon that man for years. Not since the
lines of care and grief had marked the face and form of Duncan
Melville. There was a reason for the passionate sobs of one heart,
crushed anew in this solemn hour—there was a pathos, such as no
other voice could give, to the prayers that went up to God that day,
from one woman’s heart in the great congregation, for him. Poor,
loving, still-beloved Rosalie! she was there—there, her proud,
magnificent figure, bent humbly from the very commencement till
the close of the ceremonial—there, her beautiful eyes filled with
tears of love, and grief, and despair, and pride—there, crushed as
the humblest flower—that glorious beauty.
And the good man at the altar for whom the prayers and the
praise ascended, thought of her in that hour! Yes, in that very hour,
he remembered how one would have looked on him that day, could
she have come, his wife, to witness how his brethren and the people
loved and honored him. He thought of her, and as he knelt at the
altar, even then he prayed for her. But, not as numbers thought
upon the name of Rosalie Sherwood that day; for she also, was soon
to appear before a throng, and there were a myriad hearts that
throbbed with expectancy, and waited impatiently for the hour to
come when they should look upon her!
Bishop Melville sat in his study at noonday, for a few moments,
alone. He was glancing over the sermon that he was to deliver that
afternoon, when his mother, his proud, happy mother came into the
room quietly, laid a sealed note upon the table, and instantly
withdrew, for she saw how he was occupied.
When he had finished his reading, the bishop opened the note
and read—could it have been with careless eyes?

“Duncan,—I have knelt to-day in the house of the Lord,

and witnessed your triumph. Ten years ago when I went
desolate and wretched from your house, I might have
prophesied your destiny.
“Come to-night and behold my triumph—at—the Opera
House!
“Your sister,
“Rosalie.”

Do you think that as he read that summons he hesitated as to

whether he should obey it? If his bishopric had been sacrificed
therefor, he would have gone—if disgrace and danger had attended
his footsteps, he would have sought her at the bidding!—The love
which had been strengthening in ten long years of loneliness and
bereavement, was not now to stop, to question, or to fear.
“Accompany me dear mother, this evening—I have made an
engagement for you,” he said as he went, she hanging on his arm,
to the cathedral for afternoon service.
“Willingly my son,” was the instant answer: and Duncan kept her
to her word.
But it was with wondering, with surprise, that she did not
attempt to conceal, and with questions which were satisfied with no
definite reply, that Mrs. Melville found herself standing with her son
in an obscure corner of the Opera-House, that night. Soon all her
expressions of astonishment were hushed, but by another cause
than the mysterious inattention of her son—a queenly woman
appeared upon the stage, she lifted her voice and sobbed the
mournful wail, which opens the first scene in —— ——. For years,
there had not been such a sensation created among the frequenters
of that place as now, by the appearance of this stranger. The wild,
singular style of her beauty, made an impression, that was
heightened by every movement of her graceful figure, every tone of
her rich, melodious voice.—She seemed, for the time, the very
embodiment of the sorrow, to which she gave expression, and the
effect was a complete triumph.
Mary Melville and her son gazed upon the debutant, they had no
look no word for each other; for they recognized in her voice, the
tones of a grief, of which long ago they heard the prelude, and every
note found its echo in the bishop’s inmost heart.
“Come away! let us go home! Duncan, this is no place for us, for
you; it is disgrace to be here,” was the passionate plea of the
mother, when at last, Rosalie disappeared, and other forms stood in
her place.
“We will stay and save her,” was the answer spoken with tears
and trembling, by the man for whom, in many a quiet home, prayers
in that hour ascended. “She is mine now, and no earthly
consideration or power shall divide us!”
And looking steadfastly for a moment in her son’s face, the lady
turned away sighing and tearful, for she knew that she must yield
then, and she had fears for the future.
A half hour passed, and the star of the night re-appeared—
resplendent in beauty, and triumphing in hope—again her marvelous
voice was raised, not with the wail of sorrow—not with the bitter cry
of despair that was hopeless, but glad, and gay, angelic in its joy.
Again the mother’s eyes were turned on him beside her—and a
light was on that pale forehead, a smile on that calm face, a
gladness in those eyes, which she had not seen there for long years,
—and though she could not wonder as she looked with a mother’s
love upon the one, who stood the admiration of all eyes, crowned
with the glory-crown of perfection in her art; she could not with
Duncan, hope. For, alas! her woman heart knew too well, the ordeal
through which the daughter of her care and love must have passed,
before she came into that presence, where she stood now—who
could tell if still the mistress of herself, and of her destiny, pure and
undefiled?

