Chapter III (2)

Compare “Dar–Thula,” p. 281, ll. 23–4: “The blast came rustling in the tops of Seláma’s groves;” “Fingal,” Bk. i, p. 216, ll. 16–7: “murmuring rivulets;” “Temora,” Bk. iii, p. 326, l. 36–p. 327, l. 1: “On Crona ... there bursts a stream.... It swells in its ... course.... Then comes it white from the hill;” “Temora,” Bk. iv, p. 338, l. 33: “Streams leap down from the rocks,” etc. Ossianic in spirit is also the following description: (4. Canto.)

... rauh und wüste,
In trübem Dunkel schauerte die Küste;
Kein Himmel leuchtete mild durch den Hain.
. . . . . . . . . .
In Höhlen lauschte Graun ...
Und was am Ufer scholl, war Kriegsgeschrei.[134]

IDUNA. ARIADNE AUF NAXOS.—Gerstenberg very soon turned his attention completely away from the old Norse mythology and we have only one other poem written under its spell, _Iduna_, which also contains several traces of Ossian’s influence, _e. g._, the line: “So glitt ich auf Dünsten dahin!”[135] “Am Busen des Windes”[136] recalls Ossian’s “on the bosom of winds,”[137] as “Des Mädchens mit den weissen Armen”[138] suggests Ossian’s “white armed maidens.” The influence is visible also in occasional touches in the cantata _Ariadne auf Naxos_ (1765), for example when Ariadne sings:

Wie weint’ ich heimlich Freudenthränen! ach,
Wie hob sich diese Brust!
Wie wallte sie, ...[139]

we involuntarily recall the secret tears of joy and the rising and swelling of the breasts of Ossian’s maidens, and when she speeds “wie ein Strahl vom Himmel seinen Armen zu”[140] we are reminded of Ossian’s frequent comparisons of a hero or heroine to a beam of the sky or from heaven, or to a stream of light, to a sun–beam or a moon–beam. The entire atmosphere of the cantata is really Ossianic: the maiden lamenting on a desert rock surrounded by the wild ocean:

Mit fliegendem Haare! wohin!
Irr’ ich am Ufer, und bin
Das Spiel der Winde![141]

What is more, the plot reminds us very much of a portion of “Berrathon,” as will be seen by a look at the argument of the latter.

A number of Gerstenberg’s shorter poems make use of the grove with its moss and the oak, the echo, the harp, and other bardic properties, without, however, acquiring the real bardic character. Ossian’s influence is here too inconsiderable to warrant a discussion of the poems in detail.

UGOLINO.[142]—The influence that this drama, which was finished in 1767, exerted upon the _Storm and Stress_ movement, its important bearing upon the popularization of Shakspere in Germany, and questions of a similar tenor cannot be entered into here, yet we cannot pass by the drama without pointing out at least some phases of Ossian’s influence, which, while not comparable in importance to that of Shakspere, is nevertheless not inconsiderable. The danger confronts us of attributing Shaksperian characteristics to Ossian. The bard’s influence is noticeable particularly in the figurative language, _e. g._, when Ugolino in the first act says: “Dass ich nicht in dem gerechten Zorne meiner Seele mich erheben ... konnte!”[143] Compare Ossian’s “rage of his soul,” “rise in wrath,” and the like. In the same act Anselmo says: “Dein Kommen ist mir erwünschter als der jugendliche Morgen,”[144] to which compare “Comala,” p. 139, l. 22: “bright as the coming forth of the morning.” Jacobs[145] suggests that Gerstenberg probably had his Ossian in mind when he had Francesco say in the first act: “Wenn er sich nur nicht ... herab stürzt, gleich dem erhabnen Vogel, der sich ins Steinthal wirft.”[146] Compare “Temora,” Bk. ii, p. 321, ll. 31–2: “Descending like the eagle of heaven, ... the son of Trenmor came;” Bk. viii, p. 369, ll. 11–2: “... the windy rocks, from which I spread my eagle–wings,” etc., etc. In the second act, Anselmo considers himself “flüchtiger als ein junges Reh,”[147] a comparison of which Ossian is exceedingly fond.[148] Gaddo and Anselmo shed regular Ossianic “tears of joy.” In the second act Anselmo refers to Francesco having ridden off “auf dem Rücken des Windes”;[149] compare “The War of Caros,” p. 193, l. 26: “The rustling winds have carried him far away;”[150] “Temora,” Bk. viii, p. 366, l. 21: “From this I shall mount the breeze.” Ossianic furthermore are Anselmo’s exclamations: “Lasst die Hörner tönen am hallenden Fels!”[151] and “o du mit der finstern Stirne!”[152] which call up Ossian’s ‘echoing rock’ and his ‘dark’ or ‘gloomy brow.’

When Gerstenberg has Ugolino say of his wife in the third act: “Kalt [ist] der Schnee ihrer Brust,”[153] and when he speaks of the “Seufzer ihres Busens,”[154] he was no doubt thinking of the snowy breasts of Ossian’s maidens and of the sighs of their bosoms. In the same act Francesco uses a comparison that is taken directly from Ossian:[155] “Du wirst fallen,” he says, “wie der Stamm einer Eiche, alle deine Äste um dich hergebreitet.”[156] Compare “Temora,”[157] Bk. iii, p. 328, ll. 25–6: “Like a young oak falls Tur–lathon, with his branches round him,” etc. In the last act Ugolino, speaking of the death of his son, says: “Wann ward dieser erste Ast vom Stamme gerissen?”[158] His opening monolog in the fourth act shows a decided Ossianic influence; _e. g._, “sein bleifarbigtes wässeriges Angesicht tobte vom Sturm seiner Seele; er wälzte seine ... Augen weit hervor,”[159] etc. In Ossian we have a “watery and dim face,” a “grey watery face,” and a soul “folded in a storm,” and as for rolling eyes, that is a property that no Ossianic warrior may be without, and one of the first that a _Storm and Stress_ poet would be led to adopt. Further along in the monolog, Ugolino says: “Doch der grosse Morgen wird ja kommen! schrecklich, dunkelroth und schwül von Gewittern wird er ja kommen! In seinem schwarzen Strahle will ich erlöschen! In seiner gebärenden Wolke soll, wie Feuer vom Himmel, mein Geist über Pisa stehn!”[160] This picture is as Ossianic as it can be. The ghosts of Ossian sit upon their clouds; they ride on beams of fire, and are compared to meteors of fire or to a terrible light. Ossianic spirits appear again a little later in the act, when Francesco says of Anselmo: “... seine Geister scheinen sich zu sammeln,”[161] and in the last act, where we read of a “wandernden Geist,” which shall remain near the beloved ones.[162] And then Francesco: “Ah! deine Geister sind im Aufruhr! Sammle sie, geliebter theurer Anselmo.” All this, however, is only a weak foretaste of the great importance that the ghosts of Ossian assume in Gerstenberg’s later drama, in _Minona_, to the discussion of which I shall proceed after a short reference to _Der Waldjüngling_. The illustrations given are not intended to be exhaustive, but to give a general idea of the character of Ossianic traces as they are exhibited in the various works.

