Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

ON THE POEMS OF OSSIAN. 61
face of rude nature appears; a country wholly un-
cultivated, thinly inhabited, and recently peopled.
The grass of the rock, the flower of the heath, the
thistle v.-ith its beard, are the chief ornaments of
his landscapes. " The desert," says Fingal, " is
enough for me, with all its woods and deer.''
The circle of ideas and transactions is no wider
tljan suits such an age; nor any greater diversity
introduced into characters, than the events of that
period would naturally display. Valour and bo-
dily strength are the admired qualities. Conten-
tions arise, as is usual among savasie nations, from
the slightest causes. To be affronted at a tourna-
ment, or to be omitted in the invitation to a feast,
kindles a war. Women are often carried away by
force : and the whole tribe, as in the Homeric times,
rise to avenge the wrong. The heroes shew refine-
ment of sentiment indeed on several occasions, but
none of manners. They speak of their past ac-
tions with freedom, boast of their exploits, and
sing their own praise. In their battles, it is evi-
dent, ti\e drums, trumpets, or bagpipes, were not
known or used. They had no expedient for giving
the military alarms but striking a shield, or raising
a loud cry : and hence the loud and terrible voice
of Fingal is often mentioned as a necessary quali-
fication of a great general ; like the ^onv ayaQoi;
MEVsXttfj? of Homer. Of military discipline or skill
they appear to have been entirely destitute. Their
armies seem not to have been numerous; their bat-
tles were disorderly ; and terminated, for the most
part, by a personal combat, or wrestling of the two
chiefs; after which, " the bard sung the song of
peace, and the battle ceased along the field."
The manner of composition bears all the marks
of tlie greatest antiquity. No artful transitions;
nor full and extended connexion of parts ; such as
we find among the poets of later times, when order
and regularity of composition were more studied
and known ; but a style always rapid and vehe-
ment; in narration concise, even to abruptness,
and leaving several circumstances to be supplied
by the reader's imagination. The language has all