That night and the following day, there were many who sought
admittance to the parlors of Rosalie Sherwood; they would lay the
homage of their trifling hearts at her feet. But all these sought in
vain—and why was this? Because such admiring tribute was not
what the noble woman sought, and because, ere she had risen in
the morning, a letter written in the solitude of night, was handed
her, which barred and bolted her door against the curious world.
“Rosalie! Rosalie! look back through the ten years that are gone,
I am answering your letter of long ago, with words—I have a
thousand times answered them in my heart, till the thoughts which
have been crowded there filled it almost to breaking. We have met,
met at last, you and I. But, did you call that a triumph, when you
stood in God’s house, and saw them lay their consecrating hands
upon me? Heaven forgive me, I was thinking of you then—and
thinking too, that if this honor was in any way to be thought a
reward, the needful part of it was wanting—you were not there! Yet,
you were there, you have written me—ah, but not Rosalie my wife,
the woman I loved better than all on earth, the acknowledged
woman, whose memory I had borne about with me till it was a
needful part of my existence. You were by when the people came to
see me consecrated:—and I obeyed your call, I saw you, when the
people anointed you with the tears of their admiration and praise. If
you read my heart at all that day, you knew how I had suffered, that
I had grown old in the sorrow; was I mistaken to-night, in the
thought that you too were not unmindful of the past—that you were
not satisfied with the popular applause? that you also, have been
lonely, and wept and sorrowed?
 “There is but one barrier now in the wide world that shall
interpose between us, Rosalie—your own will. If I was ever anything
to you, I beseech you think calmly before you answer, and do not let
your ‘triumph’ to-night, blind you to the fact, which you once
recognized—which can make us happy yet.—I trust you as in our
younger days; nothing, nothing but your own words, could convince
me that you are not worthy to take the highest place among the
ladies of this land:—give me only your heart—and let the
remembrance that I have been faithful to you through all the past,
plead for me, if your pride should rise up to condemn me. Let me
come and plead with you, for I know not what I write.”
The answer returned to this letter was as follows:
“I learned long ago the bar that prevented our union—it is in
existence still, Duncan. Your mother only, shall decide, if it be
insurmountable. I have never, for a moment, doubted your
faithfulness, and it has been to me an unspeakable comfort, in the
days when I was alone, and toiling for a support, to know that none
had supplanted me in your affections. In the temptations, and
struggles, and hardships I have known, it has kept me above and
beyond the world—and if the last night’s triumph proves to be but
the opening to a new life for me on earth, the recollection of what
you are, and that you care for me, will prove a rock of defense, and
a strong-hold of hope, always. Severed from, or united with you, I
am yours forever.”
Seven days after, there was a marriage in the little church of that
remote village, where Duncan Melville and Rosalie Sherwood, passed
their childhood. Side by side they stood now, once again, where the
baptismal service had long since been read for them, and the
mother of the bishop gave the bride away!—“Honi soit qui mal y
pense!”

THE DEATH OF WORDSWORTH.

 ———
BY WILLIAM SYDNEY THAYER.
———
When the beloved guide, with whom we oft
Have wandered over meadow, hill and dale,
Have had sweet converse, and who bore aloft
Our minds attentive to some pleasing tale,
Whose words of wisdom often could avail
To cheer us on our weariest pilgrimage,
Bending with years, passes beyond the pale
Of earthly life, what crowding thoughts engage
Our hearts, which seek in vain the staff-supported sage!

Wordsworth is dead! and yet not wholly sad

The feelings which our sorrowing bosoms thrill;
Death was his gain, for here his spirit had
Not space enough to wander at its will,
Filling its fruitful treasury until
Men might be blest with its rich overflow;
As when the sinking sun behind the hill,
Growing more broad as it doth westward go,
Scatters its golden dust upon the world below.

To him Creation all her stores unrolled,

To him unveiled the glories of her face;
To him ’twas given her mysteries to behold,
Her countless forms of grandeur and of grace—
The blue-eyed violet in its hiding-place,
The drowsy locust, singing at high noon,
From the elm-bough, her shrill, unvarying lays,
Till listening Nature seems almost to swoon—
The humblest sights and sounds chimed with his spirit’s tune.

Throughout the universe he ever saw

A mighty, interfusing Presence shine,
Controlling all things by its sovereign law;
He saw the secret bands, so strong and fine,
That link the insect to a source divine.
And gazing up, like one of those rapt seers,
 Whose souls have visioned out God’s vast design,
Entranced in adorations, hopes and fears,
Yielded himself to thoughts that “lie too deep for tears.”

And o’er the human soul with quiet eye

He deeply brooded, and its wonders knew;
The subtle powers that underneath it lie,
From their unfathomed haunts his magic drew—
Displayed its tranquil beauty to our view,
Unstirred by passions blowing strong and wild,
And, in his thought, our marvelous being grew,
To a strange harmony, serene and mild,
Which blent in union sweet the old man and the child.

Blest be the Priest, whose consecrating hands

Wreathed a new glory round the true and right,
Baptized by whom, the humblest duty stands,
Appareled in a clear, celestial light;
Blest be the Prophet, who has turned our sight,
From the drear Present’s sinful turbulence,
To his ideal world, that island bright
In Time’s dim ocean, where men pitch their tents,
And walk before the Lord in fearless innocence.

I see the Poet in his peaceful home,

The home of mountain, forest, and of lake,
While closing round him Death’s cool shadows come,
And the calm hopes of Heaven within him wake,
Glowing with sunset, Grasmere’s waters take
To their still bosom, sky, and rock, and wood;
Nature stands trembling, grieved that she must break
Union with him, who shared her quietude,
The dearest worshiper that near her altar stood.

But thou diest not, O Wordsworth! who hast found,

And called from sleep our holier sympathies,
 Strewing with deathless flowers Life’s barren ground,
And lighting up our pathway to the skies—
Translator of great Nature’s mysteries!
Linked with herself, thou livest evermore,
And we, united by thy teachings wise,
Shall tread a lovelier earth than heretofore,
Shall sail on smoother seas, along a sunnier shore.

THE COMUS OF MILTON.