DER WALDJÜNGLING.—As an appendix to his treatise on _Ugolino_, Jacobs published a fragment by Gerstenberg entitled _Der Waldjüngling_, which in spirit shows a combination of Rousseau’s doctrine of the return to nature _plus_ the leaning towards Norse antiquity, towards the poetry of the bards. The combination is attempted by sketching the life of a primitive man, _un homme sauvage_, transferred to the woods of Scandinavia. The small portion of the drama that has been preserved to us was written probably in 1770.[163]

As it incorporates the bardic spirit in its very essence, we shall not search in vain for reminiscences of Ossian, which, as in _Ugolino_, are met with in large part in the epithets and images. The Scandinavian scenery partakes of the characteristics of the Scotch Highlands as pictured by Ossian. The names of the characters, Hvanar, Cindiskraka (cp. Ossian’s Craca), Svanhilde, Arnas, Flino, Heener, Mimur, have Celtic as well as Germanic elements, and these characters talk much like the characters of Ossian. Mimur, _e. g._, in l. 122 laments in the strain of Ossian: “Ich bin alt und schwach,” etc. In l. 9, Cindiskraka is addressed as “Du Bewohnerinn der Felshöhle mit dem krähschwarzen Haar,” to which compare Ossian’s “dweller of the rock,”[164] and hair “dark as the raven’s wing.”[165] Further along (l. 36) we have a flute “Die des armen Mädchens verschwiegenen Kummer einsam seufzt.” This is a typical line. Ossian’s maidens have a habit of sitting ‘alone,’ nursing their ‘silent grief,’ giving vent to their sorrow in ‘secret sighs.’—Mimur styles Hilde (l. 78) in true Ossianic language: “Der Ruhm der Hirtinnen auf dem Gebirg,” and invests the forest youth in ll. 114–5 with the characteristic attributes of the ideal heroes of Ossian, ‘terrible’ in battle, but in peace ‘generous and mild’:[166]

... furchtbar an Kraft des Arms,
Doch sanft, doch freundlich, doch gut; ...

Ossianic is Hvanar’s characterization of himself (l. 152): “Ich bin ein Sohn des Meeres, rauh, wie der Sturm, ...” and a few Ossianic images from nature also occur.

MINONA.—We have no conclusive proof that Gerstenberg later in life lost his early scruples in regard to Ossian’s authenticity, but if circumstantial evidence carry any weight, there can be no doubt that he came to regard Ossian as genuine, at least for a time. And this evidence is furnished by the drama _Minona_, first published in 1785, Gerstenberg’s favorite production and one that gave him the greatest concern in the preparation of the edition of his works late in life. For this edition (1815–6) he worked over the entire drama and increased it from four acts to five, and by assigning to it the place of honor at the head of the list, furnished testimony to his fondness for this particular child of his muse. The action of the drama is laid in Britain in the fifth century, at the time when the Low German continental tribes were called over by the Britons to assist them against the incursions of the Picts. The Romans, who had refused to aid the British province against the Picts, also play an important part. Everything is mixed together, and of course anachronisms abound: Norse gods, skalds, druids, bards, Ossianic spirits, all are thrown together in one multi–colored complex. The spirit of the play is Ossianic throughout, and external as well as internal characters of Ossian’s influence are not lacking. Several of the characters are taken directly from Ossian, others only in name, _e. g._, Trenmor, King of Morven; Minona, his sister; Ryno, a bard of Ossian; Swaran, Lord of Lochlin. Edelstan, the hero, lord of Inisthona, is a son of Frothal and a grandson of Bosmina. During the perusal of the drama we are continually reminded that the author has made a thorough study of his Ossian. Selma is the name of the royal residence in Morven, just as it is in Ossian. Minona is a typical Celtic maiden as described by Ossian, just as Ryno is the Ossianic bard _comme il faut_. Just as Ossian’s Minona was possessed of the gift of song,[167] so Gerstenberg’s Minona has the reputation of being the “gesangreichste der Harfen Selma’s.”[168] In the review of the drama that appeared in the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_,[169] Minona is characterized as “grossmüthig und liebevoll, aber auch sittsam und duldend, eine würdige Schülerin der Barden,” and Ryno as “ein kraftvoller, biedrer Barde.” The Roman Äzia betrothed to Aurelius, a Roman commander, in spite of her dazzling personal charms, suffers in comparison with the modest Celtic maiden in much the same way as the heroes of Homer were often put to shame by their Celtic rivals.

The Ossianic scene _par excellence_ is the third division of the first scene of the second act, where Äzia and Edelstan are interrupted in a _tête–à–tête_ by Ryno, the bard of Ossian. Nothing can convey a better idea of the hold that Ossian had on Gerstenberg than to quote a passage from this scene.[170] Ryno announces himself as:

“ehemals Ferchio’s Gefährt’ in jener berühmten Schlacht deines
Vaters Frothal zu Inisthona, ein Barde Ossians, heisse Ryno.”

_Edelstan._ Ryno?—ein Gefährte Ferchio’s?—ein Barde
Ossian’s?—Welche Thaten, welche andre Zeiten, ... rufst du in mein
Gedächtniss zurück?—Ryno?—... der mich jene unvergesslichen
Gesänge von den Schlachten Lochlin’s lehrte, wie Ossian, die Stimme
Selma’s, seinen geliebtern Oscar, den Mann aus andern Zeiten, nach
Angeley—in der Sprache Morvens wie tönender! nach Inisthona—zu
Hülfe sandte dem Vater meiner Väter, dem trauernden Annir—

_Ryno._ Wie der blutige Cormalo dem Arm des Starken aus Morven
erlag, ‘dass die Söhne der vergifteten Lano, wo die Wolke des Tages
rastet, gleich dunkelbraunen Hindinnen dahinflohen, unfähig den Gram
ihres Stolzes zu rächen;’ wie Fingals holde Tochter, Bosmina mit den
schwarzrollenden Augen, Runa’s tönende Halle betrat, ein
wiederkehrender Stern dem Abend der Tage Annirs:—Bosmina später
vermählt dem gewaltigen Ina, der einzigen übriggebliebenen Stütze
des jammernden Annir, da Ruro fiel! da Argon fiel! dem
hinterlassenen Säuglinge Ruro’s, die Mutter des königlichen Frothal,
der erhabne Stamm deines so herrlich wieder aufblühenden Geschlechts
...

_Edelstan._ ...

