The poems of Ossian : vol. 1 - Index of - Université Rennes 2
The poems of Ossian : vol. 1 - Index of - Université Rennes 2
The poems of Ossian : vol. 1 - Index of - Université Rennes 2
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lxiv<br />
His poetry<br />
suggested by,<br />
and a reflection<br />
<strong>of</strong>, Highland<br />
scenery,<br />
DrS ERTATIOX.<br />
spirit worlds in a maà ner entirely his own-not employed by any<br />
other poet. Indeed he rarely, if ever, separates them completely.<br />
H e does not, like l\Iilton, ascend ta the pure empyrean, or, like<br />
Dante, descend ta an inferno. H e has created a dim border-land,<br />
visited by the inhabitants <strong>of</strong> bath worlds, who meet and hold converse,<br />
if with sorne reserve and awe, yet without any <strong>of</strong> the dread,<br />
and even horror, with which poets generally invest the presence<br />
<strong>of</strong> dwellers in th e invisible world. His heroes are, on every<br />
occasion <strong>of</strong> danger or difficulty, surrounded by spirits - undoubtedly<br />
spirits, for the" stars are seen through their forms"but<br />
th ey take a deep and kindly interest in ail that pertains ta<br />
their friends on eart h. " <strong>The</strong>y shine on the wind when glory<br />
wakes their sons anew " (<strong>vol</strong>. i p. 265); th ey sorrow deeply when<br />
these suffer; they warn them <strong>of</strong> impending danger, and soothe<br />
th em ta sleep amid anxi ety. <strong>The</strong>y are more eth erealised hum an<br />
beincs than thoroughly disembodied spirits, and the description<br />
'" .<br />
<strong>of</strong> their constant presence produces a feeling <strong>of</strong> eeriness such as is<br />
not produced by any other poetry-but eeriness entirely distinct<br />
from dreaù or horror.<br />
It is true there are spirits <strong>of</strong> the storm and <strong>of</strong> the flood apparently<br />
<strong>of</strong> a different arder from men, who " ride the horse <strong>of</strong> the<br />
whirlwind," who" l'ouse the waves <strong>of</strong> the raging sea," and shroud<br />
the world in gloom and terrer ; but, generaily speaking, the ghosts<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Ossian</strong> are those I have been describing; and I have <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
thought that his representation <strong>of</strong> them might be illustrated, or<br />
even explained, by an attentive study <strong>of</strong> the face <strong>of</strong> nature in her<br />
wildly-varying ' moods in the north-west Highlands. What .<br />
stranze "" effects for ins tance<br />
,<br />
are <strong>of</strong>ten produced by those dense<br />
banks <strong>of</strong> white mist which come rolling in from the 'Yestern<br />
Ocean! <strong>The</strong>y at times envelop the summits <strong>of</strong> the l<strong>of</strong>tiest<br />
mountains in thickest folds <strong>of</strong> cloud; at other times sinking<br />
downwards inta the glens, and shrouding from view the habitati<br />
ons <strong>of</strong> men, they leave the l<strong>of</strong>ty peaks in the pure brightness<br />
<strong>of</strong> the skies standing out like lonely islands in some mystic sea.<br />
H ow powerful in its effeets on the imagination is this wondrous<br />
blending <strong>of</strong> sea and land, <strong>of</strong> earth and sky, sometimes, as on a<br />
day <strong>of</strong> storm, in dark and weird confusion, sometimes in s<strong>of</strong>t and<br />
bright repose ! At times "the bursting <strong>of</strong> the storm" suddenly<br />
scatters the mist, at othe rs th e "eddying breeze " gcntly raises<br />
Dr SERTATIûX.<br />
corners <strong>of</strong> th e white veil, and you obtain glim pses <strong>of</strong> sea and<br />
land, earth and sky, which you recognise as real; yet you have<br />
not that feeling <strong>of</strong> the solidity and permanence <strong>of</strong> things araund<br />
you possessed by the dweller on levelland under a clear dry sky.<br />
You feel a " presence and a power" <strong>of</strong> something belonging ta a<br />
higher sphere, yet not wholly foreign ta that in which you move<br />
- a power linking bath together, and awing but not overwhelming<br />
the spirit within you.<br />
I believe that a careful analysis would resolve very much <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Ossian</strong>'s most weird imagery into idealised representations <strong>of</strong> the<br />
ever-varying and truly wonderful aspects <strong>of</strong> cloud and mist, <strong>of</strong><br />
sea and mountain, which may be seen by every observant eye in<br />
the Highlands; and it is no fancy ta say that the perusal <strong>of</strong> these<br />
<strong>poems</strong>, as we have them, may well be illustrated by travelling a<br />
range <strong>of</strong> the Highland mountains. <strong>The</strong> moor is <strong>of</strong>ten dusky and<br />
dreary enough. <strong>The</strong> ascent ta the peak is arduous; but once 1<br />
there you find yourself entirely separated from the bustle and 1<br />
conventionalism <strong>of</strong> the ordinary everyday life <strong>of</strong> the world, face ta<br />
face with nature in her grandest and most solemn aspects. <strong>The</strong><br />
storm arises, and the clouds thicken round you. In the moaning<br />
<strong>of</strong> the wind among caves and corries, or in its shrieking through<br />
fissured clefts <strong>of</strong> rocks-in the sound <strong>of</strong> many waters made by<br />
rushing cataracts- in the thud <strong>of</strong> the great sea on the shore-or<br />
in the prolonged echoes <strong>of</strong> the thunder over many mountains and<br />
glens, you hear voices which cannat fail ta solemnise and awe<br />
you. But anon the clouds are chased away by the wind, the blue<br />
sky is seen, and the mountains again reveal themselves in their<br />
old familial' forms. You descend the other side, and yon come ta<br />
a hidden glenlet or sheltered corrie, bright in sunshine, clothed in<br />
green est verdure, with its " wimpling burn" winding through it,<br />
and frazrant birches wavinz around it-the haunt <strong>of</strong> the mountaindeer,<br />
the '" very abode <strong>of</strong> purity '" and <strong>of</strong> peace. Sa in these pages,<br />
after passing occasionally over dreary flats, we are many times '<br />
led ta the l<strong>of</strong>tiest heights-"the bed <strong>of</strong> the clouds "- where we<br />
are among aIl th e elements <strong>of</strong> sublimity and grandeur; but we<br />
are not asked ta tarry long among their darkness. We descend<br />
to -gaze anew on nature in some fairer and gentler form. <strong>The</strong><br />
lizht o <strong>of</strong> valeur' <strong>of</strong> purityJ ' and <strong>of</strong> truth brichte ns around us ; and<br />
0<br />
we find ourselves led into sorne quiet retreat, where the spri ngs ,<br />
YOL. 1.<br />
' e<br />
lxv<br />
<strong>Université</strong> <strong>Rennes</strong> 2 - SCD - 2008