———
BY REV. J. N. DANFORTH.
———

Genius, in whatever age of the world it has appeared, has

commanded the respect and homage of mankind. Mind, in every
stage of development, and in every altitude of attainment, must be
an object of profound interest to mind. When, therefore, a mind of
so high an order as that of John Milton, appears before men, the fact
constitutes an era in the history of intellect and imagination, and all
the productions of such a mind are scanned and studied with a
diligence proportioned to the dignity and fame of the author. The
principal monument or statue in honor of the departed, of course
attracts the most profound contemplation, but around it the genius
of the artist may have wrought some beautiful adjunct figures,
worthy of their share of admiration. Thus, while the Paradise Lost
stands in superior beauty and grandeur, a fitting monument of the
transcendent mind of the author, there are minor productions of the
same imagination, which are finely conceived, and exquisitely
wrought. Among these may be mentioned Comus, a “Mask,” or
Dialogue composed in dramatic form with no particular attention to
rules or probabilities, and therefore affording the imagination of the
poet considerable freedom in the exercise of its pencil. This was one
of the earliest productions of the muse of Milton, one in the progress
of which he tried the strength of those pinions, which were destined
to bear him beyond this ‘visible diurnal sphere,’ into those spiritual
and sublime regions, till then unknown to the adventurous flight of
the poet. Johnson, in his Lives of the Poets, declares this to be “the
greatest of his juvenile performances, in which may very plainly be
discovered the dawn or twilight of Paradise Lost.” The characters are
six only in number, the Attendant Spirit, Comus and his crew, a
Virgin Lady, her two brothers, and Sabrina, a nymph.—The scene is a
wild-wood, and the poem opens with a long soliloquy from the
attendant spirit, followed by the entrance of the wizard Comus, and
the strange, unearthly beings of monstrous forms, now encountered
by the lady, who has lost her way in the woods, and who is
subjected to the severe trial of their foul incantations. The two
brothers set forth in pursuit of their lost sister, and succeed in
finding her, happy that she has survived unharmed, all the arts of
the wicked and the seductive.
Sabrina, the “goddess of the silver lake,” is invoked, and rises out
of the “cool, translucent wave,” chiefly to confer a crowning grace
upon the scene and afford further opportunity for the exercise of the
imaginative powers of the poet. There can be said to be little plan,
or intention of plan or plot about the piece. But whatever may be
wanting in beauty or ingenuity of design, is amply compensated by
the sterling value of the thoughts, the exquisite character of the
imagery, the richness of the coloring, and the purity of the tone of
sentiment. Many a “household word” is here recognized. Many a
stem, from which we plucked flowers for our herbarium, grew here.
Beautiful gems, that have been set here and there in the bosom of
congenial prose, or, like current coin, from hand to hand, that have
circulated from mouth to mouth, in elegant society, were formed in
this mine. Those “thousand liveried angels” that lackey a pure and
gentle spirit, the “airy tongues, that syllable men’s names,” that
“charming, divine philosophy,” which is “musical as Apollo’s lute,” the
vision of those serene and celestial regions, that glow “above the
smoke and stir of this dim spot, which men call earth,” the view of a
sable cloud, turning its “silver lining on the night,” these, and many
kindred images and sentiments of beauty, have their original
expression in the Comus, as others do in other works of the
immortal poet, who sought not merely to weave splendid visions of
the imagination, but to embalm sublime truths for the nourishment
of humanity in all ages, and to vindicate the ways of God to man.
Here, too, we find some of those sententious generics of history
or geography, of fable or fancy; those classic touches; those
suggestive single words, which instantly bring up before the mind, a
train of ideas, or a treasure of knowledge connected with the past.
These habits of thought and composition are fully developed in
Paradise Lost. “The poetry of Milton,” says an eminent critic, “differs
from that of Dante, as the hieroglyphics of Egypt, differ from the
picture-writing of Mexico. The images which Dante employs speak
for themselves; they stand simply for what they are. Those of Milton
have a signification which is often discernible only, to the initiated.
Their value depends less on what they directly represent, than on
what they remotely suggest.” Numerous instances of this might be
adduced. It has been called electrifying the mind through a
conductor. The mind of the reader must in some good measure co-
operate with that of the author. We must be ready to fill up the
outline which he sketches; to respond with our melody to the key-
note, which he strikes. There must be some music in the soul that is
to appreciate the genius of Milton. Addison never earned a purer
glory, than when he set forth his merits as by a charmed pen. Those
words of enchantment—those forms of beauty created by the
imagination of the poet, deeply impressed a congenial mind.
The Comus is constructed on the plan of the Italian masque, and
belongs to that class of poems, which do not depend for their
interest on any complication of plot or conflicts of intense passion,
on dramatic unities or strange developments; startling scenes and
horrible catastrophes. The poem rather claims and commands our
admiration for the Doric simplicity of its structure, than for any gay
and glittering forms of poetic architecture. Though dramatic in its
plan, the Mask—while it has the simplest form of the drama—is
essentially lyric, especially in the carol of the Water Nymph and the
song of the attendant spirit, which constitutes a kind of delicious
epilogue to the piece, and concludes with a beautiful moral lesson:
 Mortals, that would follow me,
Love Virtue; she alone is free:
She can teach you how to climb
Higher than the sphery chime;
Or if Virtue feeble were,
Heaven itself would stoop to her.

Indeed, the whole design and execution of the poem is evidential

of that purity of mind, that chasteness of the imagination, so nobly
distinguishing all the productions of this first of poets.
There is no reason why Shakspeare should not have maintained
the same elevated tone of morality and purity in his immortal works,
but that he was destitute of those religious principles, which purify
the heart, and, indeed, clarify all the powers of the mind. The
polluting habits of his early life, so closely connected with the stage,
when it was in its deepest debasement, contributed to this
malformation of his moral character. Let it not be said it was rather
the “fault of the age” than of the individual. Milton was of that age.
There was little more than a generation between them. But the poet
was not ensnared either with the conspicuous examples of vice
before him or around him. In the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation, he shone as a light of superior brilliancy, entering upon
the responsibilities and trials of life, with a heart full of love for
freedom, and of hatred of tyrants, just at that illustrious period of
the world, when the genius of Liberty had set her foot on these
North American shores.
All republicans have a special interest in studying the genius and
character of Milton. He took no pleasure as did the great dramatic
poet, in exalting the prerogatives, or setting forth the splendors of
royalty. For this he was calumniated by his enemies, and even
Johnson, the inveterate old tory, joins in the censure of the politician
and civilian, while he praises the poet in such language as this: “He
seems to have been well acquainted with his own genius, and to
know what it was that nature had bestowed upon him, more
bountifully than upon others; the power of displaying the vast,
illuminating the splendid, enforcing the awful, darkening the gloomy,
and aggravating the dreadful.” He could not stoop to trifle among
kings and queens, or attempt to make them conspicuous by his
eulogies or representations. He rose to the sublimities of supernal
worlds. “He sent his faculties out upon discovery, into worlds where
only imagination can travel, and delighted to form new modes of
existence and furnish sentiment and action to superior beings, to
trace the counsels of hell, or accompany the choirs of heaven.”
His communion with the pure, the spiritual, the invisible,
strengthened the principles of conduct he had adopted in his
anticipation of the judgment of posterity, and especially in his
consciousness of being “in his great Taskmaster’s eye.”
In Comus, his youthful imagination luxuriates amid the freshness
of its own beautiful creations, amid the wealth which was destined
to enrich the world. Upon the ground of a pure moral sentiment the
flowers of poesy are distributed in the most free and graceful
manner. There is no pandering to the baser passions of the human
heart; no prostitution of the charms of his muse to the purposes of a
secret, sinful gratification on the part of his readers; no seductive
attempt to “impair the strength of better thoughts,” or to weaken the
sanctions of that immutable law, which binds together virtue and
happiness, vice and misery. His amaranthine wreath maybe wet with
the “dew of heaven,” such as descended on his own Paradise, but is
never stained with tears such as innocence weeps, when corrupted
by guilt. “His diadem of beauty,” is set with gems of the purest
water, and most sparkling colors. The “Lady,” who is wandering in
the recesses of the forest, apprehensive perhaps, of being assailed
by prowling foes, appeals in fervent language:

Oh welcome, pure-eyed Faith; whitehanded Hope,

Thou hovering angel, girt with golden wings!
And thou, unblemished form of Chastity!
I see ye visibly——

The high lesson breathed through many a glowing line of this

exquisite poem, is the dignity of virtue, the conservative power of
innocence, the majesty of woman, even in her weakness, that
weakness itself becoming strength, when blended with a purity,
before which the eye of profligacy quails with very shame at the
suggestions of a guilty heart. In the picture of Comus, the fabled son
of Bacchus and Circe, and the assailant of the virtuous lady, drawn
by the attendant spirit, there is a powerful argument for
temperance, a virtue so warmly applauded and so little practiced
among men. Comus,

—To every thirsty wanderer

By sly enticement gives his baneful cup,
With many murmurs mixed, whose pleasing poison
The visage quite transforms of him that drinks,
And the inglorious likeness of a beast
Fixes instead, unmoulding reason’s mintage
Charactered in the face.—

The imagination of Milton delighted to portray the moral virtues,

often grouping them in fine proportions and expressive relations.
They appear in the midst of exquisite poetry, gorgeous imagery, and
all manner of glowing thoughts, like beautiful forms of statuary
revealing themselves amidst the luxuriant vines and verdant foliage
of a summer garden.
The scene in the palace between the Virgin Lady and Comus
affords occasion for the utterance of noble sentiments in language
worthy of them. She is supposed to sit in the enchanted chair, her
eye resting upon the dainties of a delicious feast, her ear greeted
with strains of the softest music, all the senses, in fine, addressed in
the most tempting manner, when the Enchanter with his wand
appears before her, and proffers his glass—the true “Circean cup,”
which, being tasted, first intoxicates, then ruins. It is the intoxication
of pleasure in all its forms and fascinations. This may be called a
fable, but it stands for truth and reality too sadly and fatally
experienced by the children of humanity.
The Enchanter opens his assault: “If I but wave this wand, your
nerves are all chained up in alabaster.” The lady nobly replies:

Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind

With all thy charms, although this corporeal rind
Thou hast immanacled, while Heaven sees good.
 The contest proceeds, and it is one between Truth and
Falsehood, Light and Darkness, Principle and Profligacy, the Powers
Supreme, and the Infernal Crew. The germ of one portion of
Paradise Lost is here. Those conflicts between mighty opposing
Powers, which constitute so much of the sublime interest of that
great Epic, are here typified and foreshadowed. Some poets would
have invested this incantation of virgin purity with the “armor of
tears,” the resistless eloquence of entreaty, disarming the sturdiest
foe. But no such tender, melting scenes seem to have been
embraced within the design of the poet. His heroine belongs to a
severer order of the chaste sisterhood. There is a sternness in her
purity, before which even the Enchanter with his wand is compelled
to cower. He plies her with his enchantments, presses her with
arguments worthy of the father of lies, with sophistry becoming the
most subtle and accomplished deceiver, with flattery that would turn
an ordinary brain. To all this she replies with all the energy of
indignant virtue: “False traitor,” and charges home the guilt of his
incantations, spurning the offer of all his delicacies and luxuries:

—None
But such as are good men can give good things,
And that which is not good, is not delicious
To a well-governed and wise appetite.

