Poems, chiefly pastoral By John Cunningham. The second edition. With the Addition of several pastorals and other pieces |
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A PROLOGUE, To the MUSE of OSSIAN.
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 | Poems, chiefly pastoral |  |
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A PROLOGUE, To the MUSE of OSSIAN.
A little Piece adapted to the Stage, from the celebrated Poem of Ossian, the Son of Fingal.
To form a little work of nervous merit,
To give the sleepy stage a nobler spirit;
To touch a sacred muse, and not defile her,
This was the plan propos'd by our compiler.
To give the sleepy stage a nobler spirit;
To touch a sacred muse, and not defile her,
This was the plan propos'd by our compiler.
Tho' caution told him—the presumption's glaring!
Dauntless, he cry'd, “It is but nobly daring!
Can we peruse a pathos more than Attic,
Nor wish the golden measure stamp'd dramatic!
Here are no lines—in measur'd pace that trip it,
No modern scenes—so lifeless! so insipid!
Wrought by a muse—(no sacred fire debarr'd her)
'Tis nervous! noble! 'tis true northern ardour!
Dauntless, he cry'd, “It is but nobly daring!
Can we peruse a pathos more than Attic,
Nor wish the golden measure stamp'd dramatic!
Here are no lines—in measur'd pace that trip it,
No modern scenes—so lifeless! so insipid!
Wrought by a muse—(no sacred fire debarr'd her)
'Tis nervous! noble! 'tis true northern ardour!
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“Methinks I hear the Grecian bards exclaiming,
(The Grecian bards no longer worth the naming)
In song, the northern tribes so far surpass us,
One of their Highland hills they'll call Parnassus;
And from the sacred mount decrees should follow,
That Ossian was himself—the true Apollo.”
(The Grecian bards no longer worth the naming)
In song, the northern tribes so far surpass us,
One of their Highland hills they'll call Parnassus;
And from the sacred mount decrees should follow,
That Ossian was himself—the true Apollo.”
Spite of this flash—this high poetic fury,
He trembles for the verdict of his jury:
As from his text he ne'er presum'd to wander,
But gives the native Ossian to your candour,
To an impartial judgement we submit him,
Condemn—or rather (if you can) acquit him.
He trembles for the verdict of his jury:
As from his text he ne'er presum'd to wander,
But gives the native Ossian to your candour,
To an impartial judgement we submit him,
Condemn—or rather (if you can) acquit him.
| Poems, chiefly pastoral | |