 | Poems by Three Friends |  |
126
ODE FROM OSSIAN.
String the harp to notes of grief!
Sound the generous Dargo's fall!
Heroes sigh o'er Lartho's chief,
Sorrow gathers in his hall.
Sound the generous Dargo's fall!
Heroes sigh o'er Lartho's chief,
Sorrow gathers in his hall.
As the dawning star of day,
Glowed the generous in his sight,
But the dark soul died away
Rapid as the blue mist's flight.
Glowed the generous in his sight,
But the dark soul died away
Rapid as the blue mist's flight.
127
Who shone fairest on the heath?
Loveliest in the virgins' eyes?
Bravest in the field of death?
Who, but Dargo, great and wise!
Loveliest in the virgins' eyes?
Bravest in the field of death?
Who, but Dargo, great and wise!
His hand swept the trembling wire,
Bade the strains of rapture flow,
Woke the battle's lingering fire,
Hurled its vengeance on the foe!
Bade the strains of rapture flow,
Woke the battle's lingering fire,
Hurled its vengeance on the foe!
How shall the chiefs his story tell,
Dargo's race of glory o'er,
Fallen is the chief in Clutha's dell,
Fallen by the tusked forest boar.
Dargo's race of glory o'er,
Fallen is the chief in Clutha's dell,
Fallen by the tusked forest boar.
But thou, Mingala, art alone,
Dark night descends in sullen gloom,
Then seek thy bed—the mossy stone,
And seek thy rest—in Dargo's tomb.
Dark night descends in sullen gloom,
Then seek thy bed—the mossy stone,
And seek thy rest—in Dargo's tomb.
128
Last night in Lartho's lofty halls,
The hunter's festal was begun;
But silence now o'erspreads its walls,
Mingala rests with Collath's son.
The hunter's festal was begun;
But silence now o'erspreads its walls,
Mingala rests with Collath's son.
| Poems by Three Friends | |