Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

THE SONGS OF SELMA. 247
thy tomb. The hills shall know thee no more ; thy
bow shall lie in thy hall unstrung I
Thou wert swift, Morar! as a roe on the desert;
terrible as a meteor of fire. Thy wrath was as the
storm. Thy sword in battle, as lightning in tlie field.
Thy voice was a stream after rain ; like thunder on
distant hills. Many fell by thy arm; they were con-
sumed in the flames of thy wrath. But when thou
didst return from war, how peaceful was thy brow !
Tliy face was like the sun after rain ; like the moon
in the silence of night ; calm as the breast of the lake
when the loud wind is laid.
Narrow is tliy dwelling now! dark the place of
tliine abode ! ^\ ith three steps I compass thy grave,
O thou who wast so great before ! Four stones, with
their heads of moss, are the only memorial of thee*
A tree with scarce a leaf, long grass, which whistles
in the wind, mark to the hunter's eye the grave of the
mighty Morar. Morar ! thou art low indeed. Thou
hast no mother to mourn thee ; no maid with her
tears of love. Dead is she that brought thee forth.
Fallen is the daughter of Morglan.
Who on his staff is this ? who is this whose head
is white with age ; whose eyes are red with tears ?
who quakes atevery step 1 It is thyfather, O Morar !
the father of no son but thee. He heard of thy fame
in war; he heard of foes dispersed. He heard of
Morar's renown; why did he not hear of his wound?
Weep, thou father of Morar ! weep ; but thy son
heareth thee not. Deep is the sleep of the dead; low
their pillow of dust. No more shall he hear thy
voice ; no more awake at thy call. When shall it be
mom in the grave, to bid the slumberer awake? Fare-
well, thou bravest of men! thou conqueror in the
field ! but the field shall see thee no more ; nor the
dark wood be lightened with the splendour of thy
steel. Thou hast left no son. The song shall pre-
serve thy name. Future times shall hear of thee ;
they shall hear of the fallen Morar!
The grief of all arose, but most the bursting sigh of
Armin. He remembers the death of his son, who fell
in the days of his youth. Carmor was near the hero.