In December 1761 James Macpherson published Fingal: An Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books; Together with Several other Poems by Ossian, son of Fingal. In March 1763 he repeated the trick with Temora: An Ancient Epic Poem in Eight Books; Together with Several other Poems by Ossian, son of Fingal. One of the most important works of the movement of Sensibility and a seminal text for the early Romantic movement, the enthusiasm and controversy generated by the poems, and the influence they had upon two generations of European writers, artists and musicians, made Ossian one of the most important names in English literature in the second half of the eighteenth century. Ossian provoked extreme responses - most were bowled

This article in full comprises 2547 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

Published 06 October 2004

Citation: Moore, Dafydd. "Ossian". The Literary Encyclopedia. 6 October 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1287, accessed 9 February 2010.]