Poem III
Evening is grey on the hills. Thenorth wind resounds through thewoods. White clouds rise on the sky: thetrembling snow descends. The river howlsafar, along its winding course. Sad,by a hollow rock, the grey-hair'd Carrylsat. Dry fern waves over his head; hisseat is in an aged birch. Clear to theroaring winds he lifts his voice of woe.
Tossed on the wavy ocean is He,the hope of the isles; Malcolm, thesupport of the poor; foe to the proudin arms! Why hast thou left us behind?why live we to mourn thy fate? Wemight have heard, with thee, the voiceof the deep; have seen the oozy rock.
Sad on the sea-beat shore thy spouselooketh for thy return. The time ofthy promise is come; the night is gatheringaround. But no white sail ison the sea; no voice is heard exceptthe blustering winds. Low is the soulof the war! Wet are the locks of youth!By the foot of some rock thou liest;washed by the waves as they come.Why, ye winds, did ye bear him onthe desert rock? Why, ye waves, didye roll over him?
But, Oh! what voice is that?Who rides on that meteor of fire! Greenare his airy limbs. It is he! it is theghost of Malcolm!--Rest, lovely soul,rest on the rock; and let me hear thyvoice!--He is gone, like a dream ofthe night. I see him through the trees.Daughter of Reynold! he is gone.Thy spouse shall return no more. Nomore shall his hounds come from thehill, forerunners of their master. Nomore from the distant rock shall hisvoice greet thine ear. Silent is he inthe deep, unhappy daughter of Reynold!
I will sit by the stream of the plain.Ye rocks! hang over my head. Hearmy voice, ye trees! as ye bend on theshaggy hill. My voice shall preservethe praise of him, the hope of theisles.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem III is in the public domain. This text is taken from Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Project Gutenberg ebook #8161; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Macpherson, Poem III, in Fragments of Ancient Poetry (1760), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8161, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macpherson-ossian/poem-iii.html, id L09638.
Form and metre
Poem III is 48 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 67% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AAA----A- theA · theA · theA · howls · sad · carryl · his · theA · woe
- 2 AA--A-- heA · theA · proud · behind · weA · voice · rock
- 4 --A-----BAB--- that · green · theA · soul · thy · of · trees · gone · noB · theA · noB · his · in · reynold
- 5 --A-A- plain · hear · theA · preserve · theA · isles
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Evening is grey on the hills. The | 8 | /˘······ |
| north wind resounds through the | 6 | ···/·· |
| woods. White clouds rise on the sky: the | 8 | ········ |
| trembling snow descends. The river howls | 10 | /˘˘·˘/·/˘· |
| afar, along its winding course. Sad, | 9 | ˘/˘/·/˘·· |
| by a hollow rock, the grey-hair'd Carryl | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| sat. Dry fern waves over his head; his | 9 | ········· |
| seat is in an aged birch. Clear to the | 9 | ········· |
| roaring winds he lifts his voice of woe. | 9 | /˘······· |
| Tossed on the wavy ocean is He, | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| the hope of the isles; Malcolm, the | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| support of the poor; foe to the proud | 9 | ˘/······· |
| in arms! Why hast thou left us behind? | 9 | ········· |
| why live we to mourn thy fate? We | 8 | ········ |
| might have heard, with thee, the voice | 7 | ······· |
| of the deep; have seen the oozy rock. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Sad on the sea-beat shore thy spouse | 8 | ········ |
| looketh for thy return. The time of | 9 | /˘··˘/··· |
| thy promise is come; the night is gathering | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘˘ |
| around. But no white sail is | 7 | ······· |
| on the sea; no voice is heard except | 9 | ········· |
| the blustering winds. Low is the soul | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| of the war! Wet are the locks of youth! | 9 | ········· |
| By the foot of some rock thou liest; | 8 | ········ |
| washed by the waves as they come. | 7 | ······· |
| Why, ye winds, did ye bear him on | 8 | ········ |
| the desert rock? Why, ye waves, did | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| ye roll over him? | 5 | ····· |
| But, Oh! what voice is that? | 6 | ······ |
| Who rides on that meteor of fire! Green | 11 | ····/˘˘·/˘· |
| are his airy limbs. It is he! it is the | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| ghost of Malcolm!--Rest, lovely soul, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| rest on the rock; and let me hear thy | 9 | ········· |
| voice!--He is gone, like a dream of | 8 | ········ |
| the night. I see him through the trees. | 8 | ········ |
| Daughter of Reynold! he is gone. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Thy spouse shall return no more. No | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| more shall his hounds come from the | 7 | ······· |
| hill, forerunners of their master. No | 9 | ·/·˘··/˘· |
| more from the distant rock shall his | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| voice greet thine ear. Silent is he in | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| the deep, unhappy daughter of Reynold! | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·/˘ |
| I will sit by the stream of the plain. | 9 | ········· |
| Ye rocks! hang over my head. Hear | 8 | ········ |
| my voice, ye trees! as ye bend on the | 9 | ········· |
| shaggy hill. My voice shall preserve | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| the praise of him, the hope of the | 8 | ········ |
| isles. | 1 | · |
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