Ossian in Germany Part 26

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 bluhenden Heldensohne beseufzte, Dem im Felde sein Hugel stieg.

Ossian's bards "mourn those who fell"[248] and the warrior's restingplace is marked by a hill or stones.-"Krummungen h.e.l.ler Bache"

(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 'Trummer,' note the following lines (p. 131):

Menschen schwinden hinweg. La.s.sen sie Thaten nach, Dann nennt Trummer und Lied Thaten und sie zugleich

Ossianic is the phrase in "Theresia die Gutige" (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 Storer seiner Ruhe sich niedersenkt.

Sie bluten, liegen, und der Sieger Schwebet zurucke zum Felsengipfel.

And now for a few pa.s.sages from "Temora." Bk. ii, p. 319, ll. 323: "The eyes of Morven do not sleep. They are watchful, as eagles, on their mossy rocks;" p. 321, ll. 313: "Descending like the eagle of heaven, ... the son of Trenmor came." Bk. iii, p. 330, ll. 112: "They return ..., like eagles to their ... rock, after the prey is torn on the field." Another Ossianic comparison is the following (p. 155): "Die Fursten 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 pa.s.sage in Ossian ("Temora," Bk. ii, p. 323, ll. 1120):

Die Kinder Teuts ... sollten nur

Die Stelle zeichnen, wo sich umarmeten Die Grossten Deutschlands, Joseph und Friederich, Hin Eichen pflanzen, da.s.s die spatsten Enkel im Schatten sich diess erzahlten.

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

Flugel 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 braunt, Irr' ich einsam den Hayn, irr' ich die Fluren durch,

Ja, dann seyd ihr vor mir, Walder mit seufzenden Tannen! bist du vor mir, sprudelnder Erlenbach!

Und ihr Teiche voll Schilfes!

Von dem kuhlenden 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 Markmannern" (p. 180) is undoubtedly Ossian's "beam of the east."[255]

In a poem addressed to Gleim, "Auf den Bardenfuhrer 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. 18990 we read:

Aber du, Gespielinn Meiner Lieder, Harfe!

Theuer bist du mir, Seit du mir mit Morvens Neugeweckten Klangen 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 Hohle," 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 "Thranen Schwellen in ...

Augen" (p. 199) no doubt goes back to Ossian; compare "DarThula," 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: "Hatt' ich Ullins Lieder, both ich dir sie an."[261]-The succeeding poem, "An einen Jungling," 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 neverfailing 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 Luftchen! woher?

Trub ist der Tag. In dem entblatterten Hayne ... ... . .

... sitz' ich einsam Auf mein Saitenspiel gelehnet, Da kommst du, Luftchen! schwirrest mir So klaglich, so klaglich 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 ungetrostet Dammert er dahin.

Graue Nebelsaulen 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 "DarThula" and elsewhere he translates "daughter of heaven," referring to the moon, by "Sohn der Nacht."[266] Denis adds a note to his translation in "DarThula," explaining that he took the liberty to inst.i.tute the change, because moon in German, forsooth, is of the masculine gender.[267] And thus we arrive at 'Himmelstochter.' Compare furthermore "CarricThura," p. 152, ll. 123: "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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s."[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.