Ossian Collection > Morison's edition of the Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal

J 32 A CRITICAL DISSERTATION ON
es Offian in hade to the field, wjth this afFedionate and de-
licate injundion. " Father of Ofcar!" addreffing him by
a title which on this occafion has the highefl propriety,
*' Father of Ofcar ! lift the fpear ; defend the young ia
arms. But conceal thy fleps from Fillan's eyes : He muit
not know that I doubt his fteel " Oifian arrived too late.
But unwilling to defer ibe Fillan vanquifhed, the poet fup-
prefTes all the circumftances of the combat with Cathmor ;
and only (liews us the dying hero. We fee him animated
to the end with the fame martial and ardent fpirit ; breath-
ing his lad in bitter regret for being fo early cut off from
the field of glory. " Ofiian, lay me in that hollow rock.
Raife no ftone above me ; ieafl: one fliould alk about my
fame. I am fallen in the firft of my fields ; fallen without
renown. Let thy voice alone, fend joy to my flying foul.
Why fhould the bard know where dwells the early-fallen
Fillan ?" He who after tracing the circumftances of this
ftory, fliall deny that our bard is pofTefied of high fentlment
and high art, muft be ftrangely prejudicec> indeed. Let
him read the ftory of Pallas in Virgil, which is of a fimilar
kind ; and after all the praife he may juftly beftow on the
elegant and finiflied dcfcription of fhat amiable author, let
him fay, which of the two poets unfpld moft of the human
foul. I wave inlifting on any more of tlje particulars in Te-
mora ; as my aim is rather to lead the reader into the ge-
nius and fpirit of Offian's poetry, than to dwell on all his
beauties.
The judgment and art difccvered in conducting works of
fuch length as Fingal and Temora, diftinguifli them from
the other poems in this colleftion. The fmaller pieces,
however, contain particular beauties no lefs eminent. They
are hiftorical poems, generally of the elegiac kind ; and
plainly difcover themfelves to be the work of the fame au-
■ ' thor.