Book I: The Man Between Two Ages, and His Two Mistresses
A man of middle age, whose hairWas bordering on the grey,Began to turn his thoughts and careThe matrimonial way.By virtue of his ready,A store of choices had heOf ladies bent to suit his taste;On which account he made no haste.To court well was no trifling art.Two widows chiefly gain'd his heart;The one yet green, the other more mature,Who found for nature's wane in art a cure.These dames, amidst their joking and caressingThe man they long'd to wed,Would sometimes set themselves to dressingHis party-colour'd head.Each aiming to assimilateHer lover to her own estate,The older piecemeal stoleThe black hair from his poll,While eke, with fingers light,The young one stole the white.Between them both, as if by scald,His head was changed from grey to bald.'For these,' he said, 'your gentle pranks,I owe you, ladies, many thanks.By being thus well shaved,I less have lost than saved.Of Hymen, yet, no news at hand,I do assure ye.By what I've lost, I understandIt is in your way,Not mine, that I must pass on.Thanks, ladies, for the lesson.'
Words in this poem
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- assimilate v. t.
- To bring to a likeness or to conformity; to cause a resemblance between. Sir M. Hale. [L. assimilatus, p. p. of assimilare; ad + similare to make like, similis like. See Similar, Assemble, Assimilate.]
- piecemeal adv.
- In pieces; in parts or fragments. [OE. pecemele; pece a piece + AS. m, dat. pl. of m part. See Meal a portion.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- scald v. t.
- To burn with hot liquid or steam; to pain or injure by contact with, or imersion in, any hot fluid; as, to scald the hand. [OF. eschalder, eschauder, escauder, F. échauder, fr. L. excaldare; ex + caldus, calidus, warm, hot. See Ex, and Calderon.]
- hymen n.
- A fold of muscous membrane often found at the orifice of the vagina; the vaginal membrane.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book I: The Man Between Two Ages, and His Two Mistresses 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: The Man Between Two Ages, and His Two Mistresses, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/1-17.html, id L28227.
Form and metre
Book I: The Man Between Two Ages, and His Two Mistresses is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 59% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB--CCDDEEFGFGHHIIJJKKLLMMN-N-OO hairA · greyB · careA · wayB · ready · he · tasteC · hasteC · artD · heartD · matureE · cureE · caressingF · wedG · dressingF · headG · assimilateH · estateH · stoleI · pollI · lightJ · whiteJ · scaldK · baldK · pranksL · thanksL · shavedM · savedM · handN · ye · understandN · way · onO · lessonO
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A man of middle age, whose hair | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Was bordering on the grey, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Began to turn his thoughts and care | 8 | ˘/······ |
| The matrimonial way. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| By virtue of his ready, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| A store of choices had he | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Of ladies bent to suit his taste; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On which account he made no haste. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To court well was no trifling art. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Two widows chiefly gain'd his heart; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The one yet green, the other more mature, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Who found for nature's wane in art a cure. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| These dames, amidst their joking and caressing | 11 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| The man they long'd to wed, | 6 | ······ |
| Would sometimes set themselves to dressing | 9 | ·/··˘/·/˘ |
| His party-colour'd head. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Each aiming to assimilate | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Her lover to her own estate, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The older piecemeal stole | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| The black hair from his poll, | 6 | ······ |
| While eke, with fingers light, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The young one stole the white. | 6 | ······ |
| Between them both, as if by scald, | 8 | ········ |
| His head was changed from grey to bald. | 8 | ········ |
| 'For these,' he said, 'your gentle pranks, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I owe you, ladies, many thanks. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| By being thus well shaved, | 7 | ·/˘···˘ |
| I less have lost than saved. | 7 | ······˘ |
| Of Hymen, yet, no news at hand, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I do assure ye. | 5 | ··˘/· |
| By what I've lost, I understand | 8 | ······˘/ |
| It is in your way, | 5 | ····· |
| Not mine, that I must pass on. | 7 | ······· |
| Thanks, ladies, for the lesson.' | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
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.