Fingal appeared early in December, 1761, although 1762 is the date given on the title–page
Cf. Bailey Saunders, The Life and Letters of James Macpherson, London, 1895, p. 161.
These as well as all later references to the Poems of Ossian are made to the Tauchnitz Edition
(1847), which contains the complete works and is probably more easily accessible than any
other, particularly on the continent.
Macpherson’s first dissertation is the one entitled “A Dissertation Concerning the Aera of
Ossian,” the second the “Dissertation concerning the Poems of Ossian.”
The almanacs were generally published in the year before that for which they were intended,
but the date covered by them is given in this bibliography.
The date of the first appearance of the poems of Ossian is often stated erroneously as 1762,
so Kürschner’s Dtsche Nat.–Litt., Klopstock, Vol. 3, p. xx; Hettner’s Literaturgesch. des 18.
Jahrh., iii, 2, p. 122; Klopstock’s Works, ed. Boxberger, Vol. 5, p. xxi; Hofmann–Wellenhof in
his biography of Denis, p. 165, etc., etc.
It has occurred to me that the picture of Ossian and Malvina entered into Goethe’s conception
of the harper and Mignon in Wilhelm Meister, but more of this in the chapter on Goethe.
Besides these names Ryno, Toskar, Alpin, Minona, Minvane, Comala, Daura, and others
were at one time not uncommon in Germany, and now and again we hear of an Ossian—there is
an Ossian H. in Leipzig at this day. Several of the names mentioned were employed as pseudonyms
and all of them figure prominently in the poetry of the day.
The ‘joy of grief’ ([Greek: himeros nooio]) is found also in Homer, e. g., Iliad, 23, 108, but not until
the appearance of Ossian did it assume importance.
Cf. Tacitus de German. 3: “Sunt illis haec quoque carmina, quorum relatu, quem baritum
(barditum) vocant...” Cp. Knothe, Kretschmann, Zittau, 1858, pp. 17–8.
Cf. Der Hügel, und der Hain, II. 12–4. He refers here not to Ossian alone, but to Caedmon,
“der grösste Dichter nach Ossian unter unsern Alten,” the Heliand, etc.—seiner = the
songs of the bards of his fatherland.
Cf. Letter to Gleim, dated Copenhagen, June 31, 1769. Klopstock u. seine Freunde ...
herausgegeben von Klamer Schmidt, 2 vols., Halberstadt, 1810. Vol. 2, pp. 214–5.
The earliest impulse of any import toward the introduction of Norse mythology proceeded
from Gerstenberg’s Lied eines Skalden (1766), which exerted a wide influence. For an account
of Klopstock’s relation to the Lied eines Skalden, cf. Scheel, Vierteljahrschrift, Vol. vi.
When Klopstock speaks of the songs of the bards, he does not refer particularly to the songs
of Ossian, but rather to the German hero–songs and battle–songs. He used the term in this sense
before the songs of Ossian appeared.
Baggesen wrote a bardic ode, An die Telyn, pp. 171–3, Taschenbuch for 1802. Hgbn von
J. G. Jacobi, Hamburg. Haschka employs the term in Der Entschluss der Männinnen, Litt.
Monate, pp. 111–3; Bardale he uses in the poem Der Frühling, l. c., p. 314, and Filea in the Geburtslied,
l. c., p. 311 (cp. infra, pp. 149–50). Bilfinger, in the bardic poem entitled Hartmanns
Tod, speaks of the “Klang der Telyn,” Almanach der deutschen Musen for 1778, p. 255.
Friedrich Krug von Nidda speaks of the Telyn in his poem Der Feldherr und der Barde, Taschenbuch
zum geselligen Vergnügen, 1813, p. 119. Cp. infra, p. 147.
Cf. Vom deutschen Hexameter. Aus den Fragmenten Ueber Sprache und Dichtkunst.
Hamburg, 1779, pp. 117–9. Klopstocks sämmtliche Werke, ed. Back u. Spindler, Leipzig, 1823–30,
Vol. 15, pp. 165–6.
Gerstenberg was sagacious enough to notice Macpherson’s borrowings and upon this conviction
he based his first scruples as to the authenticity of the poems. Cf. infra, p. 105.
The first edition had a chorus in the second scene corresponding to the one cited, except that
the last line read: “Wie die Frühlingsluft in der Eiche,” and a stanza by two bards in the third
scene beginning:
Ihr Sohne Thuiskon’s, der Bardengesang
Schweigt von den Schlachten der lang vergangnen Zeit.
Cf. Ehrmann, Die Bardische Lyrik im Achtzehnten Jahrhundert. (Diss.) Halle, 1892; reviewed
in the Gött. gel. Anz., 1895, i, pp. 69–80, where a Vorgeschichte of the new Bardentum
is given on pp. 69–72. Kürschner’s Dtsche Nat. Litt., Vol. 48, etc.
It must not be forgotten, however, that this giving of names was no uncommon thing a
century and a half ago, the names of Greek poets being frequently resorted to, e. g., Gessner—the
German Theocritus, Madame Karsch—Sappho, Willamov—Pindar, etc., and likewise Klopstock—Homer,
Gerstenberg—Alciphron.
Max Koch, in his review of Ehrmann’s Bardische Lyrik, Lit. Centralblatt, 1893, pp. 796–7,
does not consider Ossian as the chief source of the introduction of the spirits of the departed, but
I am inclined to refer most of this business to Ossian.
Briefe über Merkwürdigkeiten der Litteratur. Erste und Zweyte Sammlung. Schleswig
und Leipzig. 1766. Dritte Sammlung. 1767. Continued in Ueber Merkwürdigkeiten der Litteratur.
Hamburg und Bremen. 1770.
On pp. 103–5. Cp. supra, p. 78. The letter further contains paragraphs on The Reliques of
ancient English poetry (pp. 105–8) and on Dänische Kiämpe–Viser (pp. 108–15).
Cf. Works, Vol. 2, p. 98. Compare Gerstenberg’s Schlachtlied: “Feuerbraunen Angesichts,
Ihr Auge blutroth, starr ihr Blick.” This poem shows the influence of Ossian, especially in the
refrain: “Die Sonne sinkt, und stiller wird’s im Thal, Und Geisterschatten lispeln durch die
Luft.”
Cf. Knebel’s Literarischer Nachlass und Briefwechsel, Leipzig, 1835, Vol. 2, p. 87. Notice
by Boie. For further particulars, cf. Jacobs, op. cit., pp. 127–45.
Cf. Carthon, p. 156, ll. 15–6. Cp. Fingal, Bk. ii. p. 234, l. 14: “Her hair was the wing of
the raven;” Dar–Thula, p. 279, l. 36: “Thy hair like the raven’s wing,” etc.
Cp. Dar–Thula, p. 279, l. 36–p. 280, l. 3. In this connection the following extract from a
review of a Correspondence entre S.A.R. le Prince Gustave de Suède avec S.E. le Senateur
Schaeffer (1772) in the Frankfurter gelehrte Anzeigen, 1772, p. 277, deserves to be quoted: ...
“aber, zwo Maximen haben wir drin vermisst, die doch, unsrer Meinung nach, durchgehends in
einer Fürstlichen Erziehung herrschen sollten: die, welche David seinem Sohne gab: Sey ein
Mann! und die, welche Fingal dem Seinigen einprägte: Bend the Strong in Arms, but spare the
feeble Hand. Be thou a Stream of many Tides against the foe of thy people, but like the gale
that moves the grass to those who ask thy aid.”
The reviewer in the Neue Bibl. der schönen Wissenschaften, Vol. 34, ii, p. 284, criticizes this
scene rather sarcastically. He says: “Und nun gerathen die Herren in eine poetische Entzückung
und deklamiren sich mancherley im ossianischen Schwung vor. Nachdem sie sich aber
beiderseits aus diesem Schwindel erholt haben,” etc.
