James Macpherson: An Episode in Literature |
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Page v
... poems , for so we must call the three volumes which he assigned to another authorship . His life and character , although not the main subject , are studied by the way . Macpherson possessed two things that are rarely joined , —a ...
... poems , for so we must call the three volumes which he assigned to another authorship . His life and character , although not the main subject , are studied by the way . Macpherson possessed two things that are rarely joined , —a ...
Page vi
... poems in the composition of new ones . Some have held him to be a fair translator ; others that the changes he made gave birth to a different thing . The former point to legendary names and traces of ancient tales ; the latter are ...
... poems in the composition of new ones . Some have held him to be a fair translator ; others that the changes he made gave birth to a different thing . The former point to legendary names and traces of ancient tales ; the latter are ...
Page 5
... poems translated , as he believed , from the language of the Lapps and from that of ancient Peru . It was at this moment that James Macpherson descended from his native hills and exploded a mine in the midst of Europe . Curious eyes had ...
... poems translated , as he believed , from the language of the Lapps and from that of ancient Peru . It was at this moment that James Macpherson descended from his native hills and exploded a mine in the midst of Europe . Curious eyes had ...
Page 6
... poems which he averred had been taken down from the lips of peasants in the north and literally translated from Gaelic into English . The hero of this strange literature was Fingal , king of an ancient state called Morven on the western ...
... poems which he averred had been taken down from the lips of peasants in the north and literally translated from Gaelic into English . The hero of this strange literature was Fingal , king of an ancient state called Morven on the western ...
Page 7
... poems might belong to their own age rather than to the youth of the world . They had idealised primitive mankind , and attri- buted to the simplicity of untutored life just those virtues which Ossian revealed . In all barbaric races ...
... poems might belong to their own age rather than to the youth of the world . They had idealised primitive mankind , and attri- buted to the simplicity of untutored life just those virtues which Ossian revealed . In all barbaric races ...
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Common terms and phrases
ALFRED NUTT ancient antiquity appeared authenticity Bailey Saunders ballads bard battle beauty Blair Caledonian Campbell Caoilte Celtic Celts century character charm chief Clanranald clouds collection copies critics Cuchullin Dermid Edition eighteenth English epic Erin Fairy Fians Fingal Finn Finn's fragments Gaelic Ossian Gaelic poems Gaelic text Gaelic version genuine gilt Glen hand hero Highland Society's Report hills Homer Hume Ireland Irish island Isles J. F. Campbell James Macpherson John Francis Campbell Johnson Journal des Sçavans King of Lochlin land language legend letter literature Mabinogion Macpherson's friends Magnus Malcolm Laing manuscript modern Morven mountains Muileartach native original Oscar passages Patrick pherson poems of Ossian poet poetic poetry published recited Roman Scotland Scottish Scottish Highlands shield songs spear spirit story Swaran sword Temora thee thou tion tradition translation verses voice William Ernest Henley wind writing wrote
Popular passages
Page 10 - O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers ! Whence are thy beams, O sun ! thy everlasting light ! Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty ; the stars hide themselves in the sky ; the moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave ; but thou thyself movest aloive.
Page 101 - On a rock, whose haughty brow Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood, Robed in the sable garb of woe, With haggard eyes the poet stood ; (Loose his beard and hoary hair, Stream'd like a meteor to the troubled air,) And with a master's hand and prophet's fire Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre...
Page 174 - Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided ; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
Page 81 - COLMA IT is night; I am alone, forlorn on the hill of storms. The wind is heard in the mountain. The torrent pours down the rock. No hut receives me from the rain; forlorn on the hill of winds!
Page 212 - Of the embrace of angels with a sex More beautiful than they, which did draw down The erring spirits who can ne'er return...
Page 177 - Millions of Spirits for his fault amerced* Of Heaven, and from eternal splendours flung For his revolt; yet faithful how they stood, Their glory withered: as when Heaven's fire Hath scathed the forest oaks, or mountain pines, With singed top their stately growth though bare Stands on the blasted heath.
Page 173 - Far, far aloof th' affrighted ravens sail ; The famish'd eagle screams, and passes by. Dear lost companions of my tuneful art, Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes, Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart, Ye died amidst your dying country's cries — No more I weep. They do not sleep. On yonder cliffs, a...
Page 113 - Stretch their large spreading limbs below. But when the pride of their strength arose, they shook the hill with their heels. Rocks tumble from their places on high ; the green-headed bushes are overturned. At length the strength of Swaran fell : the king of the groves is bound.
Page 177 - Less than archangel ruined, and the excess Of glory obscured: as when the sun new risen Looks through the horizontal misty air Shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs.
Page 175 - As when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread Heaven's cheerful face, the louring element Scowls o'er the darkened landskip snow, or shower ; If chance the radiant sun with farewell sweet Extend his evening beam, the fields revive, ' The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings.