Book X: The Spider and the Swallow
'O Jupiter, whose fruitful brain,By odd obstetrics freed from pain,Bore Pallas, erst my mortal foe,Pray listen to my tale of woe.This Progne takes my lawful prey.As through the air she cuts her way,And skims the waves in seeming play.My flies she catches from my door,--'Yes, mine--I emphasize the word,--And, but for this accursed bird,My net would hold an ample store:For I have woven it of stuffTo hold the strongest strong enough.''Twas thus, in terms of insolence,Complain'd the fretful spider, onceOf palace-tapestry a weaver,But then a spinster and deceiver,That hoped within her toils to bringOf insects all that ply the wing.The sister swift of Philomel,Intent on business, prosper'd well;In spite of the complaining pest,The insects carried to her nest--Nest pitiless to suffering flies--Mouths gaping aye, to gormandize,Of young ones clamouring,And stammering,With unintelligible cries.The spider, with but head and feet.And powerless to competeWith wings so fleet,Soon saw herself a prey.The swallow, passing swiftly by,Bore web and all away,The spinster dangling in the sky!
Two tables hath our Maker setFor all that in this world are met.To seats around the firstThe skilful, vigilant, and strong are beckon'd:Their hunger and their thirstThe rest must quell with leavings at the second.
Words in this poem
- obstetrics n.
- The science of midwifery; the art of assisting women in parturition, or in the trouble incident to childbirth. [Cf. F. obstétrique. See Obstetric.]
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
- emphasize v. t.
- To utter or pronounce with a particular stress of voice; to make emphatic; as, to emphasize a word or a phrase.
- insolence n.
- The quality of being unusual or novel. [F. insolence, L. insolentia. See Insolent.]
- spinster n.
- A woman who spins, or whose occupation is to spin. [Spin + -ster.]
- pest n.
- A fatal epidemic disease; a pestilence; specif., the plague. [L. pestis: cf. F. peste.]
- gormandize v. i.
- To eat greedily; to swallow voraciously; to feed ravenously or like a glutton. [F. gourmandise gluttony. See Gormand.]
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- leavings n.
- Things left; remnants; relics.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book X: The Spider and the Swallow 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 Spider and the Swallow, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/10-7.html, id L28407.
Form and metre
Book X: The Spider and the Swallow is 41 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 AABBCCCDEEDFFGGHHII--JJKKLLKMMMNONO brainA · painA · foeB · woeB · preyC · wayC · playC · doorD · wordE · birdE · storeD · stuffF · enoughF · insolenceG · onceG · weaverH · deceiverH · bringI · wingI · philomel · well · pestJ · nestJ · fliesK · gormandizeK · clamouringL · stammeringL · criesK · feetM · competeM · fleetM · preyN · byO · awayN · skyO
- 2 AABCBC setA · metA · firstB · beckon'dC · thirstB · secondC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'O Jupiter, whose fruitful brain, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| By odd obstetrics freed from pain, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Bore Pallas, erst my mortal foe, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Pray listen to my tale of woe. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| This Progne takes my lawful prey. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As through the air she cuts her way, | 8 | ········ |
| And skims the waves in seeming play. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My flies she catches from my door,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Yes, mine--I emphasize the word,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, but for this accursed bird, | 8 | ······˘· |
| My net would hold an ample store: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For I have woven it of stuff | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To hold the strongest strong enough.' | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| 'Twas thus, in terms of insolence, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Complain'd the fretful spider, once | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Of palace-tapestry a weaver, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| But then a spinster and deceiver, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| That hoped within her toils to bring | 8 | ········ |
| Of insects all that ply the wing. | 8 | ·/······ |
| The sister swift of Philomel, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Intent on business, prosper'd well; | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| In spite of the complaining pest, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The insects carried to her nest-- | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Nest pitiless to suffering flies-- | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Mouths gaping aye, to gormandize, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of young ones clamouring, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And stammering, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| With unintelligible cries. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘· |
| The spider, with but head and feet. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And powerless to compete | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| With wings so fleet, | 4 | ···· |
| Soon saw herself a prey. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The swallow, passing swiftly by, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Bore web and all away, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The spinster dangling in the sky! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Two tables hath our Maker set | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| For all that in this world are met. | 8 | ········ |
| To seats around the first | 6 | ······ |
| The skilful, vigilant, and strong are beckon'd: | 10 | ·/˘/˘···/˘ |
| Their hunger and their thirst | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The rest must quell with leavings at the second. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
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.