Book I: The Cock and the Pearl
A cock scratch'd up, one day,A pearl of purest ray,Which to a jeweller he bore.'I think it fine,' he said,'But yet a crumb of breadTo me were worth a great deal more.'
So did a dunce inheritA manuscript of merit,Which to a publisher he bore.''Tis good,' said he, 'I'm told,Yet any coin of goldTo me were worth a great deal more.'
Words in this poem
- crumb n.
- A small fragment or piece; especially, a small piece of bread or other food, broken or cut off. [AS. cruma, akin to D. kruim, G. krume; cf. G. krauen to scratch, claw.]
- publisher n.
- One who publishes; as, a publisher of a book or magazine.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book I: The Cock and the Pearl 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 Cock and the Pearl, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/1-20.html, id L28230.
Form and metre
Book I: The Cock and the Pearl is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See 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 AABCCB dayA · rayA · boreB · saidC · breadC · moreB
- 2 AABCCB inheritA · meritA · boreB · toldC · goldC · moreB
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 cock scratch'd up, one day, | 6 | ······ |
| A pearl of purest ray, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Which to a jeweller he bore. | 8 | ········ |
| 'I think it fine,' he said, | 6 | ······ |
| 'But yet a crumb of bread | 6 | ······ |
| To me were worth a great deal more.' | 8 | ········ |
| So did a dunce inherit | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| A manuscript of merit, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Which to a publisher he bore. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| ''Tis good,' said he, 'I'm told, | 6 | ······ |
| Yet any coin of gold | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To me were worth a great deal more.' | 8 | ········ |
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.