Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

322 THE POEMS OF OSSIAN.
the host of dark-hrowed Cairbar! O that the winds
had brought thy sails, Oscar, king of men ! Thou
didst promise to come to the battles of fallen Cormac !
Then would my hand be strong as the flaming arm
of death. Cairbar would tremble in his halls, and
peace dwell round the lovely Dar-thula. But why
dost thou fail, my soul? The sons of Usnoth may
prevail!'
' And they wUl prevail, Nathos!' said the rising
soul of the maid. ' Never shall Dar-thula behold the
halls of gloomy Cairbar. Give me those arms of brass,
that glitter to the passing meteor. I see them dimly
in the dark-bosomed ship. Dar-thula will enter the
battle of steel. Ghost of the noble Colla ! do I behold
thee on that cloud ? Who is that dim beside thee ? Is
it the car-borne TruthU? Shall I behold the halls of
him that slew Selama's chief? No : I will not behold
them, spirits of my love !'
Joy rose in the face of Nathos when he heard the
white-bosomed maid. 'Daughter of Selama! thou
shinest along my soul. Come, with thy thousands,
Cairbar ! the strength of Nathos is returned ! Thou,
aged Usnoth! shalt not hear that thy son has fled.
1 remember thy words on Etha, when my sails began
to rise : when I spread them towards Erin, towards
the mossy walls of Tura! " Thou goest," he said, "
Nathos, to the king of shields! Thou goest to Cu-
thuUin, chief of men, who never fled from danger.
Let not thine ana be feeble : neither be thy thoughts
of flight; lest the son of Semo should say, that Etha's
race are weak. His words may come to Usnoth, and
sadden his soul in the hall," The tear was on my
father's cheek. He gave this shining sword!
* I came to Tura's bay ; but the halls of Tura were
silent. I looked around, and there was none to tell
of the son of generous Semo. I went to the hall of
shells, where the arms of his fathers hung. But the
arms were gone, and aged Lamhor sat in tears.
" Whence are the arms of steel 1" said the rising Lam-
hor. " The light of the spear has long been absent
from Tura's dusky walls. Come ye from the rolUng
sea? or from Temora's mournful halls?" I