W HEN tempests sweep and billows roll, And winds contend along the pole; When o'er the deck ascends the sea, And half the sheet is torn away; Shew me the man among the crew, 5 Who would not change his place with you; Storms rend the lofty tower in twain, When storms on Fortune's ocean lowr, But wisely thou contract the sail, Avoid the siren when she smiles; With prudence laugh her gloom away, And trust her least when she looks gay. The tempest flies, The golden sun descends the skies; The gale is living in the grass, In gentler surges roll the seas.] These lines alone would be sufficient to appropriate the poem to the father of Ossian, were it not evident that the piece proceeds from the same pen with the former translation. THE CHOICE. DID Fortune, what to few she'll give, Too low for high, too high for low. For use, not shew, my house would stand Amid a spot of fertile land; 10 A lake below; around a wood; Here bend a rock; there rush a flood. A mountain would in prospect rise, And bear the grey mist to the skies. 15 To meagre Want's deserted hall.] In this, as in the preceding poem, the phraseology of " Want's deserted hall” is sufficient to authenticate the verses as Macpherson's; independently of the following description, which is altogether Ossian's : A lake below; around a wood; Here bend a rock; there rush a flood. A mountain would in prospect rise, And bear the grey mist to the skies. Of heart sincere, and converse free, The lover of mankind and me; Who, should the world tumultuous roar, Nor e'er admit a longing sigh To vex my privacy and I. Here would I pass my blameless days, Beloved of virtue, and of ease; Here die in peace, and lie unknown 20 25 Without a monument or stone. My friend might shed one pious tear; My image in his bosom bear; Might breathe, in verse, his tender moan, 30 I envy to the world my name, And puff away the strumpet Fame. |