Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal

448 A CRITICAL DISSERTATION, bfc.
of the most difficult works of genius, and proves the translator
to have been animated vi^ith no small portion of Ossian's spirit.
The measured prose which he has employed, possesses consi-
derable advantages above any sort of versification he could have
chosen. "Whilst it pleases and fills the ear with a variety of har-
monious cadences, being, at the same time, freer from constraint
In the choice and arrangement of words, it allows the spirit of the
original to be exhibited with more justness, force, and simplicity.
Elegant, however, and masterly as Mr. Macpherson's translation
is, we must never forget, whilst we read it, that we are putting
the merit of the original to a severe test. For, we are examine
ing a poet stripped of his native dress : divested of the harmony
of his own numbers. We know how much grace and energy the
works of the Greek and Latin poets receive from the charm of
versification in their original languages. If, then, destitute of
this advantage, exhibited in a literal version, Ossian still has
power to please ^s a poet ; and not to please only, but often to
command, to transport, to melt the heart ; we may very safely
infer, that his produ£l:ions are the offspring of true and uncom-
mon genius ; and we may boldly assign him a place among those
whose works are to last for ages.
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