_Ryno._ ... Gesegneter, wenn ich mich dir ein Bote des Friedens
genaht hätte, würdig erfunden, den getrennten Stamm einer Eiche
wieder aufzurichten, dass er noch einmal umherschaue, wie er vormals
stand, sein tausendastiges Haupt weit umher verbreitend von Selma’s
Halle bis zur Halle Runa’s, von Inisthona’s wogigem Strande bis über
Morven’s fernher rauschende Thale!”[171]

How characteristically a bit of Ossianic history is told here and how faithfully the language of the poems of Ossian is copied! We should have to search long to find a passage in German literature that shows a more complete immersion in the spirit of Ossian.

In the scene from which we have just quoted, Fingal is called “das finstre Auge Morvens,” Trenmor “zog mit dem Winde seiner Küste luftig daher,” Fingal draws his sword against Lochlin “da Cuchullin unter Swaran’s Zehntausenden schwankte,” Ossian is referred to as “die Harfe aus andern Zeiten,”[172] etc., etc. It is scarcely necessary to give parallels from Ossian. Any one who has ever read a poem of Ossian will be struck by the close resemblance of all that has been quoted above. The historical allusions, the comparisons, the metaphorical expressions, the standing epithets, are all taken directly from the songs of Ossian.

Before taking up the spirits of Ossian, and in that connection the lyrical passages which are given much prominence throughout the drama—especially in the third act—I shall quote a few more instances of borrowings from Ossian. We have in the drama a hand “blendender als Schnee”[173] and a “blendend weisse Hand;”[174] Minona has dark–black hair, which “floss vermuthlich in niedlichen Ringelchen über ihren blendend weissen Nacken herunter.”[175] Ryno and Edelstan “glaubten ... ein Sausen in der Luft zu hören, als wenn der Wind sich erhebt.”[176] The motif of Edelstan’s delivery from the cave is taken from Ossian, “Calthon and Colmal,”[177] as is Minona’s imprisonment in a cave on the isle of ghosts.[178] The scenic description of the cave in which Minona is held captive is characteristic: “Scene eine dunkle Höhle; über der Höhle der Mond im ersten Viertel, der ein schwaches Licht in das Innere der Höhle wirft.”[179]

Nothing gave the critics so much concern upon the first appearance of Minona as the machinery of the spirits. They begin their influential incantations in the second act, and from that moment on occupy a prominent position in the economy of the play to the very end. Some of these lyrical passages are by no means of a mean order, but we are now and again at a loss to grasp the poet’s meaning. The critic in the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_, speaking of the songs at the close, says: “Diese Gesänge sind, uns wenigstens, verschlossene Worte;”[180] and again, speaking of that of the spirits in the second act: “Dass uns manche Stellen dieses Liedes ganz unerklärbar geblieben sind, hat uns desto weniger befremdet, da, wie Ryno oben versicherte, selbst nur wenigen Barden die ätherischen Ströme dieses Gesanges verständlich sind.”[181] And in the same strain the critic in the _Allgemeine Literaturzeitung_ writes: “In dem was die Geister zuletzt singen ... sind schöne Verse: Aber manche so schwer zu verstehn, dass der Leser, geschweige der Hörer ihren Sinn nicht fasst..”.[182] The same reviewer refers to the unusually lofty, simple Ossianic tone of the spirit scenes. The importance assigned to these spirits in the structure of the drama can best be judged by reading Gerstenberg’s own view as expressed in the second _Schreiben_ prefixed to his works: “Mit den Ossianischen Geistern, über die mancher damalige Kunstrichter den Kopf schüttelte bin ich weniger verlegen: sie sind die Unterlage des Ganzen, und ich brauche der Anlage nach, ihnen nur mehr Spielraum zu verschaffen; mein Drama von den Angelsachsen würde nicht zugleich meine Oper von Minona und der Zukunft seyn, wenn ich die Geister aus dem Spiele liesse.”[183] This is not the place to discuss the question whether Gerstenberg was justified in the introduction of this mystic spirit–world into his drama, and so I shall proceed to look at the songs at once. The ghosts, or rather the voices of the ghosts, make their first appearance, as has been observed, in the second act. Minona, captive in the cave is singing a song to the accompaniment of the harp, when enchanting spirit voices become audible and cause her to be filled with rapture. This song, in which she is interrupted, as well as her other airs and recitatives, are Ossianic in tone and motif, indeed, wherever Gerstenberg falls into the lyric strain, Ossian’s influence becomes apparent in one feature or another:

In deiner süssen Stimme will ich zittern,
Ein Seufzer der Liebe,
Süss wie ein Harfenton!
Wenn leisere Luft dich umweht,
Vernimm das Wehen meiner Liebe:
Minonens Geist schwebt über dir!
. . . . . . .
Hinweg du Wolke zwischen ihm und mir!
Horch! durch die Halle saust
Der Wind der Mitternacht.[184]

Minona gives expression to her rapture in ecstatic terms, of course in Ossianic language, and what is more, in Macpherson’s rhythmic prose. A paragraph or two may serve for illustration:

Diese Fluth von wunderbaren Tönen, die sich wie ein Meer über mich
ausgiesst, die durch den hohlen Abgrund der Felsen im Donner des
Wohllauts daher rollt, ist sie ein Spiel der Lüfte in den Wölbungen
der Tiefe? widerprallend an den jähen Wänden des innern
Gebirgs?[185]

[Ist’s] Vielleicht Fingal’s Schild aus der hängenden Wolke herab?
vielleicht Fingals geistige Hand, die an dem Schilde vorüberrauscht?

Vielleicht die tonvolle Harfe aus andern Lüften, Ossians Harfe aus
andern Zeiten?[186]

These voices have given Minona a foretaste of the delights beyond the grave:

Wo, mich schwesterlich bewillkommend, Malvina, Bosmina, Comala,
Guthona, die holdseligen, von ihrem und meinem Ossian so edel
besungenen, Töchter der Vorzeit alle, in der Begeisterung seines
erhabenen Gesanges zu seinen Füssen hingelagert und horchend,
beisammen sässen, und ich, seine neu angelangte ... Zuhörerin, in
Wonnethränen der namenlosesten Gefühle überflösse![187]

The ghosts that chant these songs are endowed with all the qualities of their Ossianic prototypes—especially with the gift of foretelling the future—and why should they not, seeing that they are intended to represent the incarnation of the songs of Ossian.[188] They are the spirits of Ossian, and the spirits of Ossian “sind die veredelte Menschlichkeit selbst.”[189] As for the songs of the ghosts, the solos, duets, choruses, and what not, as they begin in this act and are continued throughout the third and fifth acts, it would be impossible to take up each verse in detail. Suffice it to say, that the songs bear the ideal stamp of the influence of Ossian, which is expressed in more ways than one. I quote one or two passages in illustration. Several voices sing in the second act:

Stolzern Tritts erhebt vom Saum der Wolke sich
Fingal, den Arm auf seinen Schild gelehnt.[190]

Compare “Fingal,” Bk. vi, p. 261, l. 24: “Fingal leaned on the shield;” also Ossian’s skirt, edge, or side of the cloud. So in the third act Minona sings:

Schnell wie ein Blitz der Mitternacht,
Zerriss, aus seiner Wolke Saum,
Der Felsen aufgethürmte Last
Ein stärkrer unnennbarer Arm.[191]

Compare “The War of Inis–Thona,” p. 206, ll. 15–6: “Stormy clouds ... their edges are tinged with lightning,” etc.—Minona is referred to by the ghosts as the ‘daughter of Selma,’ and Edelstan as the ‘star of Inis–Thona,’ and the ‘star of night.’ Towards the end of the third act the voices sing:

Auf flügelschnellster der Stürme,
Gleit’ auf der Woge dahin

* * * * *

Rolle deine krausen Locken
Im Silberschaume der Fluth!

