"The Saxon saw, advanced, nor looked behind, / Fate hurried on, and courage steel'd his mind."
— Ossian; Macpherson, James (1736-1796)
Date
1805
Metaphor
"The Saxon saw, advanced, nor looked behind, / Fate hurried on, and courage steel'd his mind."
Metaphor in Context
Then towards the foe the youth indignant moved:
Fear trembles, en'mies praise, and envy loved.
He strides along the men-environed ground;
His rattling arms emit an iron sound:
The Saxon saw, advanced, nor looked behind,
Fate hurried on, and courage steel'd his mind.
Bright in effulgent arms the youths appeared;
Each o'er the plain a steely column reared:
They rush together; clashing arms afar
Reflect the horrours of the dismal war.
Awful the blades wave gleaming in the sky,
And from the crashing steel the sparkles fly.
They fight, and, wearied, cease, and fight again;
Their feet bake dust with blood upon the plain.
Death undetermined points to each his stings,
And conquest flutters round on dubious wings.
The hill-born youth reminds, with anxious care,
What vaunts the foul-mouth'd Saxon breath'd on air;
His country's love the youthful hero warms,
And vengeance strung his almost wearied arms.
Upraised aloft, the light reflexive blade
Sings through the air, and cleaves the Saxon's head.
The broken skull, and shivered helmet, strew'd
The sandy plain, that reeks with human blood.
He gasping falls, and shakes the thundering ground,
And, dying, toss'd his quivering limbs around.
Fear trembles, en'mies praise, and envy loved.
He strides along the men-environed ground;
His rattling arms emit an iron sound:
The Saxon saw, advanced, nor looked behind,
Fate hurried on, and courage steel'd his mind.
Bright in effulgent arms the youths appeared;
Each o'er the plain a steely column reared:
They rush together; clashing arms afar
Reflect the horrours of the dismal war.
Awful the blades wave gleaming in the sky,
And from the crashing steel the sparkles fly.
They fight, and, wearied, cease, and fight again;
Their feet bake dust with blood upon the plain.
Death undetermined points to each his stings,
And conquest flutters round on dubious wings.
The hill-born youth reminds, with anxious care,
What vaunts the foul-mouth'd Saxon breath'd on air;
His country's love the youthful hero warms,
And vengeance strung his almost wearied arms.
Upraised aloft, the light reflexive blade
Sings through the air, and cleaves the Saxon's head.
The broken skull, and shivered helmet, strew'd
The sandy plain, that reeks with human blood.
He gasping falls, and shakes the thundering ground,
And, dying, toss'd his quivering limbs around.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "iron" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
06/07/2005
