Poem XV
Where is Gealchossa my love, thedaughter of Tuathal-Teachvar?I left her in the hall of the plain, when Ifought with the hairy Ulfadha. Returnsoon, she said, O Lamderg! forhere I wait in sorrow. Her white breastrose with sighs; her cheek was wetwith tears. But she cometh not to meetLamderg; or sooth his soul after battle.Silent is the hall of joy; I hear notthe voice of the singer. Brann doesnot shake his chains at the gate, gladat the coming of his master. Whereis Gealchossa my love, the daughter ofTuathal-Teachvar?
Lamderg! says Firchios son of Aydon,Gealchossa may be on the hill;she and her chosen maids pursuing theflying deer.
Firchios! no noise I hear. Nosound in the wood of the hill. Nodeer fly in my sight; no panting dogpursueth. I see not Gealchossa mylove; fair as the full moon setting onthe hills of Cromleach. Go, Firchios!go to Allad, the grey-haired son ofthe rock. He liveth in the circle ofstones; he may tell of Gealchossa.
Allad! saith Firchios, thou whodwellest in the rock; thou who tremblestalone; what saw thine eyes ofage?
I saw, answered Allad the old, Ullin the son of Carbre: He came like acloud from the hill; he hummed a surlysong as he came, like a storm inleafless wood. He entered the hall ofthe plain. Lamderg, he cried, mostdreadful of men! fight, or yield to Ullin.Lamderg, replied Gealchoffa,Lamderg is not here: he fights thehairy Ulfadha; mighty man, he is nothere. But Lamderg never yields; hewill fight the son of Carbre. Lovely artthou, O daughter of Tuathal-Teachvar!said Ullin. I carry thee to thehouse of Carbre; the valiant shall haveGealchossa. Three days from the topof Cromleach will I call Lamderg tofight. The fourth, you belong to Ullin,if Lamderg die, or fly my sword.
Lamderg rushed on like a storm.On his spear he leaped over rivers. Fewwere his strides up the hill. The rocksfly back from his heels; loud crashingthey bound to the plain. His armour,his buckler rung. He hummed a surlysong, like the noise of the fallingstream. Dark as a cloud he stood above;his arms, like meteors, shone.From the summit of the hill, he rolleda rock. Ullin heard in the hall ofCarbre.--
Words in this poem
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- brann n.
- The broken coat of the seed of wheat, rye, or other cereal grain, separated from the flour or meal by sifting or bolting; the coarse, chaffy part of ground grain. [OE. bren, bran, OF. bren, F. bran, from Celtic; cf. Armor. brenn, Ir. bran, bran, chaff.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- surly a.
- Arrogant; haughty. Cotgrave. [Probably from sir, and originally meaning, sirlike, i.e., proud. See Sir, and Like, a.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- 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,]
- rushed a.
- Abounding or covered with rushes.
- crashing n.
- The noise of many things falling and breaking at once.
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem XV 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 XV, in Fragments of Ancient Poetry (1760), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8161, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macpherson-ossian/poem-xv.html, id L09661.
Form and metre
Poem XV is 62 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 69% 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 -A------------A the · teachvarA · i · return · for · breast · wet · meet · battle · not · does · glad · where · of · teachvarA
- 3 AA----BB- noA · noA · dog · my · on · firchios · ofB · ofB · gealchossa
- 5 A----B-A----A--AB- aA · surly · in · of · most · ullinB · gealchoffa · theA · not · he · art · teachvar · theA · have · top · toA · ullinB · sword
- 6 -------A--A- storm · few · rocks · crashing · armour · surly · falling · aboveA · shone · rolled · ofA · carbre
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Where is Gealchossa my love, the | 8 | ········ |
| daughter of Tuathal-Teachvar? | 7 | /˘····· |
| I left her in the hall of the plain, when I | 11 | ··········· |
| fought with the hairy Ulfadha. Return | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| soon, she said, O Lamderg! for | 7 | ······· |
| here I wait in sorrow. Her white breast | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| rose with sighs; her cheek was wet | 7 | ······· |
| with tears. But she cometh not to meet | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Lamderg; or sooth his soul after battle. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Silent is the hall of joy; I hear not | 10 | /˘········ |
| the voice of the singer. Brann does | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| not shake his chains at the gate, glad | 8 | ········ |
| at the coming of his master. Where | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| is Gealchossa my love, the daughter of | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Tuathal-Teachvar? | 4 | ···· |
| Lamderg! says Firchios son of Aydon, | 9 | ········· |
| Gealchossa may be on the hill; | 8 | ········ |
| she and her chosen maids pursuing the | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| flying deer. | 3 | /˘· |
| Firchios! no noise I hear. No | 7 | ······· |
| sound in the wood of the hill. No | 8 | ········ |
| deer fly in my sight; no panting dog | 9 | ······/˘· |
| pursueth. I see not Gealchossa my | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| love; fair as the full moon setting on | 9 | ······/˘· |
| the hills of Cromleach. Go, Firchios! | 8 | ········ |
| go to Allad, the grey-haired son of | 9 | ········· |
| the rock. He liveth in the circle of | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| stones; he may tell of Gealchossa. | 8 | ········ |
| Allad! saith Firchios, thou who | 7 | ······· |
| dwellest in the rock; thou who tremblest | 10 | /˘·····/˘˘ |
| alone; what saw thine eyes of | 7 | ˘/····· |
| age? | 1 | · |
| I saw, answered Allad the old, Ullin the son of Carbre: He came like a | 18 | ··/˘·············· |
| cloud from the hill; he hummed a surly | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| song as he came, like a storm in | 8 | ········ |
| leafless wood. He entered the hall of | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| the plain. Lamderg, he cried, most | 7 | ······· |
| dreadful of men! fight, or yield to Ullin. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Lamderg, replied Gealchoffa, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Lamderg is not here: he fights the | 8 | ········ |
| hairy Ulfadha; mighty man, he is not | 11 | /˘···/˘···· |
| here. But Lamderg never yields; he | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| will fight the son of Carbre. Lovely art | 9 | ······/˘· |
| thou, O daughter of Tuathal-Teachvar! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| said Ullin. I carry thee to the | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| house of Carbre; the valiant shall have | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Gealchossa. Three days from the top | 8 | ········ |
| of Cromleach will I call Lamderg to | 9 | ········· |
| fight. The fourth, you belong to Ullin, | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| if Lamderg die, or fly my sword. | 8 | ········ |
| Lamderg rushed on like a storm. | 7 | ······· |
| On his spear he leaped over rivers. Few | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| were his strides up the hill. The rocks | 8 | ········ |
| fly back from his heels; loud crashing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| they bound to the plain. His armour, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| his buckler rung. He hummed a surly | 10 | ·/˘˘····/˘ |
| song, like the noise of the falling | 8 | ······/˘ |
| stream. Dark as a cloud he stood above; | 9 | ········· |
| his arms, like meteors, shone. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| From the summit of the hill, he rolled | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| a rock. Ullin heard in the hall of | 9 | ········· |
| Carbre.-- | 1 | · |
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.