Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal

THE POEMS OF OSSIAN. 441
well supported •, which could not have been the case, had the
sentiments been unnatural or out of place. A variety of person-
ages of different ages, sexes, and conditions, are introduced into
his poems ; and they speak and a£t with a propriety of sentiment
and behaviour, which it is surprising to find in so rude an age.
Let the Poem of Darthula, throughout, be taken as an example.
But it is not enough that sentiments be natural and proper. In
order to acquire any high degree of poetical merit, they must also
be sublime and pathetic.
The sublime is not confined to sentiment alone. It belongs to de-
scription also j and whether in description or in sentiment, imports
such ideas presented to the mind, as raise it to an uncommon de-
gree of elevation, and fill it with admiration and astonishment.
This is the highest effe£l: either of eloquence or poetry : And to
produce this effect, requires a genius glowing with the strongest
and warmest conception of some objed: awful, great, or magni-
ficent. That this chara6ler of genius belongs to Ossian, may, I
think, sufficiently appear from many of the passages I have already
had occasion to quote. To produce more instances, were super-
fluous. If the engagement of Fingal with the spirit of Loda, in
Carric-thura ; if the encounters of tlie armies, in Fingal ; if the
address to the sun, in Carthon; if the similies founded upon
ghosts and spirits of the night, all formerly mentioned, be not
admitted as examples, and illustrious ones too, of the true poetical
sublime, I confess myself entirely ignorant of this quality in writ-
ing.
All the circumstances, indeed, of Ossian's composition, are fa-
vourable to the sublime, more perhaps than to any other species
of beauty. Accuracy and corre£lnessj artfully connected narra-
tion ; exa£l method and proportion of parts, we may look for in
polished times. The gay and the beautiful, will appear to more
advantage in the midst of smiling scenery and pleasurable themes.
But amidst the rude scenes of nature, amidst rocks and torrents,
and whirlwinds and battles, dwells the sublime. It is the thun-
der and lightning of genius. It is the offspring of nature, not of
art. It is negligent of all the lesser graces, and perfectly consist-
ent with a certain noble disorder. It associates naturally with that
grave and solemn spirit, which distinguishes our author. For the
sublime