"Lumon '5 of the streams, thou risest on Fonar's soul! Thy sun is on thy side, on the rocks of thy bending trees. The dun roe is seen from thy furze; the deer lifts his branchy head; for he sees, at times, the hound on the half-covered heath. Slow, on the vale, are the steps of maids; the white-armed daughters of the bow: they lift their blue eyes to the hill, from amidst their wandering locks. Not there is the stride of Larthon, chief of Inis-huna. He mounts the wave on his own dark oak, in Cluba's ridgy bay. That oak which he cut from Lumon, to bound along the sea 1. The maids turn their eyes away, lest 16 15 Lumon was a hill in Inis-huna, near the residence of Sulmalla. This episode has an immediate connection with what is said of Larthon, in the description of Cathmor's shield. We have there hinted to us only Larthon's first voyage to Ireland; here his story is related at large, and a curious description of his invention of ship-building. MACPHERSON, 1st edit. 16 That oak which he cut from Lumon, to bound along the sea.] The invention of ship-building, and the first voyage of Larthon to Ireland, are introduced in imitation of the Argonautic expedition. "Who first sent the black ship through ocean, like a whale through the bursting of foam ?" (Supra, 14.) From POPE's St Cecilia. So when the first bold vessel dared the seas. "Now he dares to call the winds, and to mix with the mist of ocean." But the maids turning their eyes away when they beheld the ship, is a modern improvement upon an image much the king should be lowly-laid; for never had they seen a ship, dark rider of the wave! "Now he dares to call the winds, and to mix with the mist of ocean. Blue Inis-fail rose, in smoke; but dark-skirted night came down. The sons of Bolga feared. The fiery-haired Ton-thé na rose. Culbin's bay received the ship, in the bosom of its echoing woods. There, issued a stream, from Duthuma's horrid cave; where spirits gleamed, at times, with their half-finished forms. "Dreams descended on Larthon: he saw se admired in Apollonius Rhodius, of the Pelian Nymphs gazing with wonder on the parting Argo; of which our translator caught a glimpse in GLOVER's Leonidas. Argonaut. i. 549. Επ' ακροτάτησι δὲ ΝΥΜΦΑΙ Πηλιάδες ΚΟΡΥΦΗΣΙΝ ΕΘΑΜΒΕΟΝ ΕΙΣΟΡΟΩΣΑΙ So parted Argo from th' Iolchian strand, And ploughed the foaming surge; Thessalia's nymphs, Ranged on the cliffs which overshade the deep, Still on the distant vessel fired their sight. GLOVER. "Slow in the vale are the steps of maids.—They lift their blue eyes to the hill. Not there is the stride of Larthon.-He mounts the waves on his own dark oak-The maids turn their eyes away, lest the king should be lowly laid; for never had they seen a ship, dark rider of the wave!" ven spirits of his fathers. He heard their halfformed words, and dimly beheld the times to come. He beheld the kings of Atha, the sons of future days". They led their hosts, along the field, like ridges of mist, which winds pour, in autumn, over Atha of the groves. 18 "Larthon raised the hall of Samla '8, to the music of the harp'. He went forth to the roes of Erin, to their wonted streams. Nor did he forget green-headed Lumon; he often bounded over his seas, to where white-handed Flathal looked from the hill of roes. Lumon of the foamy streams, thou risest on Fonar's soul!” Morning pours from the east. The misty heads of the mountains rise. 17 Dimly beheld the times to come. Atha, the sons of future days.] Vallies shew, on He beheld the kings of Par. Lost, xi. 356. Know I am sent, 18 To shew thee what shall come in future days, To thee and to thy offspring. Samla, apparitions, so called from the vision of Larthon concerning his posterity. MACPHERSON. 19 Larthon raised the hall of Samla, to the music of the harp.] Par. Lost, i. 710. Anon, out of the earth, a fabric huge every side, the grey-winding of their streams. His host heard the shield of Cathmor: at once they rose around; like a crowded sea, when first it feels the wings of the wind. The waves know not whither to roll; they lift their troubled heads *°. 30 Sad and slow retired Sul-malla to Lona of the streams. She went, and often turned; her blue eyes rolled in tears. But when she came to the rock, that darkly-covered Lona's vale, she looked, from her bursting soul, on the king; and sunk, at once, behind. Son" of Alpin, strike the string. Is there 20 Like a crowded sea, when first it feels the wings of the wind. The waves know not whither to roll. They lift their troubled heads.] Supra, iv. 24. Iliad, xiv. 16. Ως δ' ὅτε πορφύρη ΠΕΛΑΓΟΣ μέγα κύματι κωφῷ, ΟΣΣΟΜΕΝΟΝ λιγέων ΑΝΕΜΩΝ λαιψηρὰ ΚΕΛΕΥΘΑ Αὕτως, οὐδ ̓ ἄρα τε ΠΡΟΚΥΛΙΝΔΕΤΑΙ ΟΥΔΕΤΕΡΩΣΕ. "As when the vast ocean grows black, o'er the face of its silent waters; prescient of the coming storms, the rapid course of the whistling winds. Dark it heaves along its bounds, but knows not whither to roll its waves." MACPHERSON's Homer, ii. 47. "The original of this lyric ode is one of the most beautiful passages of the poem. The harmony and variety of its versification prove, that the knowledge of music was considerably advanced in the days of Ossian. Puail teud, mhic Alpain nam fón aught of joy in the harp? Pour it then on the soul of Ossian: it is folded in mist. I hear thee, O bard, in my night. But cease the lightlytrembling sound ". The joy of grief belongs to Ossian, amidst his dark-brown years. 22 Taom air Ossian, agus ossun gu tróm ; Chualas ú, bhaird, a m'oicha. Ach siumhla' fón edrom uaim sein, &c. A dhrëun uaina thulloch nan tais A thaomas do chean air gaoith oicha, &c. 22 Is there aught of joy in the harp---But cease the lightlytrembling string.] The joy of the harp ceaseth. Isaiah, xxiv. S. But "the lightly-trembling sound;" "Son of Alpin strike the string;" and in a former passage, "Light-trembling from the harp, strike, virgins, strike the sound," are among the most common expressions in our Lyric poetry. In DRYDEN's St Cecilia; supra, iv. 13. The trembling notes ascend the sky—————— A louder yet, and yet a louder strain. In POPE's St Cecilia; Wake into voice each silent string, And sweep the sounding lyre In broken air, trembling, the wild music floats. And in GRAY's Progress of Poesy, And give to rapture all thy trembling strings. But the efforts to translate these expressions into Earse of the third century, are alone sufficient to discredit the pretended originals, "Pual teud, mhic Alpain nam fon;" Strike the string, |