Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian > Volume 1

preserved. His Intention was to publish in
verse. The making of poetry, Hke any other
handicraft, may be learned by industry; and
he had served his apprenticeship, though in
secret, to the muses.
It is, however, doubtful, whether the har-
mony v/hich these Poems might derive from
rhimc, even in much better hands than thosQ ^
of the Translator, could atone for the simpli-
city and energy, which they would lose. The
determination of this point shall be left to the
readers of this Preface. The following is the
beginning of a Poem, translated from the
Norse to the Gaelic language; and, from the
latter, transferred in?o English. The verse
took little more time to the writer than the
prose ; and he himself is doubtful (if he has
succeeded in either), v/hich of them is the
most literal version.
FRAGMENT OF A NORTHERN TALE.
Where Harold, with golden hair spread o'er
Lochlin* his high commands ; where, with
justice, he ruled the tribes, who sunk, sub-
dued, beneath his sword; abrupt rises Gormalf
* The Gaelic name of Scandinavia, or Scandinia.
f The mountains of Sevo.