Cf. Act 2, i, 1; p. 100. Ossian’s heroines all have snow–white hands, arms, necks and
bosoms, and generally raven–black locks. Cp. Lathmon, p. 277, l. 9: “Her hair spreads on her
neck of snow.”
In Ossian Brumo is a place of worship in Craca. Cf. Temora, Bk. ii, p. 319, l. 25. Cp. Fingal,
Bk. vi, p. 265, ll. 28–9: “Within the circle of Brumo, he spoke to the stone of power.”
It has been stated and doubted that Leonore’s disguise in the last act of Schiller’s Fiesco
was suggested by Ossian. I shall give my views on the question in connection with the chapter
on Schiller.
Notice that in the case of Denis, Klopstock was not uninstrumental in instilling veneration
for the Celtic Homer; Gerstenberg, on the other hand, is not mentioned. Cp. supra, p. 82.
Ramler read Fingal in Denis’s translation with his pupils in the Berlin cadet–school and
explained the epic to receptive ears. In a letter dated Oct. 5, 1777, he writes to Denis of his success
in the following words: “Was für einen Eindruck die mächtigen und natürlichen schönen Gedanken
Ihres Ossians auf meine achtzehnjährigen Zuhörer gemacht haben, kann ich Ihnen nicht
beschreiben. Sie waren traurig, wenn die Stunde sobald zu Ende gieng; und wenn ich des folgenden
Tages das Buch wieder öffnete, stieg ihre Seele ihnen in die Augen. Sie verschlangen
alles;” etc. Cf. Michael’s Denis Lit. Nachlass, 1801–2. Vol. 2, p. 137.
Cf. Lieder Sineds, p. 4. It was a common circumstance for a German poet at that time
to assume that the mantle of some great forerunner had fallen upon his shoulders, teste Nicolai,
who wished to be considered Lessing’s successor; Denis hints at his representation of Ossian
more than once.
Cf. ibid., p. 100. Also Urlaub von der sichtbaren Welt (p. 287), and Drittes Vaterlandslied
(p. 223): “Wonne der Wehmuth.” Cp. Goethe’s poem, “Wonne der Wehmuth,” and
infra, p. 150.
The “Geist der Lieder” is repeatedly referred to in the Lieder Sineds, e. g., pp. 142, 182,
etc. Cf. Ehrmann, op. cit., p. 40, and cp. infra, pp. 141 and 147.
Cf. Temora, Bk. iv, p. 338, ll. 8–9: “The light–winged thought that flies across the soul.”
Bk. vi, p. 350, ll. 11–2: “As lightning ... a thought came rushing along my soul.”
Cf. Fingal, Bk. i, p. 217, l. 19; Temora, Bk. v, p. 341, l. 31, etc. The passage in Fingal has
“Thou breaker of the shields,” and so Kretschmann: “du Schild–Zerbrecher.”
The word Telyn, as we have seen, was adopted by the bards from Klopstock. Kretschmann
uses it in the poem An Vater Gleim, and elsewhere. Cp. supra, p. 88.
Gottlob David Hartmann, 1752–75, who in a letter to Denis, dated Tübingen, Sept. 24, 1772,
confesses that he owes everything to him (Denis) and his Ossian. (Cf. Retzer, Denis’ Lit. Nachlass,
1801–2, Vol. 2, p. 194.) Hartmann has a poem An den Barden Rhingulph, which begins
(Alm. der deutschen Musen for 1773, p. 12): “O Hermanns Barde, der Du an Ossians Empörtem
Busen Schlachtengesang gehorcht,” and in which the word Telyn is also used (p. 13).
Haschka was apparently extremely fond of the name Minona, for we meet with it several
times again in the same collection. In the Liebeslied (pp. 21–2) Minona is the ideal maiden
love; then we have a poem entitled An Minona (pp. 22–3), another one Minona (pp. 116–7), still
another one Cronnan und Minona (p. 218), and she occurs once more in Der Blumenstrauss
(p. 312).