Ossian Collection > Life and letters of James Macpherson

THE FIRST FRAGMENT. 69
ill order to satisfy Home, — ^perhaps also to make
the most of this unexpected meeting, he under-
took the translation. It was clearly desirable
that he should not execute it hurriedly, and his
employment as tutor did not give him full com-
mand of his time.
The first fragment translated by Macpherson
possesses an interest of its own, and some pas-
sages of it may be given here. It is quoted in
the form in which it was afterwards published,
which in all probability was not that which was
submitted to Home.
" Why openest thou afresh the spring of my
grief, O son of Alpin, inquiring how Oscar fell ?
My eyes are blind with tears ; but memory
beams on my heart. How can I relate the
mournful death of the head of the people ?
Prince of the warriors, Oscar, my son ! shall I
see thee no more ?
" He fell as the moon in a storm, as the sun
from the midst of his course, when clouds rise
from the waste of the waves, when the blackness
of the storm in wraps the rocks of Ardanmidder.
I, like an ancient oak on Morven, I moulder
alone in my place. The blast hath lopped my
branches away ; and I tremble at the wings of
the north. Prince of the warriors, Oscar, my
son ! shall I see thee no more ?
" Dermid and Oscar were one ; they reaped
the battle together. Their friendship was as
strong as their steel ; and death walked between