Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal

92 A CRITICAL DISSERTATION
Fingal, The action is one and complete. The poena'
opens with the descent of Fingal on ihe coast, and the
consultation held among the chiefs of tl.e enemy. '^J'he
murder of the young prince Cormac, which was the
cai'.se of the war, beino; antecedent to the epic action,
is introduced with great propriety, as an episode in ihe
first book. In the progress of the poem, three battles
are desciibed, which rise in their importance above one
another ; tliC success is varicms, and the issue for some
time doubtful ; till at last, Fir.gal, brought into distress
bv the wound of his great general Gaul, and the death
of his son Fillan, assumes ihe command himself, and
having slain the Irish king in sin^.le combat, restores
the rightful heir to his throne.
Temcra has, perhaps, less fire than the other epi^
poem; but in return, it has more variety, more tcu-i
derness, and more magnificence. The reigning idea
so often presented to us of " Fingal in the last of his
" fields," is venerable and affecting; nor could anyt
more noble conclusion be thought of, than the age'dj
hero, after so many successful atchieyements, taking
his leave of battles, and with 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 lot
into the transactions of both hosts ; and informed of the
adventures of the night, as well as of the day. The
sti!! pathetic, and the romantic scenery of several of
the night adventures, so reniarkr,bly suited to Ossian's'
genius, occasion a fine diversity in the poem ; and are
happily contrasted with the military operations of the
dav.
In most of onr author's poems, the horrors of war
are softened by intermixed scenes of love and friend-^
ship. In Fincal, these are introduced as episodes ; id
Temora, we have an incident of this nature \vrough|J
into the body of the piece ; in the adventure of CathJJ
mor and Sul-malla. This forms one of the most coa-.||
5p cuous beauties of that poem. The distress of Sul-'
malla, disguised and unknown among strangers, hsrl