* * * * *

Fahr’ hin auf dem röthesten Strahle des Dampfs,[192]
Und hole vom Mond mir den Blitz herab![193]

In rebellious opposition to these spirits of Ossian are the druids, who refer to the songs of the ghosts as “die verführerischen Gesänge Ossians, des Tonangebers der ganzen harfnenden Bande,”[194] and again as “die aufrührerischen Gesänge eines unserer Barden—Ossian hiess der Erzketzer.”[195] The druids rely on the spirits of Brumo,[196] the god of human sacrifice, and Brumo’s spirits, says the chief druid, “pflegen nicht in dieser weibisch weichen ... Ossianssprache ... zu reden.”[197] Brumo corresponds very closely to Ossian’s Loda, to his ‘terrible spirit of the circle of stones.’ Ossian likewise furnished abundant material for the rites of the druids as they are described in the last act.

In addition to the songs of the ghosts, we have two _Bardiete_ in the drama, one in Act 4, 8, the other in Act 4, 9. Needless to say, Ossian’s influence is plainly discernible. The first begins thus:

Aufdämmernd hinter Wolken schlief
Der junge Morgen im trüberen Roth!...
. . . . . . . .
Und warnend thürmte die Wolke sich auf;
Und aus der Wolke brach, verkündigt von Blitz,
Mit tausend Spiessen der Tag hervor.[198]

In the first edition the ending of the drama was somewhat differently motivated, inasmuch as Äzia, clothed in the armor of a warrior, allows herself to be captured by some of Edelstan’s soldiers and makes an attempt to assassinate Minona, but is foiled in the effort by Ryno. Undoubtedly this motif of the disguise was taken from Ossian, where we find almost a dozen examples of maids taking on the disguise of a youth.[199]

Many of the geographical and historical notes to the drama are based upon Macpherson, “dessen historische Data noch Niemand angefochten hat.”[200] From the notes to the first edition of _Minona_ we can get some idea of Gerstenberg’s opinion of Ossian in the middle of the eighties. He says in note 8: “Auch können wir uns aus dem Ossian, dessen historische Data wenigstens itzt keinen Einwand mehr leiden, wenn gleich die Ächtheit seiner gegenwärtigen epischen und dramatischen Gestalt noch etwaz zweydeutig seyn möchte, ganz vernünftig überzeugen,” etc. And in note 14 he writes: “Es wäre ein gut Theil gewagter gewesen, einer alten Chronik, als der lautern Quelle Ossians nachzuspüren.” Another note (the 10th) gives evidence of the popularity that Ossian still enjoyed as late as 1785: “Was übrigens die ossianische Urkunde von Inisthona betrifft, ... so hat sich der Verfasser berechtigt geglaubt, diese Geschichte als aus einem der classischen Werke unsers Jahrhunderts allgemein bekannt vorauszusetzen...”. These notes are omitted in the final version of 1815, a fact which leads me to believe that Gerstenberg’s early scruples returned to him late in life. _Minona_ had served to dispel them momentarily, but no doubt the unsatisfactory character of the _Report of the Committee of the Highland Society_ and the aspersions cast upon Macpherson’s translation by Ahlwardt served to reëstablish them in his wavering mind.

§3. Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis.[201]

No one did more to increase the knowledge of Ossian in Germany and to enlarge the sphere of his influence there, than did the Jesuit Michael Denis, a native of Bavaria, who took up his residence in Vienna early in life and there spent the remainder of his days. Although himself the author of a considerable number of poetic productions, his contemporary fame was based primarily upon his translation of Ossian, which created a great stir at the time of its appearance, setting all the previous efforts at translation in the shade for good and all. It remained for many years the standard, the classical German translation of the works of Ossian, in spite of the fact that the mold in which it is cast aroused the most violent opposition from many quarters.

Denis had been led to the study of English by his admiration for Klopstock’s _Messiah_, the prototype of which, _Paradise Lost_, he was desirous of reading in the original. When he began his translation in 1767, he was well equipped for the task as far as a knowledge of the language is concerned, and the true poetical genius that he lacked was compensated for in large measure by the sincere enthusiasm with which he set about his task. A serious obstacle presented itself at the very outset: there was not a copy of Macpherson’s Ossianic poems to be had in Vienna. Nothing daunted, Denis commenced by translating from Cesarotti’s Italian translation—which had appeared at Padua in 1763[202]—a fact that explains the presence of the notes from Cesarotti interspersed throughout his translation. Fortunately he soon obtained a copy of the English original from Prague, whereupon he destroyed all he had so far done and started in afresh. His enthusiasm for the _Messiah_ led to the choice of the hexameter for his translation. Denis was a very rapid worker, a quality that stood him in good stead in the manufacture of the many occasional poems that emanated from his pen. Once on the right track, he worked at his translation with the utmost diligence and persistence and pushed it rapidly to a conclusion, volumes 1 and 2 appearing in 1768, and volume 3 in the following year. The two editions that appeared simultaneously apparently found a ready sale. In the preface to the first volume, Denis confesses what an instantaneous effect the songs of Ossian had upon him. “Kaum hatte ich ein paar Gedichte durchgelesen,” he says, “als ich ihn in meinen Gedanken Homern und Virgiln an die Seite setzte.” And when Ossian received Klopstock’s stamp of approval, Denis was overjoyed. “Wie froh war ich! Ich fieng zu übersetzen an.”[203] At the conclusion of the preface he expresses doubts as to the gracious reception of the translation: “Ossian ist viel zu sonderlich,” he thinks, “viel zu _unmodern_, viel zu unterschieden von denen Dichtern, die man immer in den Händen hat. Allein, wenn man nur einmal mit seinem Geiste bekannter wird, wenn seine Art sich auszudrücken durch ein wiederholtes Lesen ihre Ungewöhnlichkeit verlieret, dann, dächte ich, sollte er nach dem _Engländer_ am ersten bei einem _Deutschen_ sein Glück machen.” It was only a few years later that the real Ossian craze began in Germany, and then Denis was to realize that these _unmodern_ poems with their sentimental coloring appealed even more strongly to the German soul than they did to the English.

