Book I: Death and the Woodman
A poor wood-chopper, with his fagot load,Whom weight of years, as well as load, oppress'd,Sore groaning in his smoky hut to rest,Trudged wearily along his homeward road.At last his wood upon the ground he throws,And sits him down to think o'er all his woes.To joy a stranger, since his hapless birth,What poorer wretch upon this rolling earth?No bread sometimes, and ne'er a moment's rest;Wife, children, soldiers, landlords, public tax,All wait the swinging of his old, worn axe,And paint the veriest picture of a man unblest.On Death he calls. Forthwith that monarch grimAppears, and asks what he should do for him.'Not much, indeed; a little help I lack--To put these fagots on my back.'
Death ready stands all ills to cure;But let us not his cure invite.Than die, 'tis better to endure,--Is both a manly maxim and a right.
Words in this poem
- wearily adv.
- In a weary manner.
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- unblest a.
- Not blest; excluded from benediction; hence, accursed; wretched. [Pref. un- not + blessed, blest.]
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book I: Death and the Woodman is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Fables of La Fontaine, Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, the Elizur Wright translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean de La Fontaine, Book I: Death and the Woodman, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/1-16.html, id L28226.
Form and metre
Book I: Death and the Woodman is 20 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBACCDDBEEBFFGG loadA · oppress'dB · restB · roadA · throwsC · woesC · birthD · earthD · restB · taxE · axeE · unblestB · grimF · himF · lackG · backG
- 2 ABAB cureA · inviteB · endureA · rightB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A poor wood-chopper, with his fagot load, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whom weight of years, as well as load, oppress'd, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Sore groaning in his smoky hut to rest, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Trudged wearily along his homeward road. | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/·/˘· |
| At last his wood upon the ground he throws, | 10 | ·········· |
| And sits him down to think o'er all his woes. | 10 | ·········· |
| To joy a stranger, since his hapless birth, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| What poorer wretch upon this rolling earth? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| No bread sometimes, and ne'er a moment's rest; | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Wife, children, soldiers, landlords, public tax, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/·/˘· |
| All wait the swinging of his old, worn axe, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And paint the veriest picture of a man unblest. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| On Death he calls. Forthwith that monarch grim | 10 | ····//·/·· |
| Appears, and asks what he should do for him. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| 'Not much, indeed; a little help I lack-- | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| To put these fagots on my back.' | 8 | ········ |
| Death ready stands all ills to cure; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But let us not his cure invite. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Than die, 'tis better to endure,-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Is both a manly maxim and a right. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.