Comala by James Macpherson (1765)
Comala is a dramatic poem in which Comala, daughter of Sarno, waits on a hill for Fingal, king of Morven, who has gone to fight Caracul's army and promised to return that night. As night falls, Dersagrena and Melilcoma, daughters of Morni, speak of omens, including a deer with a meteor around its horns, and take them as signs of Fingal's death. Comala sits forlorn with two gray dogs, looking toward the field of his promise, and asks who will defend her from sorrow and from the love of Hidallan. Hidallan arrives and tells her Fingal has fallen, though he has also been wishing to see her face in her grief. Comala curses the king of the world, wishes she had been left some hope, and asks whether the dead hero was fair and fleet. Hidallan says heroes are raising a tomb for Fingal on Ardven. Comala begs the sons of the grave to stop until she can see her love, and wonders why the dweller of the rock, a Druid, never warned her. A bright figure then approaches on Ardven. Comala takes it for the foe, the son of the king of the world, and calls on Fingal's ghost to guide her bow. It is Fingal himself, alive. He asks the bards to sing of the streamy Carun, since Caracul has fled, and calls to the huntress of Ardven. Comala answers that she wants to be taken to the cave of his rest. Fingal invites her there, saying the storm is past. She says she must rest beside the rock until her fear leaves her, and asks for the harp. Dersagrena announces a feast of three deer Comala has slain. Fingal asks the bards to sing the wars of Carun, and they celebrate the flight of the enemy and the coming peace. Melilcoma then announces that Comala lies pale at the rock and is no more. Fingal asks if the maid of his love is dead and calls on her to meet him on his heaths. Hidallan wonders why he troubled her soul. Fingal banishes him from his halls and his chase, then asks to be led to her resting place. He sees her pale like the rock, her bow-string sounding in the wind and her arrow broken in her fall, and he asks that her name be given to the winds. The bards close the poem with a lament, saying meteors and moonbeams lift her soul and that she will come in dreams to bring peace to the maids who seek her on the heath.
By James Macpherson · First published 1765 · Genre: Epic poetry, Tragedy, Elegy · 2,056 words
First lines
Argument. This poem is valuable on account of the light it throws on the antiquity of Ossian's compositions. The Caracul mentioned here is the same with Caracalla, the son of Severus, who, in the year 211, commanded an expedition against the Caledonians. The variety of the measure shows that the poem was originally set to music, and perhaps presented before the chiefs upon solemn occasions. Tradition has handed down the story more complete than it is in the poem. "Comala, the daughter of Sarno, King of Inistore, or Orkney Islands, fell in love with Fingal, the son of Comhal, at a feast, to which her father had invited him [Fingal, B. III.] upon his return from Lochlin, after the death of Agandecca. Her passion was so violent, that she followed him, disguised like a youth, who wanted to be employed in his wars. She was soon discovered by Hidallan, the son of Lamor, one of Fingal's heroes, whose love she had slighted some time before. Her romantic passion and beauty recommended her so much to the king, that he had resolved to make her his wife; when news was brought him of Caracul's expedition. He marched to stop the progress of the enemy, and Comala attended him. He left her on a hill, within sight of Caracul's army, when he himself went to battle, having previously promised, if he survived, to return that night. " The sequel of the story may be gathered from the poem itself.
Similar titles
- Deirdre Wed by Herbert Trench
- The Kings Wake And Other Ballads by George Borrow
- The Return Of The Dead And Other Ballads by George Borrow
- Ballad Lorraine Lorraine Lorree by Charles Kingsley
- A Curlews Call by Jane Barlow
- The Eclogues by Virgil
Genres
- Epic poetry — The poem is part of the Ossianic epic tradition, centering on the heroic war leader Fingal, a battle against the invader Caracul, and the sweeping Celtic landscape of Morven, Ardven and Carun, all narrated in an elevated, formal register.
- Tragedy — The plot ends in the death of Comala and the grief of Fingal and Hidallan, and it turns on a love that cannot be fulfilled and a misreported death, the classic structure of tragic drama.
- Elegy — Much of the poem is an extended lament over fallen heroes and a dead maiden, with mourning speeches, funereal imagery and calls to the dead, which places it squarely within the elegiac mode.
- Romantic poetry — The central subject is passionate, idealized love between Comala and Fingal, including Comala's disguise and pursuit of her beloved, rendered through intense emotion, nature imagery and sentimental longing typical of the Romantic movement.
Tags
Ossian poetry · Gaelic heroic poetry · dramatic poem · Fingal · Hidallan · Caracul · Morven · Ardven · Carun · Sarno · Melilcoma and Dersagrena · grief and lament
What this Textopian page supports
Comala 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, Tragedy, Elegy, Romantic poetry, Gothic
- Length: 2,056 words
- Structure: 1 section, 30 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Comala by James Macpherson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph