Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

Prefuce. u
Cer the dark tumult of a Btormjr night,
And glaild'ning heav'n with tUeir majestic light.
In nought is Odin to the maid unkind.
Her form scarce equals her exalted miud ;
Awe leads her sacred steps where'er they move,
And mankind worship where they dare not love.
But, mix'd with softness, was the virgin's pride>
Her heart had feelings, which her eyes denied :
Her bright tears started at another's woes,
■WTiile transient darkness on her soul arose.
The chase she lov'd ; when morn, with doubtful beam,
Came dimly wandering o'er the Bothnic stream,
On Sevo's sounding sides, she bent the bow.
And rous'd his forests to his head ot snow.
Nor mo v'd the maid alone; &c.
One of the chief improvements, in this edition,
^ the care taken in an-anging the Poems in the order
fl time ; so as to form a kind of regular history of
.hi" age to which they relate. The writer has now
fi>igned them for ever to their fate. That they
iave been well received by the public, appears from
in extensive sale ; that they shall continue to be
well received, he may venture to prophesy with-
out the gift of that inspiration to which poets lay
tl.iim. Through the medium of version upon ver-
sion, they retain, in foreign languages, their native
character of simplicity and energy. Genuine poetry
like gold, loses little, when properly transfused ; bu
w hen a composition cannot bear the test of a literal
Version, it is a counterfeit which ought not to pass
nirrent. The operation must, however, be per-
iirmed with skilful hands. A translator, who canno*
hjual his original, is incapable of expressing ita
It'auties.
J.n./ II, Jilt;, js irry.