Dr. Blair’s arguments were not needed to convince Denis of the authenticity of the poems. He could not accept as spurious poems whose author he had in his first enthusiasm placed by the side of Homer and Vergil, unless irrefutable proof of forgery were given, and this was not forthcoming. And so when Dr. Blair in the appendix to his “Dissertation” in the edition of 1765 undertakes to defend the poems for external reasons also, Denis is led to remark: “Alle diese Gründe dürften für England und Irland, wo vielleicht Scheelsucht und Partheylichkeit Zweifler erwecket haben mag, nöthiger seyn. Einen von Vorurtheilen freyen deutschen Kenner wird immer der innere Gehalt genugsam überzeugen, das[s] Ossians Gedichte nicht unterschoben, sondern wahrhaft alte Gedichte sind.” Denis never took the trouble to institute any original researches or to devote himself to a serious study of this field, but accepted the genuineness of the poems as a matter of course. The unanimity of the German critics allowed no scruples to arise in his mind to vex him.

The reception granted the translation was most flattering indeed, and Denis could not but feel completely satisfied with the result of his labors. Nicolai, _e. g._, writes from Berlin, as early as Nov. 14, 1769: “Ihre vortreffliche Übersetzung des Ossian, ist auch in unsern Gegenden in den Händen aller Kenner; ich auch habe sie mit grossem Vergnügen gelesen, und sie stets für eins der wichtigsten Neuen Werke gehalten.”[204] Gleim sends Denis his ‘poetical trifles,’ “aus Dankbarkeit vornehmlich für das Vergnügen, welches der deutsche Ossian ihm machte.”[205] Denis writes in the preface to Vol. 3: “Seitdem der erste Band dieser Uebersetzung in Deutschland bekannt geworden ist, sind mir verschiedene Beweise zugekommen, dass sie dort ganz gut aufgenommen worden sey, wo ich es am meisten wünschte.” The reviews in the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_, in the _Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek_, in the _Göttingische Anzeigen von gelehrten Sachen_, and elsewhere, all were extremely gratifying, and only one note of disapproval insisted upon asserting itself, a note that found most emphatic expression in the _Erfurtische gelehrte Zeitungen_: the form of the translation met with pronounced opposition. The most important of these reviews is that in the _Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek_. It was written by Herder, who designates the departure as “neu und schön,” and refers to the poems of Ossian as “diese kostbaren Ueberbleibsel aus der alten celtischen oder gallischen Sprache.” But soon doubts arise: “So sind also die Gedichte Ossians in Hexameter übersezt—aber würde Ossian, wenn er in unsrer Sprache sie abgesungen, sie hexametrisch abgesungen haben? oder wenn die Frage zu nah und andringend ist; mag er in seiner Originalsprache den Hexameterbau begünstigt haben? ... Oder ...: thut Ossian in seinem homerischen Gewande eben die Würkung, als Ossian der Nordische Barde?”[206] Here was the rub: Denis had given Ossian, the Gaelic bard, the ‘rough, sublime Scotchman’ in the measure of a Greek rhapsodist. “Vielleicht aber wird er dadurch verschönert, und gleichsam classisch? Er mag es werden: nur er verliert mehr, als er gewinnt, den _Bardenton seines Gesangs_.”[207] The translation makes an epic, a heroic impression, but does not reproduce its natural Scotch heroic impression. Herder proceeds to show how Ossian and Homer are antitheses in almost every respect, and holds that in consequence the difference in expression should be emphasized by the choice of different meters. Although Herder regards many of Denis’s hexameters as melodious and euphonious, he opines that the free meters introduced by Klopstock in his odes are better adapted to a translation of the bard. That the translation made a favorable impression upon Herder in spite of its metrical drawbacks is evidenced by the concluding lines of the review: “Wir freuen uns überhaupt auf die ganze Fortsetzung der Dennisschen Arbeit mehr, als auf manche neuere süsslallende Originale in Deutschland, und wünschen, dass Ossian der Lieblingsdichter junger epischer Genies werde!”[208] Herder here had in mind Vol. 1 only; his review of Vols. 2 and 3 did not appear until three years later, in 1772, being written at about the same time as the “Auszug aus einem Briefwechsel über Ossian und die Lieder alter Völker,” which opened the _Blätter von Deutscher Art und Kunst_.[209] His view–point and line of argument are to all intents and purposes identical in the review and the essay. In the review he laments: “Noch immer Ossian der Hexametrist, der Klopstockianer, da man Ossian den kurztönenden, unregelmässigen Celtischen Barden hören sollte.”[210] Again and again Herder returns to the attack; he can not reconcile the smooth poetry of Denis with the unpolished bard. The soft lyric cadence of Denis’s verses appeals to Herder, to be sure, but “hier, so sanft, so vieltönig und schön sie sey, hier passet sie Ossianen oft so an, als etwa einen Samojedischen Gesandten bey der russischen Gesetzkommission das Ceremonienkleid des Hofmarschalls.”[211] But not alone the hexameters aroused Herder’s dissatisfaction; his displeasure increases when he views Denis’s attempt to translate a poem in the measure employed by Gerstenberg in his _Gedicht eines Skalden_. Here Denis employs rime with poor success, and we must agree with Herder when he says: “Denis gelingen nicht Reime!”[212]

There was still another side from which Herder attacked the translation; he was not content with the language employed, which he did not consider natural enough; too many words were not sufficiently indigenous. “War Ossian nicht unser Bruder?” he asks, “und welch’ ein Glück, welch ewiges Verdienst wäre es, ihn so zu verdeutschen, als ob er, ein Deutscher gewesen wäre: das er doch, der Hälfte nach, gewesen ist.”[213]

I hinted above that Herder was not the only critic who was ill–pleased with Denis’s choice of the hexameter. A similar chord is struck in other reviews, in the introductions to several later translations, and elsewhere.

