Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

170 THE POEMS OF OSSIAN.
fair, I return ; but I alone of my race. Thou shei
see them no more : their graves I raised on the plai».
Eut why art thou on the desert hill ? Why on tli
heath alone ?
" Alone I am, O Shilric ! alone in the winte
house. With grief for thee I fell. Shilric, I an
in the tomb."
She fleets, she sails away : as mist before tli
wind! and wilt thou not stay, Vinvela ? Stay an
behold my tears ! Fair thou appearest, Vinvela
tiiou wast, when alive !
By the mossy fountain 1 will sit ; on the top «
the hills of winds. When mid-day is silent arouni
,0 talk with me, Vinvela ! come on thelight-winge
gale ! on the breeze of the desert, come ! Let n:!
hear thy voice, as thou passest, when raid-day is s
lent around !
Such was the song of Cronnan, on the night <
Selma'sjoy. But morning rose in the east ; the blu
waters rolled in light. Fingal bade his sails to r
the winds came rustling from their hills. Inistor
rose to sight, and Carric-thura's mossy towers ! Bt
the sign of distress was on their top : the warnin
flame edged with smoke. The king of Morven strut'
his breast : he assumed at once his spear. His darll
ened brow bends forward to the coast: he lool:
back to the lagging winds. His hair is disordere
Ml his back. The silence of the king is terrible !
Night came down on the sea; Rotha's bay receive
the ship. A rock bends along the coast with a
its echoing wood. On the top is the circle of Lod;
the mossy stone of power! A narrow plain spreat
beneath, covered with grass and aged trees, whit!
the midnight winds, in their wrath, had torn froi^
their shaggy rock. The blue course of a stream
there ! the lonely blast of ocean pursues the thistle
beard. The ilame of three oaks arose ; the feast '
•.pread around ; but the soul of the king is sad, f<
C arric-thura's chief distrest.
The wan cold moon rose in the east. Sleep d
scended on the youths ! Their blue helmets glitt
to the beam ; the fading fire decays. But sleep d