 | Intimations of the beautiful and poems |  |
148
IMITATED FROM OSSIAN.
I.
OINA-MORUL'S LAMENT.
And singing she said with emotion:“Who looks from the surf-sounding rocks
On the white-closing mists of the ocean,
Like the wing of the raven his locks?
Dark care on his brow is a furrow;
And dark is the grief of his eye;
But darker than sorrow my sorrow—
Tonthermod, my love, must thou die!—
From Malorchul's high hall I will wander
To islands unknown of a barque!
With the race of the sea-kings around her,
The soul of Oina is dark. ...
Is the sound of the storm on the ocean,
Where the darkness is riven with flame?
Or the voice of Cruth-Loda's emotion
149
The dark-bosomed ships, bending over,
Kiss the white-bosomed breasts of the sea—
But thou! thou art lost, O my lover,
Tonthermod, forever to me!”
II.
TOSCAR AND COLMADONA.
Like the rippling stream of Crona
Where the forests darken down,
Were the locks of Colmadona
O'er her white neck falling brown.
Where the forests darken down,
Were the locks of Colmadona
O'er her white neck falling brown.
And the night lay soft and sable
Over Carul's druid walls;
Round the mighty oaken table
Rang the harps through ancient halls.
Over Carul's druid walls;
Round the mighty oaken table
Rang the harps through ancient halls.
With the harp now Carul's daughter
Blends the music of her voice;
Like the sound of falling water
In the moonlight is her voice.
Blends the music of her voice;
150
In the moonlight is her voice.
Toscar, gazing, leans and listens
To the singing of the maid—
Like a beam that falls and glistens
Where the stormy deep is laid;
To the singing of the maid—
Like a beam that falls and glistens
Where the stormy deep is laid;
Like a gleam that leaps and lightens
From the midnight clouds that roll,
And the troubled water brightens,—
Came she to his troubled soul. ...
From the midnight clouds that roll,
And the troubled water brightens,—
Came she to his troubled soul. ...
In the morn they rose and hunted
Through the hills with spear and bow;
Bleeding by the stream it wonted
Fell the arrow-stricken roe.
Through the hills with spear and bow;
Bleeding by the stream it wonted
Fell the arrow-stricken roe.
Through wild Crona's vale returning,
From the wood a youth drew near;
On his arm a shield was burning,
In his hand a pointless spear.
From the wood a youth drew near;
On his arm a shield was burning,
In his hand a pointless spear.
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“Whence,” said Toscar then of Lutha,
“Comes this flying beam of war?—
Is there peace at wide Colamon
Round the lovely maid of Car?”
“Comes this flying beam of war?—
Is there peace at wide Colamon
Round the lovely maid of Car?”
Said the youth, “At wide Colamon
Colmadona once did dwell,
Fair as any foaming fountain
Springing in a lonely dell.
Colmadona once did dwell,
Fair as any foaming fountain
Springing in a lonely dell.
“There she dwelt!—Ah, canst thou hear it?—
With the King of Lochlin's son,
Luth, who won with love her spirit,
To the mountains she is gone.”
With the King of Lochlin's son,
Luth, who won with love her spirit,
To the mountains she is gone.”
“Stranger,” then said Toscar sadly,
“Hast thou marked the chieftain's path?
He must die!—I loved her madly!—
He must fall before my wrath!
“Hast thou marked the chieftain's path?
He must die!—I loved her madly!—
He must fall before my wrath!
“Thou art armed ... Give me thy bossy
Shield!” and on it hands he laid—
Lo! behind it, white and glossy,
Rose the bosom of a maid.
Shield!” and on it hands he laid—
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Rose the bosom of a maid.
The high-bosomed Colmadona,
Carul's blue-eyed daughter there,
Standing by the reedy Crona,
In her armor very fair.
Carul's blue-eyed daughter there,
Standing by the reedy Crona,
In her armor very fair.
Warrior-like her love for Toscar
Led her from her father's hall—
Love will laugh at kings and armies
In the halls of great Fingal.
Led her from her father's hall—
Love will laugh at kings and armies
In the halls of great Fingal.
1886.
| Intimations of the beautiful and poems | |