Comus affects to despise the philosophy that is taught from the

cynic tub of Diogenes, and ranges over all Nature for proof that men
were intended to revel on her bounties, to “live while they live;” in
fact to do what those Epicurean philosophers taught, who said, “Let
us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” Nay, he dares to asperse
the purity, and insult the majesty of Beauty itself:

Beauty is nature’s coin, must not be hoarded,

But must be current; and the good thereof
Consists in mutual and partaken bliss—

Now does the Lady rebuke him with all the true natural authority
of virtue for obtruding his false rules “pranked in reason’s garb,” and
in the true spirit of Satan bolting out his practical heresies with a
fluency quite beyond the capabilities of the tongue of Virtue. It is
true that in this interview there appears to be, so far as the Virgin
Lady is concerned, a singular union of the romantic and the sensible,
indeed such a preponderance of the latter as would have been quite
inconsistent with the style and spirit of the drama, as authenticated
by the masters of the histrionic art. Nevertheless, so great a genius
as Milton had a right to choose in what form he would embody—
through what channel he would pour the exalted sentiments and
burning thoughts which it is the prerogative of genius to supply. If it
pleased him to set before us naked creations of loveliness, or solitary
symbols of vice and deformity, rather in the style of the statuary
than of the painter of scenes, then let us be thankful for the gift,
and honor the memory of the giver. Comus is rebuked by the Lady in
such language as this:

Nature
Means her provision only to the good,
That live according to her sober laws,
And holy dictate of spare temperance:
If every just man that now pines with want,
Had but a moderate and beseeming share
Of that which lewdly-pampered luxury
Now heaps upon some face with vast excess,
Nature’s full blessings would be well dispensed
In unsuperfluous even proportion,
And she no whit encumbered with her store.

That strain continues until the guilty wizard stands abashed, like
Satan before the immaculate angel of the covenant, feeling how
awful virtue is: Comus confesses his fears of self-condemnation. He
felt “her words set off by some superior power,” and in spite of his
professed exemption from mortal ills, acknowledges “a cold
shuddering dew dips me all o’er.” Still he resolves to dissemble, and
as he is proceeding with his speech, in rush the brothers of the lady
to the rescue, and scatter all things around them.
The attendant Spirit again appears on the stage, to exercise her
guardian offices, and speaks at length. All the speakers are imbued
with classical knowledge, and abound in classical allusions. This is
just Miltonic. They are learned in Latin and Greek. And why should
Milton consult the verisimilitudes of the stage? In the compass of
thirteen lines of a song by the attendant Spirit, there are several
classical or fabulous names, among them Neptune, Nereus, Triton,
Glaucus, Thetis, Parthenope. How finely does he interweave them
with the thread of his song, even, by his poetic art, imparting to
them a portion of the melody that is vocal in his verse. He seems
capable of setting to music the whole catalogue of the Pantheon, the
Stoa, the Academy, and the Temples, whose sublime and impressive
architecture itself suggests an analogy to poetry of a high order.
Then the Nereids, the Dryads, the Fauns will always be poetical in an
humbler sense, so long as the woods and the waters shall be
grateful to the senses or pleasing to the imagination. Even the horrid
Satyrs are welcomed among his guests.
This poem is full of MUSIC, reminding us as well of the beautiful
bond—the indissoluble vinculum—that unites the sister arts, as of
the author’s passion for the science and the symphonies of sweet
sounds. A good recitation of his Ode on the Nativity is equal to a
grand overture on the organ. He was an Epic all over. To quote from
this very Comus, he could originate “strains that might create a soul
under the ribs of death.” If he did not absolutely invent the exquisite
epithet “rosy bosomed hours,” (it being derived from the
Rododatetylos Eos, “rosy-fingered Aurora” of Homer,) he interwove it
most gracefully in his song, as he did all thoughts, images, and
words which he deemed worthy of adaptation into the magic
structure of his works. They were so many living, many-colored
stones in that glorious temple of poesy, (be it reverentially spoken,)
“not made with hands,” but elaborated and elevated to its towering
height by those marvelous intellectual powers which are as much the
gift of God as inspiration itself, and far more identified with the MAN
than inspiration possibly could be. Oh, how solemn the spectacle, to
contemplate such a genius with his eye fixed, like that of an ancient
prophet, in a vision of spiritual worlds, peopled, not with the
ordinary phantoms of an earthly imagination, but with beings of
immortal mould and unmeasured power; his ear open to catch the
“ninefold harmony” of the celestial orders, as they sing and praise
the glorious Creator; his march above the ordinary walks of
humanity; his very soul taking wings, and like the eagle soaring
“with no middle flight,” but passing “the flaming bounds of time and
space,” and ascending from sphere to sphere until he reaches the
throne of the Eternal, there to hold high communion with the
Invisible God, and the august and awful associations that surround
him, whom “No eye hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and
power everlasting.”

