Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

OH the Poems of Ossian. 183
Vti? i-ater, media niinborum in nocte, coruscS,
Vuiir.ina inolitur dextrS ; quo maxima motu
Terra tremit ; fiisere ferae ; et mortalia corda
Per gentes, humilis stravit pavor; ille, flagranti
Aut Atho, aut Rhodopen, aut alta Ceramua telo
Dejicit. l^irg. Georg. I.
Simplicity and conciseness are never-failing
characteristics of the style of a sublime writer
He rests on the majesty of his sentiments, not on
the pomp of his expressions. The main secret oi
being sublime is, to say great things in few, and in
plain words : for every superfluous decoration de-
grades a sublime idea. The mind rises and sweUs,
when a lofty description or sentiment is presented
to it in its native form. But no sooner does the
poet attempt to spread oat this sentiment or de-
scription, and to deck it round and round with
glittering ornaments, than the mind begins to fall
from its high elevation ; the transport is over; the
beautiful may remain, but the sublime is gone.
Hence the concise and simple style of Ossian gives
great advantage to liis sublime conceptions ; and
assists them in seizing the imagination with full
power.
Sublimity, as belonging to sentiment, coincides
in a great measure with magnanimity, heroism,
and generosity of sentiment. Whatever discovers
human nature in its greatest elevation ; whatever
bespeaks a high effort of soul ; or shows a mind
superior to pleasures, to dangers, and to death,
forms what may be called the moral or sentimental
sublime. For this Ossian is eminently distinguished.
No poet maintains a higher tone of virtuous and
noble sentiment throughout all his works. Par-
ticularly in all the sentiments of Fingal, there is a
grandeur and loftiness proper to swell the mind
with the highest ideas of human perfection.
vYherever he appears, we behold the hero. The
objects which he pursues are always truly great :
to bend the proud ; to protect the injured ; to
defend his friends; to overcome his enemies Dy