Poem VII
Why openest thou afresh the spring ofmy grief, O son of Alpin, inquiringhow Oscur fell? My eyes are blind withtears; but memory beams on my heart.How can I relate the mournful death ofthe head of the people! Prince of thewarriours, Oscur my son, shall I see theeno more!
He fell as the moon in a storm; asthe sun from the midst of his course,when clouds rise from the waste of thewaves, when the blackness of the storminwraps the rocks of Ardannider. I, likean ancient oak on Morven, I moulderalone in my place. The blast hath loppedmy branches away; and I trembleat the wings of the north. Prince ofthe warriors, Oscur my son! shall I seethee no more!
Words in this poem
- afresh adv.
- Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
- 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,]
- moulder n.
- One who, or that which, molds or forms into shape; specifically (Founding), one skilled in the art of making molds for castings.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem VII 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 VII, in Fragments of Ancient Poetry (1760), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8161, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macpherson-ossian/poem-vii.html, id L09645.
Form and metre
Poem VII is 19 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 79% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 A---ABB- ofA · inquiring · with · heart · ofA · theB · theeB · more
- 2 --A------A- as · course · theA · storm · like · moulder · lopped · tremble · of · seeA · more
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Why openest thou afresh the spring of | 10 | ·/˘˘·˘/··· |
| my grief, O son of Alpin, inquiring | 11 | ·····˘/˘/˘˘ |
| how Oscur fell? My eyes are blind with | 9 | ········· |
| tears; but memory beams on my heart. | 9 | ··/˘˘···· |
| How can I relate the mournful death of | 10 | ···˘/·/˘·· |
| the head of the people! Prince of the | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| warriours, Oscur my son, shall I see thee | 11 | /˘˘········ |
| no more! | 2 | ·· |
| He fell as the moon in a storm; as | 9 | ········· |
| the sun from the midst of his course, | 8 | ········ |
| when clouds rise from the waste of the | 8 | ········ |
| waves, when the blackness of the storm | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| inwraps the rocks of Ardannider. I, like | 11 | ··········· |
| an ancient oak on Morven, I moulder | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| alone in my place. The blast hath lopped | 9 | ˘/······· |
| my branches away; and I tremble | 9 | ·/˘˘/··/˘ |
| at the wings of the north. Prince of | 8 | ········ |
| the warriors, Oscur my son! shall I see | 11 | ·/˘˘······· |
| thee no more! | 3 | ··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.