James Macpherson: Quotes about love

James Macpherson was Scottish writer, poet, translator, and politician. Explore interesting quotes on love.
James Macpherson: 92   quotes 3   likes

“Star of descending night! fair is thy light in the west! thou liftest thy unshorn head from thy cloud: thy steps are stately on thy hill. What dost thou behold in the plain? The stormy winds are laid. The murmur of the torrent comes from afar. Roaring waves climb the distant rock. The flies of evening are on their feeble wings; the hum of their course is on the field. What dost thou behold, fair light? But thou dost smile and depart. The waves come with joy around thee: they bathe thy lovely hair. Farewell, thou silent beam! Let the light of Ossian's soul arise!”

James Macpherson

"The Songs of Selma"
The Poems of Ossian

Love , Smile , Soul , Star

“Hast thou left thy blue course in heaven, golden-haired son of the sky? The west has opened its gates; the bed of thy repose is there. The waves come to behold thy beauty. They lift their trembling heads. They see thee lovely in thy sleep; they shrink away with fear. Rest, in thy shadowy cave, O sun! let thy return be in joy.”

James Macpherson

"Carric-thura"
The Poems of Ossian

Love , Fear , Beauty , Sleep

“Carthon, one of the poems, was translated into French as early as 1762 while the collected works followed suit in 1777. Diderot loved them. Voltaire parodied them. Ossianic plays, operas, and mimes were written. They influenced or attracted Mme. de Staël, Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Alfred de Vigny, Victor Hugo, and Alfred de Musset. Napoleon became a fervent admirer after he had read the poems in the Italian translation by Cesarotti.”

James Macpherson

Henry Okun, "Ossian in Painting", in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes vol. 30 (1967) p. 329.
Criticism

Love , Reading

“O lay me, ye that see the light, near some rock of my hills! let the thick hazels be around, let the rustling oak be near. Green be the place of my rest; let the sound of the distant torrent be heard. Daughter of Toscar, take the harp, and raise the lovely song of Selma, that sleep may overtake my soul in the midst of joy; that the dreams of my youth may return, and the days of the mighty Fingal.”

James Macpherson

"The War of Inis-thona"
The Poems of Ossian

Love , Youth , Dreams , Soul

“The stream and the wind roar aloud. I hear not the voice of my love! Why delays my Salgar, why the chief of the hill, his promise? Here is the rock, and here the tree! here is the roaring stream! Thou didst promise with night to be here. Ah! whither is my Salgar gone? With thee I would fly from my father; with thee, from my brother of pride.”

James Macpherson

"The Songs of Selma", p. 209
The Poems of Ossian

Love , Tree , Flying , Night

“I was a lovely tree, in thy presence, Oscar, with all my branches round me; but thy death came like a blast from the desert, and laid my green head low.”

James Macpherson

"Croma", p. 178
The Poems of Ossian

Love , Death , Tree

“Pleasant are the words of the song," said Cuthullin, "and lovely are the tales of other times. They are like the calm dew of the morning on the hill of roes, when the sun is faint on its side, and the lake is settled and blue in the vale.”

James Macpherson

Book III
The Poems of Ossian, Fingal, an ancient Epic Poem

Love , Time , Sun