THE GRAVE’S PALE ROSES.

———
BY C. F. ORNE.
———
On the couch of her suffering, meekly,
Like a lily so wan and pale,
She lay in her trance-like slumber,
A slumber for bliss or bale.

He sat and watched beside her,

To whom her young life was dear,
From his eyes the sad dew of sorrow
Fell silently, tear by tear.

The hours passed unseen and unheeded

Till the dawning grew bright in the skies,
Then her white lids, with languid unclosing,
Revealed the soft light of her eyes.

She pressed the last kiss on his forehead,

And murmured in music so low,
“On my grave plant the pale blooming roses
That only a summer-life know.”

She slept: and they laid her with weeping,

In the greenwood so solemn and still:
He placed on her grave the pale roses
Whose life bears no winter wind’s chill.

As he knelt there what bathed his wan forehead,

So gently the rose-petals moved?
The sigh of the breeze that swept o’er them,
Or the spirit of her he had loved?

When spring came again to the greenwood,

Ah—a flowerless sod was there!—
The new wife wore the pale blooming roses
In the wreaths of her raven hair.
ON SAN FRANCISCO’S SPLENDID BAY.
———
BY THOMAS G. SPEAR.
———
On San Francisco’s splendid bay
The weary hours I while away,
And think me of the days, no more,
I passed upon a dearer shore.
When time began to stretch the chain
Of which a few worn links remain,
To tell me that at fate’s command,
While years on years are rolling by,
They, too, must strew life’s desert strand,
Like leaves when Autumn’s blast is nigh.

Where azure hills o’erlook the seas,

I sit me down and feel the breeze
Fresh from the billows, wild and nigh,
Borne through a bright and boundless sky,
And musing gaze the landscape o’er
From rolling height to sandy shore,
And hail the beautiful and grand,
Blent with the softest light and shade,
In Freedom’s gold-encumbered land,
The seat of empire and of trade.

O’er Yerba Buena’s lonely isle

I watch the morning’s rosy smile;
And while it gilds the wave and mast,
From Contia Costa’s summit cast,
I think of those it woke before
It touched this mountain-sloping shore.
In that far off and hallowed home
Beyond the Allegheny’s sky,
Where breaks the white Atlantic foam,
And all life’s dear affections lie!

Ah me! what of these mountain scenes,

O’er which the blue sky sweetly beams!
This land of wild romantic charms
That man’s imperial wish embalms;
This clime of gold, whose sound to greet,
Swift hither rush the world’s life-fleet.
What of these treasures wrung by toil,
Their might, their magic, and their lure,
Without one sweet domestic smile,
In which the heart may feel secure.

THE QUIET ARBOR.

———
BY W. H. C. HOSMER.
———

“Hence let me haste into the midwood shade,

And on the dark green grass, beside the brink
Of haunted stream, that by the roots of oak
Rolls o’er the rocky channel, lie at large.”
When study pales my visage, and I feel
Oppressive languor chaining heart and brain,
Away from toil and books I often steal,
Exploring haunts where Quiet holdeth reign.
I love the wild, the picturesque—and when
Her nest of moss the roving linnet weaves,
And the low thorn is beautiful with flowers,
I seek my favorite glen,
While warm winds wanton with the twinkling leaves,
And pass in pleasant idleness the hours.

Where a dark arbor, by the mingling boughs

Of two gigantic hemlock-trees, is made,
I rest my limbs, and with wild shout arouse
The ruffed-grouse from her cover in the shade;
The tapping flicker does not keep aloof,
But plies his noisy bill above my head,
To greet my coming, while the summer heat
Falls on the verdant roof
That canopies my green, luxurious bed,
With the fresh odors of the forest sweet.

I lie and listen to the lulling tones

Of the clear brook that works its winding way,
Far down through brush, and over mossy stones,
The green marge wetting with its silver spray;
The path is steep and perilous that leads
To the cold flushing waters—and few dare
Descend to quaff refreshment from their flow;
For thick, entangling weeds,
In the loose soil seem matted to ensnare
The foot of him who ventureth below.

In the rich bottom of the dale, a grove

Of sylvan giants woos the roving eye;
The topmost limbs wave not their leaves above
 The shrubby brow of the declivity.
Sometimes in musing indolence I stand,
And drink in rapture from the peaceful scene,
Or call up old rememberings from sleep;
Then pluck with careless hand
The ripe, red berries of the winter-green,
That blush like rubies on the verdant steep.

I watch the wild bees from my cool retreat

Hum tunefully around the blue harebell,
Before they enter to extract the sweet
That lieth hidden in each fragrant cell.
The small ground-squirrels leave their dwellings dark
In the black, slaty soil, and gambol oft
On an old oak with star-moss overgrown,
And reft of branch and bark;
While the fierce hawk forsakes his realm aloft,
And settles on the blasted pine, his throne.

Where the broad banks slope gently downward, grow

The sassafras and other fragrant trees;
And the bright lilies of the wave below,
Give nods of recognition to the breeze.
In mild accordance with the quiet scene,
Beat tranquilly the pulses of my heart;
While Fancy populates the place with fays,
In robes of dazzling sheen,
Who dance to merry music, and depart,
While other fairy visions cheat the gaze.