The most appreciative notice of Denis’s translation was that in the _Neue Bibliothek der schönen Wissenschaften_. From beginning to end the review teems with praise for the translator, as well as for old Ossian himself. “Wir haben die Entdeckung der Gedichte Ossians,” begins the critic, “immer für eine der wichtigsten Begebenheiten dieses Jahrhunderts in der Geschichte des Witzes und Geschmacks unsers Jahrhunderts gehalten. Ihre Avthenticität ist nunmehro eben so sehr entschieden, als ihre Vortrefflichkeit.”[214] Not only does the critic refrain from discountenancing the employment of the hexameter, but, like the reviewer in the _Hamburgischer Correspondent_, he even expresses his admiration for the verses. “In der That,” he says, “haben wir kaum wohlklingendere deutsche Hexameter gesehen.”[215] In order to bring the value of the poetical translation more vividly before the reader, an extract from Denis’s translation is given[216] and compared with a literal prose translation that follows.[217] The value of such long extracts must not be underestimated. They occurred frequently and no doubt aroused an interest in the original in many a reader. As an illustration of the lyrical measure in which Denis translated the distinctively lyrical passages of Ossian, Carril’s song on the death of Crugal is given.[218] Besides we have an extract from the beginning of “Comala” and a prose version of the extract for comparison. “Comala” is one of the poems that Denis had clothed in rime, giving it the form of a modern _Singspiel_, and with this raiment the reviewer is not quite satisfied. Other voices were raised in opposition to the general form Denis had given the dramatic poem. The latter, appreciating the justice of the position of the critics, changed the structure for the edition of 1784,[219] but at the same time inserted the poem in its original form in another volume,[220] in order to satisfy those who preferred it in that shape. The objection to the first form of “Comala” we find also in the review in the _Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen_, where the critic writes: “Die Comala deucht uns nicht sehr glücklich ausgefallen zu seyn.... Will man sagen: es sey Ossians Comala in ein Singspiel verwandelt, so sind wir zufrieden. Aber Ossian ist es nicht.”[221] Otherwise this review of the first volume of Denis’s translation is full of compliments to the genius of the translator. The critic expresses the opinion that the poems of Ossian have gained much by the new form. Especially does the hexameter tend to give “Fingal” the character of a true epic. On the whole, the reviewer is as much impressed with the necessity of the translation on the one hand as with the beauty of the original on the other, “Es kan diese Uebersetzung nach unserm deutschen epischen Originaldichter [Klopstock] billig gesetzet werden, billig einen nahen Platz erhalten; selbst in so fern der alte Barde mit unserm Gefühl, und mit unsern National–Begriffen von den ersten Zeiten weit mehr übereinstimmt, als ein Homer und Virgil.”[222]

I shall refrain from a detailed discussion of the character of the translation and would refer the reader to Hofmann–Wellenhof’s biography, pp. 163–91. Denis’s was the first translation to give the works of Ossian in full, and attracted attention by reason of that fact alone. He adhered as closely as possible to the original, but from the very nature of the case, he had often to expand.[223] Provincialisms abound. It cannot be denied that he failed to reproduce the spirit as given to the original by Macpherson, yet when all is said, Denis’s translation is _facile princeps_ among the complete German translations. The hexameters lend an air of stateliness and dignity to the poems and give them more the air of a classic. What is more, the novel introduction of hexameters evoked a lively discussion and so stimulated the popular interest in Ossian. The translation became a model for the school of the bards, most of whom derived their knowledge primarily from the version of their revered _confrère_. During Denis’s lifetime, that is, until the opening of the new century, his translation remained the standard for Germany.[224] About the time of his death, the so–called Gaelic original began to occupy the chief attention, and when Ahlwardt’s translation from the Gaelic appeared, it superseded that of Denis in the popular favor for a time, that is to say, until it began to be suspected that the Gaelic original was not all that was claimed for it.

The first collection of Denis’s poems, of the songs of Sined, appeared in 1772 under the title of _Die Lieder Sineds des Barden_. We have not far to go to discover a typical instance of the nature of Ossian’s influence. The very first poem, “An Ossians Geist,” will serve as a splendid example. The poem begins as follows:

Im schweigenden Thale des Mondes
Umkränzet von heiligen Eichen
Da walten die Geister der Barden,

* * * * *

Sie schweben auf Silbergewölken
Den thauigten Abhang herunter,

* * * * *

Dann heben sich Lieder der Vorzeit,
Und Harfen begleiten die Lieder,
Und sanftester Nachhall entzücket
Die lauschenden Wälder und Fluren umher.[225]

And so on. It is scarcely necessary to point out how closely the Ossianic spirit and nature coloring have been adhered to. The Ossianic paraphernalia are all present, the silent vale,[226] the moon, the sacred oaks, the ghosts of the bards, the clouds upon which they float along the sides of the mountains,[227] the songs of the times of old attuned to the accompaniment of the harp; not even the echo is missing, resounding from woods and fields. These and similar Ossianic properties are continually resorted to in Denis’s bardic productions. They give an archaic character to the whole, and lend a certain picturesqueness to the scene—when not employed to excess. We have further along “Saiten von Selma,” Ossian’s oft repeated ‘harp of Selma,’ “Zähren der Wehmuth,” “Wipfel der Eichen,” “moosige Trümmer,” etc. Denis proceeds to narrate the principal subjects of the poems of Ossian, and then confesses what an effect Ossian made upon him from the very outset; he tells us how he persisted in his purpose in spite of the fact that many of his old listeners deserted him. He concludes with the following lines:

Und, Vater von Oscar![228] dein Folger
Bey kommenden Altern zu heissen!
Ha! dieser Gedanke gesellt mich
Im schweigenden Thale des Mondes zu dir![229]

We should expect Denis, as a strong admirer and pupil of Klopstock, to follow in the footsteps of his master by introducing the old Norse mythology into his bardic efforts. As a matter of fact, however, it is almost completely lacking, a circumstance perhaps best explained by his religious calling.[230] About the sole indications of an interest in Old Norse are the seven songs following the first poem. Being translations and paraphrases of Old Norse material, they do not concern us here.

Next come a number of occasional poems addressed to Maria Theresa and to Joseph II. On pages 85–143 we have the “Bardenfeyer am Tage Theresiens,” first published in Vienna in 1770, in which the various offices and qualities of the empress are sung by different bards. The spirit of Klopstock and Ossian hovers over all these poems, as will appear from the extracts to follow. We shall notice also that the bardic machinery and Ossian’s imagery are not neglected. The bards are described as “Die Geber des Ruhmes, die Söhne der Lieder,”[231] and are endowed with all the other characteristics of those of Ossian, as, for example, with the power of looking into the future.[232]

The poem “An Ossians Geist” showed us that Denis adopted the spirit world of Ossian, and like Klopstock and Gerstenberg, he has ghosts appear on all possible occasions, _e. g._, in “Theresia die Fürstinn,” which begins (p. 89):

Neiget euch nieder aus luftigen Hallen,
Herrscher der Vorzeit im Schmucke Walhallas!
Väter von Habsburg! neiget euch her![233]

So in Ossian “the forms of the fathers bend” from their ‘cloudy–hall.’

In the same poem (p. 92) we have a “verfinsterte Seele,” Ossian’s ‘darkened soul.’[234]

In the next poem, “Theresia die Gattinn,” we have several Ossianic expressions, _e. g._ (p. 98):

Er zog einher dem Hirschen gleich

* * * * *

In Rabenlocken fiel sein Haar.

We have had occasion before to point out Ossian’s comparisons to a deer, and his locks black as a raven’s wings. Theresa, in true Ossianic manner, is compared to the rainbow, a star, a pine,[235] etc., and in the following poem she is said to be fairer than the moon or an oak.[236] After the death of her husband she often visits his grave:

“Dort pfleget Sie der Wehmuth Lust,”[237]

“the joy of grief.” His ghost, of course, does his duty and pays her an occasional visit.[238]

A truly Ossianic picture and comparison are given in the third stanza of the following poem, “Theresia die Mutter” (p. 103):

Schön ist an des Himmels
Blauem Nachtgesichte
Dünsteloser Mond,
Wenn er unter Sternen
Sanftbeleuchtend wandelt;
Aber schöner ist doch Eine noch.

