Quote#Time
Whence is the stream of years? Whither do they roll along? Where have…
Quote byJames Macpherson · 1736–1796
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Poems of Ossian, "Cath-Loda", Duan III.
English (original)
Whence is the stream of years? Whither do they roll along? Where have they hid, in mist, their many-coloured sides? I look into the times of old, but they seem dim to Ossian's eyes, like reflected moon-beams, on a distant lake.
— James Macpherson
More from James Macpherson
Go, view the settling sea: the stormy wind is laid. The billows still tremble on the deep. They seem to fear the blast.
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; …
Those who have doubted my veracity have paid a compliment to my genius.
The wrath of the son of Peleus,—O goddess of song, unfold! The deadly wrath of Achilles: To Greece the source of many woes! Which peopled the regions of death,—with shades of heroes untimely slain: While pale they lay along the shore: Torn …
Often does the memory of former times come, like the evening sun, on my soul.
The people bend before me. I turn the battle in the field of the brave. I look on the nations, and they vanish: my nostrils pour the blast of death. I come abroad on the winds: the tempests are before my face. But my dwelling is calm, …