Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal

F ING A L. 23
« fly, Connal, to thy silent hills, where the spear of battle never
shone! Pursue the dark-brown deer of Cromlaj and stop with
thine arrows the bounding roes of Lena. But, blue-eyed son of
Semo, Cuchullin, rul^r of the war, scatter thou the sons of Loch-
lin ! § and roar thro' the ranks of their pride. Let no vessel of the
kingdom of Snow bound on the dark-rolling waves of Inistore. *
O ye dark winds of Erin rise! roar ye whirlwinds of the heatli!
Amidst the' tempest let me die, torn in a cloud by angry ghosts of
men; amidst the tempest let Calmar die, \S. ever chase was sport
to him, so much as the battle of shields!"
"Calmar!" slow replied, the chief " I never fled, O son of
Matha! I was swift with my friends in battle; but small is the
fame of Connal! The battle was won in my presence; and the
valiant overcamej But, son of Semo, hear my voice, regard the
ancient throne of Cormac. Give wealth and half tlie land for peace,
till Fingal come with battle. Or, if war be thy choice, I lift the
sword and spear. My joy shall be in the midst of thousands;
and my soul brighten in the gloom of the fight!"
" To me," Cuchullin replies, " pleasant is the noise of arms \
pleasant as the thunder of heaven before the shower of spring ! But
gather all the shining tribes, that I may view the sons of war !
Let thein move along the heath, bright as the sun-shine before a
storm ; when the west wind coUedls the clouds, and the oaks of
Morven echo along the sliore."
" But where are my frieftds in battle? The companions of my
arm in danger? Where art thou, white bosom'd Cathbat ? Where
is th«: cloud in war, Duch6mar?f And hast thou left me, O
Fergus!:]; in the day of the storm? Fergus, first in our joy at the
feast! eon of Rossa! arm of death! comest thou like a roe|| from
Malmor? Like a hart from the echoing hills? Hail, tliou son
of Rossa! What shades tlie soul of war?"
C ij " Four
§ The Gaelic name of Scandinavia in genera!; in a more confined sense that of
the peninfula of Jutland.
* Inistore, the island of ivhales, the ancient name of the Orkney islands,
f Dubhchoniar, a black ii'ell-shaped man.
\ Fear-giith, the man of the ivord; or a commander of an army.
|l Be thou like a roe or young hart on the mountain,'- of Bether . Solomon's Song.