Ossian’s maidens are generally either “bright as the sun–beam,” or else “fair as the moon.” Compare also Ossian’s apostrophe to the moon, beginning of “Dar–Thula.” In another line of the poem (p. 106) we have “Seelen schmelzen” and likewise in “Calthon and Colmal,” p. 183, ll. 21–2: “The soul ... melted;” “Temora,” Bk. ii, p. 318, ll. 3–4, etc., etc.

The tenth stanza of “Theresia die Kriegerinn” is decidedly Ossianic:

Da rollete schnell von Thränen ein Guss
Die bärtigsten Wangen der Männer herab;
... da flogen, wie Blitz
Die wogigten Scheiden empor.[239]

Compare “Carric–Thura,” p. 149, ll. 35–6: “The tear rolled down her cheek,” etc. The comparison of swords to lightning, to beams of fire, or to meteors occurs again and again in Ossian.[240] In the following stanza the rush of the warriors is described (p. 110):

... so stürmet der Wind
Die Blätter des Hayns im Herbste mit sich.

Ossian is very fond of comparing the rush of a host to the wind.[241] Bartmar has to sing of battle, and it is not astonishing that we find in his song more traces of Ossian’s influence than in any other song of the “Bardenfeyer,” the general peaceful atmosphere of which does not offer the same possibilities for the insertion of Ossianic material. The ghosts of the fallen warriors make their appearance before the close of the battle. Theresa’s eye makes the warrior bold:

Und furchtbar im Flügel der düsteren Schlacht.
Sie standen, ein Fels, und rollten den Schwall
Der Krieger aus Norden zurück.[242]

Ossian’s warriors are ‘terrible’ and ‘dark’ in battle, they “stand like a rock”[243] and roll back the foe. Compare “Temora,” Bk. ii, p. 318, ll. 17–8: “Conar was a rock before them: broken they rolled on every side;” etc. Another stanza, the twenty–second, shows a close resemblance to an Ossianic image (p. 112):

“Doch wie sich der Lenz in Schauergewölk
Itzt hüllet, und itzo sein holdes Gesicht
Den Fluren entdeckt;”

Compare “Fingal,” Bk. vi, p. 265, ll. 22–4: “Like the sun in a cloud, when he hides his face ..., but looks again on the hills of grass!” Furthermore we have in the same poem (p. 113) a “Stein des Ruhmes,”[244] Ossian’s “stone of fame”[245] or “stone of renown.”[246]

The following poem, “Theresia die Fromme,” contains but few traces of Ossian’s influence. An expression borrowed directly from Ossian, however, is the “enge Haus,”[247] the “narrow house,” the grave, occurring continually in the poems of Ossian, _e. g._, “Oithona,” p. 173, l. 36, etc., etc. “Theresia die Weise” also contains a direct borrowing from Ossian, viz., Denis calls the echo (p. 128) “die Tochter des Felsen” just as Ossian styles it “the son of the rock.” Another Ossianic reminder is contained in the second stanza of this poem. The bard remarks (p. 126):

Oder, wenn ich den Fall eines der blühenden
Heldensöhne beseufzte,
Dem im Felde sein Hügel stieg.

Ossian’s bards “mourn those who fell”[248] and the warrior’s resting–place is marked by a hill or stones.—“Krümmungen heller Bäche” (p. 126) recall Ossian’s “bright winding streams.”[249]

I have had occasion several times to refer to the transitoriness of the warrior’s life as continually harped upon by Ossian. The soldier’s name is preserved in two ways, as was that of Fingal, _i. e._, in the song of the bards, and secondly by the stones over his grave. Bearing in mind that Denis translates ‘stones’ by ‘Trümmer,’ note the following lines (p. 131):

Menschen schwinden hinweg. Lassen sie Thaten nach,
Dann nennt Trümmer und Lied Thaten und sie zugleich

Ossianic is the phrase in “Theresia die Gütige” (p. 138):

Bis im Felde keine Spur
Unsrer Pfade mehr
Sichtbar ist.

So Fingal, Bk. v, p. 256, l. 27: “My footsteps [shall] cease to be seen;” etc.

The collection of occasional poems that follows the “Bardenfeyer” is addressed to Joseph II. Bardic properties are employed here in a similar manner as in the poems of the preceding series, but otherwise Ossian’s influence is almost inappreciable. The opening lines (p. 144), beginning “O Geist der Lieder!”[250] are truly Ossianic. A comparison borrowed from Ossian is found in “Josephs Erste Reise” (p. 151):

... der im Frieden,
Aehnlich dem Adler am Felsengipfel,
Mit wachem Auge ruhet, und adlerschnell
Auf Störer seiner Ruhe sich niedersenkt.
Sie bluten, liegen, und der Sieger
Schwebet zurücke zum Felsengipfel.

And now for a few passages from “Temora.” Bk. ii, p. 319, ll. 32–3: “The eyes of Morven do not sleep. They are watchful, as eagles, on their mossy rocks;” p. 321, ll. 31–3: “Descending like the eagle of heaven, ... the son of Trenmor came.” Bk. iii, p. 330, ll. 11–2: “They return ..., like eagles to their ... rock, after the prey is torn on the field.” Another Ossianic comparison is the following (p. 155): “Die Fürsten stehn, Zwo Sonnen.” See “Temora,” Bk. vi, p. 349, l. 27: “Yet is the king ... a sun ...,” etc. The “Zweite Reise” contains a stanza that is modeled closely after a passage in Ossian (“Temora,” Bk. ii, p. 323, ll. 11–20):

Die Kinder Teuts ... sollten nur

* * * * *

Die Stelle zeichnen, wo sich umarmeten
Die Grössten Deutschlands, Joseph und Friederich,
Hin Eichen pflanzen, dass die spätsten
Enkel im Schatten sich diess erzählten.

In the poem, “Die Säule des Pflügers,” we encounter the following Ossianic reminiscences (p. 166): “In der Seele des Barden ist Licht des Liedes.”[251] And (p. 167):

Flügel des Blitzes hatte der hohe Gedanke,
Welcher dem Herrscher die Seele durchfuhr.[252]

In the same poem we have the Ossianic comparison (p. 168): “Die Seele so still, Wie scheidende Sonnen.”[253]

The poem “Auf den Oberdruiden an der Rur” and the following ones written in the bardic spirit contain Ossianic touches here and there in much the same way. “An einen Bardenfreund,” contains some verses of Ossianic description (p. 175):

In den Tagen des Herbsts, wenn sich der Abend bräunt,
Irr’ ich einsam den Hayn, irr’ ich die Fluren durch,

* * * * *

Ja, dann seyd ihr vor mir, Wälder mit seufzenden
Tannen! bist du vor mir, sprudelnder Erlenbach!
Und ihr Teiche voll Schilfes!
Von dem kühlenden West’ umrauscht.

