Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

116 FIONNGAL. [Di-an I.
Erin's chief of the generous soul,
Reclining half raised on his spear, 515
To the first of bards, Fena's son :
" Caruill from the time of old,
Why for me alone spread the feast,
And the hoary-haired king of Lochlin
Without feast upon Erin's shore? 520
Lochlin's deer are far from the chief,
Far away is his empty hall.
Bear my words to him o'er the heath ;
Ask the ruler of ships to come o'er
From the strife of the plunging waves, 525
To the feast of generous Erin.
He shall hear the sound of the knolls
In the wood under clouds of night ;
High-sounding, boisterous the wind
That descends from his native seas. 530
He shall praise the strains of our harps,
And the songs of our youths on the hill."
Caruill of the peaceful soul went
The brown-shielded chief to invite.
" Arise from thy couch of boar-hides, 535
Suaran, king of deserts, arise ;
The high feast of the shell is spread
Round the blue-eyed leader of Erin."
He replied, like a slow muffled sound
On Cromla, when winds are astir, 540
" Should the daughters of Innis-fail
Come hither with their arms of snow,
With their white bosoms swelling high,
With their bright eyes inviting love,