Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

92 Critical Dissertation
The scene of Temora, as of Fingal, is laid iii
Ireland ; and the action is of a posterior date. The
subject is, an expedition of the hero to dethrone
and punish a bloody usurper, and to restore the
possession of the kingdom to the posterity of the
lawful prince : an undertaking- worthy of the jus-
tice and heroism of the great Fingal. The action
is one and complete. The poem opens with the
descent of Fingal on the coast, and the consultation
held among the chiefs of the enemy. The murder
of the young prince Cormac, which was the cause
of the war, being antecedent to the epic action, is
introduced with great propriety as an episode in
the first book. In the progress of the poem, three
battles are described, which rise in their import-
ance above one another; the success is various, and
the issue for some time doubtful; till at last, Fingal,
brought into distress by the wound of his great
general Gaul, and the death of his son Fillan,
assumes the command himself, and having slain
the king in single combat, restores the rightful
heir to his throne.
Temora has perhaps less fire than the other epic
poem ; but in return it has more variety, more
tenderness, and more magnificence. The reigning
idea, so often presented to us, of "Fingal in the
last of his fields," is venerable and aff'ecting; nor
could any more noble conclusion be thought of,
than the aged hero, after so many successful
achievements, taking his leave of battles, and,
w"ith all the solemnities of those times, resigning
his spear to his son. The events are less crowded
in Temora than in Fingal ; actions and characters
are more particularly displayed ; we are let into
the transactions of both hosts; and informed of the
adventures of the night as well as of the day. The
still, pathetic, and the romantic scenery of several
of the night adventures, so remarkably suited to
Ossian's genius, occasion a fine diversity in the