The autumn, the darkening evening, the lonely wanderer in the grove and on the heath, the sighing pines, “the breeze in the reeds of the lake,”[254] combine to form an ideal Ossianic picture. More of the same kind is found in the poem.—“Der Strahl aus Osten” referring to the sun, as employed in the next poem, “Auf das Haupt der Starken bei den Markmännern” (p. 180) is undoubtedly Ossian’s “beam of the east.”[255]

In a poem addressed to Gleim, “Auf den Bardenführer der Brennenheere,” Denis refers to his translation of Ossian and to the favorable reception accorded it by Gleim (p. 186):

Ossians erhabne
Lieder nachzustimmen
Rang es,[256] und errang mir einen Gleim.

On pp. 189–90 we read:

Aber du, Gespielinn
Meiner Lieder, Harfe!
Theuer bist du mir,
Seit du mir mit Morvens
Neugeweckten Klängen
Dieses Mannes Herz gewonnen hast.

“An Friedrichs Barden” (Ramler) breathes the bardic spirit more intensely than some of the others we have been considering. When Denis calls ‘Thaten’ ‘Flammen’ (p. 191), we recall Ossian’s “Our deeds are streams of light.”[257] Denis’s druids dwell in caves, as they do in Ossian. “Druiden locket er hervor Aus ihrer Höhle,” he sings (p. 195) in “An den Oberbarden der Pleisse” (Weisse) and so Ossian addresses the druid as the “dweller of the rock.”[258]

The next song is addressed “An den Beredtesten der Donaudruiden” (Ignaz Wurz). The word ‘schwellen’ in the expression “Thränen Schwellen in ... Augen” (p. 199) no doubt goes back to Ossian; compare “Dar–Thula,” p. 286, l. 17: “Tears swell in her ... eyes!” Denis uses the word frequently in other connections.[259]

Kretschmann’s poem, “Rhingulphs Lied an Sined,” which follows, is answered by Denis in “Sineds Gesicht, Rhingulphen dem Freunde der Geister gewidmet,” a poem teeming with Ossianic properties, the ghosts playing an especially prominent part. Intensely Ossianic is the following comparison (p. 207):

Und meine Freude . . . . . .
War, wie des Mondes Antlitz, wenn ein Dunst
Sich von der Erde schwingend es beschleicht.[260]

The ghost tells Denis that Rhingulph (p. 209):

... nannte dich den Freund an Ossians Busen,
Dem Ossian am Abend seiner Augen
Die Harfe liess.—

In a note to “Sineds Gesicht,” Denis quotes Kretschmann’s reply, in which the latter addresses him as “Sined, treuster Freund von Fingals Sohne!” and exclaims: “Hätt’ ich Ullins Lieder, böth ich dir sie an.”[261]—The succeeding poem, “An einen Jüngling,” enjoins a youth to conduct himself so that his fame may go down in the songs of the bards, that darkness may not dwell around his grave, that his name may not die like the thunder echoed by the hills, and gives him much similar advice such as Ossian was accustomed to extend to his Celtic heroes.

“Sineds Vaterlandslieder,” a series of four poems, contain the never–failing Ossianic paraphernalia as before. The bard sings in a grove, reclining upon moss in the shade of an oak, with the breeze trembling through the leaves and sighing in the harp.[262] In the opening line of the next poem, “Sineds Morgenlied,” the poet calls upon the harp to descend (p. 232): “Harfe! steig nieder.” Compare “Urlaub von der sichtbaren Welt” (p. 283):

Steig nieder, Schattenharfe!
Vom wiegenden Zweige der Tanne!

The ‘Schattenharfe’[263] is Ossian’s ‘shadowy harp,’ “Temora,” Bk. vii, p. 361, l. 4, and in “Temora,” Bk. v, p. 340, l. 2, we read: “Descend from thy place, O harp.” The harp may hang on a branch, as in “Berrathon,” p. 380, l. 31.[264]—“Das Donnerwetter” contains occasional Ossianic nature touches. This poem is followed by six laments, “Sineds Klagen,” in which the grief now and again takes an Ossianic tone, as witness the opening verses of the first, an elegy on Gellert’s death (p. 253):

Schauerndes Lüftchen! woher?
Trüb ist der Tag. In dem entblätterten Hayne
. . . . . . . .
... sitz’ ich einsam
Auf mein Saitenspiel gelehnet,
Da kömmst du, Lüftchen! schwirrest mir
So kläglich, so kläglich die Saiten hindurch.[265]

Ossianic also is the tone of the opening lines of the second complaint, sung on a cloudy autumn day (p. 258):

Traurig ist der Tag!
Von der Himmelstochter
Blicken ungetröstet
Dämmert er dahin.
Graue Nebelsäulen
Steigen von Gebirgen.

Ossian calls the sun “the son of heaven,” not the “daughter,” but Denis made similar changes of this nature, _e. g._, in the opening line of “Dar–Thula” and elsewhere he translates “daughter of heaven,” referring to the moon, by “Sohn der Nacht.”[266] Denis adds a note to his translation in “Dar–Thula,” explaining that he took the liberty to institute the change, because moon in German, forsooth, is of the masculine gender.[267] And thus we arrive at ‘Himmelstochter.’ Compare furthermore “Carric–Thura,” p. 152, ll. 12–3: “Grey mist rests on the hills,” and the like; also the oft repeated ‘columns’ and ‘pillars’ of mist.—In the same complaint the line (p. 259): “Ein Seufzer reisst sich aus der Brust”[268] recalls Ossian’s “The sigh bursts from their breasts.”[269] In this poem Denis laments the taste of those to whom _Witz_ is everything. He can not follow in their footsteps, because (p. 261):

Greis Ossian in dem Geleite
Der Barden und Skalden besucht ihn.
Er höret am schweigenden Monde
Gesänge vergangener Alter.

The fourth complaint is an elegy on the death of Joh. v. Nep. Hohenwart, a friend of Denis, whose ghost is asked to appear.—The concluding stanza of the fifth contains an Ossianic comparison (p. 276): “Sein Leben bleibt ... ein Strom von ewighellem Lichte.” Compare “Temora,” Bk. i, p. 311, ll. 22–3: “My life shall be one stream of light.” Several Ossianic touches in the last poem of the collection, “Urlaub von der sichtbaren Welt,” have been referred to. Ossianic furthermore is the following picture (p. 284):

Kühle Lüfte säuseln,
Wiesenquellen lauten,
Durch die Tannenzacken
Blinkt der milde Mond;
Aber schweigend, schweigend steht der Hügel,
Der den Barden deckt.

‘Silent’ as a standing epithet frequently goes with ‘hill’ in Ossian, and the hill covering the dead has been noticed; we have it again on pp. 287–8.