Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

302 THE POEMS OF OSSIAN.
He feasted on the roaring sUore, He gare the maid
to Trenmor!' ,
' King of Lochlin,' said Fingal, * thy blood flows ivi
the veins of th3' foe. Our fathers met in battle, L'
cause they loved the stiife of spears. But often diJ
they feast in the hall: and send round the joy of the
shell. Let thy face brighten with gladness, and thine
ear delight in the harp. Dreadful as the storm of
thine ocean, thou hast poured thy valour forth; thy
voice has been like the voice of thousands when they
engage in war. Raise, to-morrow, raise thy white
sails to the wind, thou brother of Agandecca! Bright
as the beam of noon, she comes on my mournful soul.
I have seen thy tears for the fair one. I spared thee
in the halls of Stamo ; when my sword was red with
slaughter; when my eye was full of tears for the
maid. Or dost thou choose the tight? The comh t
which thy fathers gave to Trenmor is thine! that thr u
mayest depai-t renowned, like the sun setting in the
west!
' King of the race of Morven !' said the chief of re-
sounding Lochlin, * never will Swaran fight with thee,
first of a thousand heroes! I have seen thee in tl;e
halls of Starno; few were thy years beyond my own.
When shall I, I said to my soul, lift the spear like the
noble Fingal ? We have fought heretofore, O warrior,
on the side of the shaggy Malmor ; after my waves
had carried me to thy halls, and the feast of a thousand
shells was spread. Let the bards send his name who
overcame to future years, for noble was the strife of
Malmor ! But many of the ships of Lochliu have lost
their youths on Lena. Take these, thou king of Mor-
ven, and be the friend of Swaran ! When thy sons
shall come to Gormal, the feast of shells shall he
spread, and the combat offered on the vale.'
' Nor ship,' replied the king, * shall Fingal take,
nor land of many hUls. The desert is enough to me,
with all its deer and woods. Rise on thy waves again,
thou noble friend of Agandecca ! Spread thy white
sails to the beam of the morning; return to the echo- •
ing hills of Gormal.' — ' Blest be thy soul, thou king '
of shells,' said Swaran of tlie dark-brown shield. ' In