Around the sapling, like a verdant belt,

The claspers of the honeysuckle twine;
The Dryades of Argos never dwelt
Within a bower more beautiful than mine.
The humming-bird is near me on the wing,
And the warm breeze with dulcet tone is stealing
Through the green plumage of the hemlocks old—
A spiritual thing;
While butterflies round marshy spots are wheeling,
Clad in their dazzling liveries of gold.

The dusky lord of knife and hatchet roves

Near my wild haunt of loveliness no more;
He saw, amid his old ancestral groves,
Throng pale invaders from a foreign shore—
Then heard the sylvan monarchs, one by one,
With all their leafy diadems laid low,
And sought an undiscoverable lair
Toward the dim, setting sun,
With empty quiver and a broken bow,
And gloomy brow contorted by despair.

The game he hunted craftily is gone,

And meadow-grass conceals his ancient trail;
The flock is feeding where his camp-fire shone,
And rang his whoop of triumph on the gale.
His implements of battle and the chase,
Are often found near my romantic bower,
For the rich scene about it is allied
To legends of his race;
And mournful traces of his day of power
Make classic grove, and glade, and river-side.

Frost, washing rain-drops, and the plough lay bare

The rude graves of his sires on hill and plain,
Exposing their white secrets to the air,
And the rough foot-fall of the whistling swain;
When Autumn robes the forest in a dress
Of many colors, he returns no more,
To pay due homage to ancestral dust,
From distant wilderness;
The wave no longer flushes with his oar,
And crusted is his tomahawk with rust.

His woodland language cannot wholly die

While swift Ganèsus, with a voice of glee,
Between bright, flowery banks is rolling by
To mix his waters with the Genesee.
These tall old hemlocks tell of other days,
When the red warrior rested in their shade,
The painted ruler of the scene around;
And the far hills that raise
Their wooded tops, by Summer lovely made,
In marks of ancient Indian rule abound.

When the life-stream is frozen in my veins,

And hollow are my features with decay,
I fondly hope my cold and stiff remains
May not be hidden from the light of day,
In the dank yard where hundreds hide their dead;
For I would rather have a pleasant grave
Beneath the roofing of my arbor green,
With wild-grass over-spread;
While far below sing bird and gurgling wave,
Through the dense, rustling thicket, dimly seen.
 PEDRO DE PADILH.
———
BY J. M. LEGARE.
———

(Continued from page 310.)

