Books and other items printed in Gaelic from 1871 to 1900 > Gaelic bards, and original poems

X
PREFATORY NOTICE.
as most in harmony with the natural bent and develop¬
ment of his genius, or as the proper fruit of his life’s
true work.
“At the time when these Translations were commenced,
his health indeed was such as might well justify him in
making a digression from the main course of his pursuits,
for in youth he possessed the strength and litheness of an
athlete; but, alas! the hand of death stayed him, so that
he returned not to the old paths. It may be said that in
what was but an interlude in the great game of life, for
which he had trained himself with rare patience and
fortitude, he sank upon his shield. In this volume,
hastily prepared, we have at once his salutation and
farewell: Moriturus nos salutat.
“We looked for his speaking to us from the heart of
English Literature, with which few men of his years stood
in such close relationship of thought and feeling. Old
letters are beside me still, indicating a genuineness of
discipleship to the leaders of thought in English speech,
from Chaucer to Wordsworth and Tennyson, such as
warranted the hope that he would, one day, himself
become a master, the influence of whose teaching would
be felt.
“He wrote much, that must still be accessible, during
the years in which his reading was most extensive and
his plans were being matured. Even his letters alluding,
as they do, from time to time, to the subjects on which
he was engaged, are themselves full of critical notices and
discussions of points of literary interest, with sonnet or
song, or stanza in heroic verse, interspersed by way of
offset to the prose, many of which are worthy of being
recast in a form of greater permanence. Must we despair
of seeing a selection made from these remains by a kindly
and discriminating hand? I cannot but believe that
some such selection would amply justify the expectations
of his friends, if it would also embitter the poignancy of
their regrets. Feelings of regret are already strong in