Ossian Collection > Fingal
(149)
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CANTO VI. FINGAL. 135
He bar'd his bosom — there were spread
The deep'ned seams of many a war.
" These marks of honorable strife,"
He said, " and these grey hairs behold —
Shall scourges close a warrior's life ?
My sov'reign, let it not be told.
Not that Rerth values pain ; but shame
Is new to him who fought for fame.
This hand for fifty years did bear
The spear thro' many a dreadful field,
And now shall ignominy tear
The honors from a soldier's shield ?
My king, know'st thou not Ronnar's name ?
It is not boastingly I tell,
In thy last war my Ronnar fell.
Did not my boy the spear arrest
Destin'd for thee ? — It pierc'd his breast. —
I wept not, for he had his fame,"
He bar'd his bosom — there were spread
The deep'ned seams of many a war.
" These marks of honorable strife,"
He said, " and these grey hairs behold —
Shall scourges close a warrior's life ?
My sov'reign, let it not be told.
Not that Rerth values pain ; but shame
Is new to him who fought for fame.
This hand for fifty years did bear
The spear thro' many a dreadful field,
And now shall ignominy tear
The honors from a soldier's shield ?
My king, know'st thou not Ronnar's name ?
It is not boastingly I tell,
In thy last war my Ronnar fell.
Did not my boy the spear arrest
Destin'd for thee ? — It pierc'd his breast. —
I wept not, for he had his fame,"
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| Early Gaelic Book Collections > Ossian Collection > Fingal > (149) |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/77600776 |
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| Description | "a fine-Eirin : a poem, in six cantos : with notes, intended to delineate the manners and state of society of Ancient Ireland." (Imperfect: missing pages 83-94.) |
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| Shelfmark | Oss.99 |
| Additional NLS resources: | |
| Attribution and copyright: |
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More information
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| Description | Selected books from the Ossian Collection of 327 volumes, originally assembled by J. Norman Methven of Perth. Different editions and translations of James MacPherson's epic poem 'Ossian', some with a map of the 'Kingdom of Connor'. Also secondary material relating to Ossianic poetry and the Ossian controversy. |
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| Description | Selected items from five 'Special and Named Printed Collections'. Includes books in Gaelic and other Celtic languages, works about the Gaels, their languages, literature, culture and history. |
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