Colna-Dona by James Macpherson
Colna-Dona, by James Macpherson, tells how Fingal sends Ossian and Toscar, son of Conloch, to raise a stone by the stream of Crona in memory of a victory over his foes. With bards and bossy shields they kindle an oak flame, set a stone from the stream with three bosses beneath it, and lay Toscar's dagger and steel mail in the earth, so the stone may speak to later years. Car-ul, a neighboring chief of Col-amon, invites them to his feast. He recalls how he once pursued Duthmocarglos, reached Selma, and feasted with Fingal and Conloch, whose shields still hang in his hall. He lays two bosses from the young men's shields beneath a stone, as a sign of peace between their races. That night his daughter Colna-dona sings, and Toscar is overcome by love for her. Next morning they hunt, and on their return through Crona's vale a youth with a shield and pointless spear comes from the wood. He says Colna-dona has gone into the deserts with the king's son, who won her soul. Toscar, angered, demands the shield and swears the warrior must fall. When he takes the shield, the maid stands revealed behind it. She is Colna-dona herself, and her blue eyes had rolled on Toscar with love.
By James Macpherson · First published 1765 · Genre: Epic poetry, Ossianic poetry, Romantic poetry · 1,217 words
First lines
Argument. Fingal despatches Ossian and Toscar, the son of Conloch, and father of Malvina, to raise a stone on the banks of the stream of Crona, to perpetuate the memory of a victory which he had obtained in that place. When they were employed in that work, Car-ul, a neighboring chief, invited them to a feast. They went, and Toscar fell desperately in love with Colna-dona, the daughter of Car-ul. Colna-dona became no less enamored of Toscar. An incident at a hunting party brings their loves to a happy issue.
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Genres
- Epic poetry — The work is a heroic narrative set in a legendary Gaelic past, built around the deeds of Fingal, the memory of past victories and the raising of a monument to them, in the manner of classical and Celtic epics.
- Ossianic poetry — Macpherson's Ossian cycle is a distinct Gaelic-styled corpus, and this poem uses its signature features: bards, Selma, Fingal, invocations to ancestral fathers, and shields and stones as witnesses to history.
- Romantic poetry — The central plot is a love story between Toscar and Colna-dona, with sudden passion at a feast, the lovers' separation and reunion, and imagery of light and ocean used to express emotion.
- Narrative poetry — The text advances through a sequence of events (the stone raising, the feast, the hunt, the discovery of Colna-dona), so its primary mode is storytelling in verse.
Tags
Ossian · Fingal · Toscar · Colna-dona · Car-ul · Crona stream · Selma · Scottish setting · ancient heroic past · Ossianic epic poetry · bardic song · feasting and harps
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Colna-Dona is listed on Textopian as a poem by James Macpherson, dated 1765 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: James Macpherson
- Date: 1765 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Epic poetry, Ossianic poetry, Romantic poetry, Narrative poetry, Elegiac poetry
- Length: 1,217 words
- Structure: 1 section, 14 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Colna-Dona by James Macpherson
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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