[9]

FRAGMENT

I.

SHILRIC, VINVELA.

M

VINVELA.

Y love is a fon of the hill. 1
He pursues the flying deer.

His grey dogs are panting
around him; his bow-ftring founds in
the wind. Whether by the fount of 5
the rock, or by the stream of the
mountain thou lieft; when the rushes are
nodding with the wind, and the mist
is flying over thee, let me approach
my love unperceived, and see him 10
from the rock. Lovely I saw thee
first by the aged oak; thou wert re-
turning tall from the chace; the fairest
among thy friends.

Fragment I. ABFP. 1762 eingefügt in “Carric-thura": F pg. 195 bis 196, P vol. I pg. 55-57 (T pg. 144—145).

9,3 grey] gray BF 5 Whether] Doft thou reft FP 6 stream.... lieft;] noise of the mountain-stream? FP 7 when] fehlt FP 8 with] to P 8 and] fehlt FP 9 is flying] flies P 9 thee, let me] the hill. I will FP 10 unperceived, and fee] unfeen; I will behold P 12 oak;] oak of Branno; BFP, mit Note FP: Bran, or Branno, signifies a mountain-stream: it is here fome river known by that name, in the days of Offian. There are several small rivers in the north of Scotland ftill retaining the name of Bran; in particular one which falls into the Tay at Dunkeld.

[10]

[II]

SHILRIC.

WHAT Voice is that I hear? that 1
voice like the fummer-wind.-I fit
not by the nodding rushes; I hear not
the fount of the rock. Afar, Vinvela,
afar I go to the wars of Fingal. My 5
dogs attend me no more. No more
I tread the hill. No more from on
high I see thee, fair-moving by the
stream of the plain; bright as the
bow of heaven; as the moon on the 10
western wave.

VINVELA.

THEN thou art gone, O Shilric!
and I am alone on the hill. The
deer are seen on the brow; void of
fear they graze along. No more they 15
dread the wind; no more the rustling
tree. The hunter is far removed;
he is in the field of graves. Stran- 1
gers! sons of the waves! spare my

lovely Shilric.

SHILRIC.

IF fall I must in the field, raise high my grave, Vinvela. Grey stones, and 5

10,2 fummer-wind.]! P 2 Gedankenstrich in zwei Bruchteile aufgelöst A, fehlt P 4 Zu Vinvela Note in FP: Bhín-bheul, a woman with a melodious voice. Bh in the Galic Language [language] has the fame found with the v in English. 5 afar] Komma add. P 13 and] fehlt P 13 hill.]! P 11,3 Shilric.]! P 5 Grey] Gray F 5 ftones,] Komma fehlt FP

[12]

heaped-up earth, shall mark me to future 6
times. When the hunter shall fit by
the mound, and produce his food at
noon, "fome warrior refts here," he
will fay; and my fame shall live in his 10
praise. Remember me, Vinvela, when
low on earth I lie! 7

VINVELA.

YES! I will remember thee—indeed
my Shilric will fall. What shall I do,
my love! when thou art gone for ever? 15
Through these hills I will go at noon: I
will go through the silent heath. There
I will see where often thou fattest return- 1
ing from the chace. Indeed, my Shil-
ric will fall; but I will remember
him.

[13]

I

II.

SIT by the mosfy fountain; on the 1 top of the hill of winds. One tree is ruftling above me. Dark waves roll over the heath. The lake is troubled below. The deer defcend from the 5

11,9 "fome] "Some BFP 13 beide Gedankenstriche fehlen P 13 thee] Semikolon add. P 13 indeed] Indeed F alas! P 14 fall.]! P 15 gone for ever?] for ever gone? P 12,1 where........ fattest] the place of thy rest, BFP 2 Indeed,] Alas! P 4 him.] Shilric. P

Fragment II. ABFP. 1762 eingefügt in "Carric-thura" ("the fong of Shilric; when he returned to his hills, and Vinvela was no more"): F pg. 197—198, P vol. I pg. 58—59 (T pg. 145—146).

[14]

nigh. It is

hill. No hunter at a distance is seen; 6
no whistling cow-herd is
mid-day: but all is filent.

Sad are my
thoughts as I fit alone. Didst thou
but appear, O my love, a wanderer on 10
the heath! thy hair floating on the
wind behind thee; thy bosom heaving
on the fight; thine eyes full of tears
for thy friends, whom the mist of the
hill had concealed! Thee I would com- 15
fort, my love, and bring thee to thy
father's house.

BUT is it she that there appears, like
a beam of light on the heath? bright
as the moon in autumn, as the fun in i
a fummer-storm?-She speaks: but
how weak her voice! like the breeze
in the reeds of the pool. Hark!

RETURNEST thou fafe from the war? 5
Where are thy friends, my love? I
heard of thy death on the hill; I heard
and mourned thee, Shilric!

YES, my fair, I return; but I alone
of my race. Thou shalt fee them no 10
more: their graves I raised on the plain.
But why art thou on the defert hill?
why on the heath, alone?

13,6 feen;]. P 7 no.... nigh.] fehlt P 9 as I fit] fehlt BFP 17 house.]! P 14,2 summer-storm?] fummer-ftorm, comeft thou, lovely [O P] maid, over rocks, over mountains to me? BFP (2. und 3. Komma fehlt B) 2 Strich fehlt P_4 pool.] lake. P 4 Hark!] fehlt FP_5—13 zwischen Anführungszeichen P (die Rede endet jedoch mit Z.8) 9 kein Absatz P 13 why] Why FP 13 heath,] Komma fehlt P