Als Ossian, in Deiner Blüte,
Der süssen Harfe schwur;
Da harrt’ er oft am heissen Tage,
In kalten Nächten, auf der Flur;
Und sucht’ und fand Natur und Wahrheit,
Bis ihn der ehrenvolle Zweig umlaubt,
Den ihm nicht Helle’s Barde,
Der Barde Roms nicht raubt.
We see from the above lines that Kretschmann also was not inclined to set Ossian below Homer or Vergil, and that it was Ossian’s naturalness that appealed to him, his freedom from rules and conventions.[319]
The remainder of the fifth volume does not offer anything for our purpose. The sixth and last volume, which was not published until 1799, is made up of “Fabeln,” and of “Lyrische, Vermischte und Epigrammatische Nachlesen.” In these later poems no traces of Ossian’s influence are discernible, except in the cycle of the Seasons, where we encounter an Ossianic description now and then, although no distinct imitation is traceable.
I believe that the examples given have borne out the statement made in the introduction. Kretschmann was really never saturated with Ossian as Denis was. That he admired the Gaelic bard, he does not hesitate to admit, but aside from his fondness for the poems that were in everybody’s mouth in his day, he felt no scientific curiosity to enter more deeply into the question of their authenticity. The fact that Klopstock and Herder regarded the poems as genuine, satisfied him completely. And when the bardic ghost stalked through the land, he willingly paid his tribute—wrote a number of bardic songs—and then retired on his laurels to seek new fields of poetical activity distinctly hostile to a continuation of Ossianic influence. Even his later lyric poems, where we might look for lingering tokens of its presence, reveal nothing of the sort. The bard and the grove and the oak of course still make their bow upon occasion, but these were so firmly engrafted in the lyric poetry of Germany by this time, that Ossian can no longer be called to account for each individual occurrence. More of this when we reach the Göttinger Hain.
§5. Minor Bards.
The paragraphs on Denis and Kretschmann have amply demonstrated just how the so–called bards were dependent upon Ossian. There is little difference between the bardic work of these two and that of the remaining bards, the names of many of whom have been consigned to oblivion, and it would serve little purpose to take up the entire work of each separately. I shall therefore content myself with pointing out some of the more striking Ossianic characteristics in a number of selections of bardic poetry taken at random.
Lorenz Leopold Haschka (1749–1827), in whose lyric poetry the influence of Klopstock and Denis is visible, has a bardic poem in the Litterarische Monate,[320] “Cronnan und Minona[321] an Annas Hügel” (pp. 8–14), the very title of which proclaims Ossian’s presence. The first two names are taken from “Carric–Thura.” The hill we have encountered before, and in the poem we even have the four stones at the corners of the grave.[322] Then we read (pp. 11–2):
Horch’ auf! Da winselts das Farrenkraut
Kläglich hindurch, wie Sterbelaut
Auf Harfen!—Annas Seelchen ists, Minona!
Sie wünschet die Stimme des Lobes zu hören!
The sound emitted by the harp to herald a person’s approaching death,[323] the desire of the ghost to hear the voice of fame are both taken from Ossian. Then we have ‘Disteln’ (p. 10) and a “Tochter der Schattenharfe” (p. 12), Ossian’s shadowy harp again.[324] Anna’s ghost hovers over Tonthena (p. 13), the star mentioned several times in Ossian.[325]