Spain, and Tercera. }
AD. 1583. }
Capt. Wolfang Carlo and Don Hilo de Ladron, seated on the side
of the mountain above Angra, watched the sea brighten along the
opposite horizon and the white tents of the Spanish camp slowly
emerge from the mists in the valley to the right.
“There’ll be hard fighting yonder before the commandant gives
in,” the captain said, nodding toward Nostre Dame de Loup, “and
nobody will find time to look after us for some weeks to come.”
“We must make our peace with the marquis before it is over,”
Hilo returned indifferently.
“My plan,” the captain continued, “is to search along the western
coast, and wherever we find a boat put off in it for St. George. One
of the Portuguese told me the place wasn’t more than half a dozen
leagues off at most.”
“And what would you do there, brave captain?” the Spaniard
asked with a sneer. “Don’t comfort yourself that the marquis would
let your bull’s-neck out of his noose, because you merely deserted
the commandant and benefited himself in nothing. But your
friendship for me mustn’t keep you in Tercera. Perhaps the best
thing after all you can do, would be to go and be hanged; it will
come about one of these days.”
“Not before I throttle you,” the ex-serjeant muttered, with a
scowl at the back of his careless comrade’s head.
 “Joke away,” he added sulkily, aloud. “You’ve a great chance of
catching the count up here, while there’s a boat to be got, haven’t
you.”
“Look you, captain,” Hilo said, raising himself on his elbow.
“There isn’t a boat on this coast, nor has there been for these three
weeks. These rascally Portuguese have been carrying away their
families and goods in every thing that could float, to be out of
harm’s way until the fighting is fairly over. I know it is so, for I
overheard one of them tell the count night before last; he had been
along shore to find out. So the viceroy is still in trap, and if you’ve a
mind, you may come along and find where he’s hidden; or if you like
it better, swim over the strait, or walk down to the marquis’ quarters:
you’ve several acquaintances made in Madrid, you know, who will be
pleased to meet you, captain.”
At this reference Wolfang regained enough of his good humor to
show his tusks in a grin.
“Your friends ain’t too many down there, either,” he rejoined. “If
I’m to go with you, let’s hear how the count is to be caught.”
“Why, my bold captain, we wont catch him at present, it might
be inconvenient for you and I alone to fight a regiment of even
Portuguese. But we will find out his hiding-place, and with the
information buy our heads from Santa Cruz. Or, who knows, we may
set a snare for him and take him off his guard; there may be some
reward offered for him, too. What do you say, will you share the
doubloons, or swim over to St. George’s?”
“I’ll follow,” Carlo cried, rising and tightening his belt: the
mention of doubloons sounding in his ears with the proverbial music
of the trumpet to a war-horse. He pulled his grizzly moustache and
loosened his hanger. Hilo laughed.
“Come along,” he said. “You’re the sweetest-tempered gentleman
of my acquaintance when gold is to be got by it.”
There was no path apparent, and the ascent was easiest up the
bed of a wild gorge they presently discovered. As height after height
was surmounted, the circle of their horizon widened: St. George and
Pico were visible in the blue field of the ocean to the right, and over
a wooded promontory the hazy outline of more distant Graciosa.
Below lay Angra, and closer to the left the entrenched village of
Nostre Dame de Loup.
So long as the thickets abounded, there was no likelihood of the
fugitives attracting attention from below, but when el duro was
gained, where the bare surface of rocks lay open to view from all
sides, the adventurers turned back a space, and following a
depression in the chain of mountain-tops, lost sight of the ocean,
and overlooked instead numerous farms scattered through the little
valleys of the highlands of Tercera. The Portuguese owners had gone
off with their effects, but the grain left in the partially harvested
fields supplied abundant rations. Here the deserters fixed their head-
quarters while conducting their search for the count, returning
nightly with the caution requisite where the sudden falling in with
any party would have proved perilous. The military operations on the
coast, however, kept the foreign powers occupied for the present,
and no natives were to be met with, although several country-
houses belonging to members of the viceroy’s court, were sacked by
the outlaws of what few valuables remained. In the course of a
week, it was evident Torrevedros was secreting himself in some
other quarter, the semi-circle of mountains having been traversed in
all directions and found to terminate in steep precipices looking
inward, leaving the only points of egress opposite Angra.
One morning Hilo and the captain resolved to descend far
enough to turn the heel of the promontory and reascend on the
farther side; a strong easterly wind lifted the fogs from the lowlands
adjacent the sea, and enveloped the entire height of the mountain,
for which reason, their knowledge of the geography of the country
being very imperfect, the pair, before recognizing any landmarks,
were close upon the road leading to the camp of the commander
from the capital. Both caught the sound of hoofs instantly, and
crouched in a thicket while a half-dozen troopers galloped by,
headed by a knight with his visor up.
“Santiago!” Hilo said, rising to his feet when the tramp had died
away in the direction of the French camp. “We may spare ourselves
the trouble of finding the count; nothing will save our heads where
that man is.”
 “Who?” the captain asked.
“Don Augustine Inique—may the devil confound him! I thought
him safe in Spain with that whining daughter of his.”
Wolfang’s face, not usually expressive, was a blank for some
minutes, then slowly relaxed into a broad grin. The captain’s grin, as
I have said elsewhere, boded no good.
“Hark ’e,” he whispered, “what hinders your getting hold of your
fortune, if the knight dies: say, falls off his horse, or has his casque
riddled by a bullet in battle—or now?”
“Ha!” Hilo answered quickly.
“Give me your arquebus, it carries a truer ball than mine,” he
added moodily after an interval.
The captain did as he said, and the other tried it to his shoulder
irresolutely twice or thrice.
“Climbing unsteadies my hand,” he exclaimed with an oath.
Upon which the captain cried. “Double the debt you owe me, and
the work will be done.”
It might have been two hours after this, that Señor Inique riding
slowly by the spot, lurched violently over his steed’s neck, which he
grasped to save himself from falling, at the instant his men-at-arms
were startled by the loud report of a carbine. All was consternation,
two of the company running to support the maître-de-camp, while
the others dashed into the thick mist to the right: the latter
presently returned however with no tidings of the assassins, and the
party conveyed the insensible knight to Angra, where Padilh was
awaiting his arrival.
Don Pedro turned pale at the recital. “God forbid!” he said
repeatedly, half aloud to himself, while musing gloomily by the side
of his friend.
Meanwhile Carlo and De Ladron creeping noiselessly along
parallel with the road, the better to baffle pursuit, came suddenly on
the crouching figure of a man who was endeavoring to hide himself
under a bush. Wolfang took him promptly by the throat, but before
any violence could be done him, Hilo said:
“Stop, the fellow is a Moor. Look at his black face and turban.”
 “What of that?” returned the captain. “He must have seen what
happened just now, and Moor or Christian he mustn’t have liberty to
use his tongue again.”
The prisoner during this whispered conference, looked from one
to the other, his oriental eyes dilated with fear, but making no effort
to release his throat; he had evidently watched the approach of the
fugitives in the hope they would pass by without noticing him. At the
last words he eagerly stretched his mouth open with a wildly
supplicating gesture.
“Santiago!” both exclaimed in a breath. The Moor’s tongue was
shrunk to half the natural size, and it appeared evident he could not
speak a word.
“He is worth his weight in silver,” Hilo said, looking at him
narrowly. “I have heard the count had a mute slave, and I remember
once seeing this man with him in the Portuguese camp. Let’s carry
the fellow higher up the mountain and compel him to show us where
his master is.”
The Moor’s turban served to bind his arms, and the three
reascending the mountain a space, halted on the farther side of
Angra, which town they passed so close as to hear the sound of
trumpets from the market-place. The slave confessed by signs, he
had come in search of food for Torrevedros, who, deserted by his
courtiers, was hiding among the rocks.
“If that is the case,” Hilo remarked in French to the captain, “we
may capture him ourselves.”
“And pocket all the doubloons the marquis will offer,” the captain
added greedily.
The same motive for obedience which had drawn the
acknowledgment of the viceroy’s destitution, a choice between that
and a dagger stroke, induced the Moor to guide them in the
direction of his master’s lodging, no doubt in the secret hope of
wearying out his heavier-clad companions, and giving them the slip
when opportunity offered. Up and down steeps they toiled most of
the morning; the mist had disappeared and the sun beat fiercely on
the rocks of the duro. The phlegmatic Wolfang followed with
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