Book X: The Fishes and the Shepherd Who Played the Flute
Thrysis--who for his Annette dearMade music with his flute and voice,Which might have roused the dead to hear,And in their silent graves rejoice--Sang once the livelong day,In the flowery month of May,Up and down a meadow brook,While Annette fish'd with line and hook.But ne'er a fish would bite;So the shepherdess's baitDrew not a fish to its fate,From morning dawn till night.The shepherd, who, by his charming songs,Had drawn savage beasts to him in throngs,And done with them as he pleased to,Thought that he could serve the fish so.'O citizens,' he sang, 'of this water,Leave your Naiad in her grot profound;Come and see the blue sky's lovely daughter,Who a thousand times more will charm you;Fear not that her prison will harm you,Though there you should chance to get bound.'Tis only to us men she is cruel:You she will treat kindly;A snug little pond she'll find ye,Clearer than a crystal jewel,Where you may all live and do well;Or, if by chance some fewShould find their fateConceal'd in the bait,The happier still are you;For envied is the death that's metAt the hands of sweet Annette.'This eloquence not effectingThe object of his wishes,Since it failed in collectingThe deaf and dumb fishes,--His sweet preaching wasted,His honey'd talk untasted,A net the shepherd seized, and, pouncingWith a fell scoop at the scaly fry,He caught them; and now, madly flouncing,At the feet of his Annette they lie!
O ye shepherds, whose sheep men are,To trust in reason never dare.The arts of eloquence sublimeAre not within your calling;Your fish were caught, from oldest time,By dint of nets and hauling.
Words in this poem
- livelong a.
- Whole; entire; long in passing; -- used of time, as day or night, in adverbial phrases, and usually with a sense of tediousness. [For lifelong. Cf. Lifelong.]
- naiad n.
- A water nymph; one of the lower female divinities, fabled to preside over some body of fresh water, as a lake, river, brook, or fountain. [L. naias, -adis, naïs, -idis, a water nymph, Gr naïade. Cf. Naid.]
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- pouncing n.
- The art or practice of transferring a design by means of pounce.
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- dint n.
- A blow; a stroke. [OE. dint, dent, dunt, a blow, AS. dynt; akin to Icel. dyntr a dint, dynta to dint, and perh. to L. fendere (in composition). Cf. 1st Dent, Defend.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book X: The Fishes and the Shepherd Who Played the Flute 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 X: The Fishes and the Shepherd Who Played the Flute, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/10-11.html, id L28411.
Form and metre
Book X: The Fishes and the Shepherd Who Played the Flute is 49 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 ABABCCDDEFFEGG--HIH--IJ--JJKLLKMMN-N---OPOP dearA · voiceB · hearA · rejoiceB · dayC · mayC · brookD · hookD · biteE · baitF · fateF · nightE · songsG · throngsG · to · so · waterH · profoundI · daughterH · you · you · boundI · cruelJ · kindly · ye · jewelJ · wellJ · fewK · fateL · baitL · youK · metM · annetteM · effectingN · wishes · collectingN · fishes · wasted · untasted · pouncingO · fryP · flouncingO · lieP
- 2 --ABAB are · dare · sublimeA · callingB · timeA · haulingB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thrysis--who for his Annette dear | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Made music with his flute and voice, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which might have roused the dead to hear, | 8 | ········ |
| And in their silent graves rejoice-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Sang once the livelong day, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In the flowery month of May, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Up and down a meadow brook, | 7 | ····/·· |
| While Annette fish'd with line and hook. | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| But ne'er a fish would bite; | 6 | ······ |
| So the shepherdess's bait | 6 | ······ |
| Drew not a fish to its fate, | 7 | ······· |
| From morning dawn till night. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The shepherd, who, by his charming songs, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Had drawn savage beasts to him in throngs, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And done with them as he pleased to, | 8 | ········ |
| Thought that he could serve the fish so. | 8 | ········ |
| 'O citizens,' he sang, 'of this water, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Leave your Naiad in her grot profound; | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| Come and see the blue sky's lovely daughter, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Who a thousand times more will charm you; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Fear not that her prison will harm you, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Though there you should chance to get bound. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis only to us men she is cruel: | 9 | ·/˘·····/ |
| You she will treat kindly; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| A snug little pond she'll find ye, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Clearer than a crystal jewel, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Where you may all live and do well; | 8 | ········ |
| Or, if by chance some few | 6 | ······ |
| Should find their fate | 4 | ···· |
| Conceal'd in the bait, | 5 | ˘/··· |
| The happier still are you; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| For envied is the death that's met | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| At the hands of sweet Annette.' | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| This eloquence not effecting | 8 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| The object of his wishes, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Since it failed in collecting | 8 | ···˘·˘/˘ |
| The deaf and dumb fishes,-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| His sweet preaching wasted, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| His honey'd talk untasted, | 7 | ······· |
| A net the shepherd seized, and, pouncing | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| With a fell scoop at the scaly fry, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| He caught them; and now, madly flouncing, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| At the feet of his Annette they lie! | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| O ye shepherds, whose sheep men are, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| To trust in reason never dare. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The arts of eloquence sublime | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Are not within your calling; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Your fish were caught, from oldest time, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By dint of nets and hauling. | 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.