Book XII: The Two Goats
Since goats have browsed, by freedom fired,To follow fortune they've aspired.To pasturage they're wont to roamWhere men are least disposed to come.If any pathless place there be,Or cliff, or pendent precipice,'Tis there they cut their capers free:There's nought can stop these dames, I wis.Two goats, thus self-emancipated,--The white that on their feet they woreLook'd back to noble blood of yore,--Once quit the lowly meadows, sated,And sought the hills, as it would seem:In search of luck, by luck they metEach other at a mountain stream.As bridge a narrow plank was set,On which, if truth must be confest,Two weasels scarce could go abreast.And then the torrent, foaming white,As down it tumbled from the height,Might well those Amazons affright.But maugre such a fearful rapid,Both took the bridge, the goats intrepid!I seem to see our Louis GrandAnd Philip IV. advanceTo the Isle of Conference,That lies 'twixt Spain and France,Each sturdy for his glorious land.Thus each of our adventurers goes,Till foot to foot, and nose to nose,Somewhere about the midst they meet,And neither will an inch retreat.For why? they both enjoy'd the gloryOf ancestors in ancient story.The one, a goat of peerless rank,Which, browsing on Sicilian bank,The Cyclop gave to Galataea;The other famous Amalthaea,The goat that suckled Jupiter,As some historians aver.For want of giving back, in troth,A common fall involved them both.--A common accident, no doubt,On Fortune's changeful route.
Words in this poem 15
- pasturage n.
- Grazing ground; grass land used for pasturing; pasture. [OF. pasturage, F. pâturage. See Pasture.]
- pathless a.
- Having no beaten path or way; untrodden; impenetrable; as, pathless woods.
- precipice n.
- A sudden or headlong fall. Fuller. [F. précipice, L. praecipitium, fr. praeceps, - cipitis, headlong; prae before + caput, capitis, the head. See Pre-, and Chief.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- maugre v. t.
- To defy. J. Webster.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- browsing n.
- Browse; also, a place abounding with shrubs where animals may browse.
- sicilian a.
- Of or pertaining to Sicily or its inhabitants. Sicilian vespers, the great massacre of the French in Sicily, in the year 1282, on the evening of Easter Monday, at the hour of vespers.
- aver n.
- A work horse, or working ox. [OF. aver domestic animal, whence LL. averia, pl. cattle. See Habit, and cf. Average.]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
- route n.
- The course or way which is traveled or passed, or is to be passed; a passing; a course; a road or path; a march. [OE. & F. route, OF. rote, fr. L. rupta (sc. via), fr. ruptus, p.p. of rumpere to break; hence, literally, a broken or beaten way or path. See Rout, and cf. Rut ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book XII: The Two Goats 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 XII: The Two Goats, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/12-4.html, id L28430.
Form and metre
Book XII: The Two Goats is 44 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 --AABCBCDEEDFGFGHHIII--JKKKJLLMMNNOOPP--QQ-- fired · aspired · roamA · comeA · beB · precipiceC · freeB · wisC · emancipatedD · woreE · yoreE · satedD · seemF · metG · streamF · setG · confestH · abreastH · whiteI · heightI · affrightI · rapid · intrepid · grandJ · advanceK · conferenceK · franceK · landJ · goesL · noseL · meetM · retreatM · gloryN · storyN · rankO · bankO · galataeaP · amalthaeaP · jupiter · aver · trothQ · bothQ · doubt · route
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Since goats have browsed, by freedom fired, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| To follow fortune they've aspired. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| To pasturage they're wont to roam | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Where men are least disposed to come. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| If any pathless place there be, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Or cliff, or pendent precipice, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| 'Tis there they cut their capers free: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There's nought can stop these dames, I wis. | 8 | ········ |
| Two goats, thus self-emancipated,-- | 9 | ····˘/˘·˘ |
| The white that on their feet they wore | 8 | ········ |
| Look'd back to noble blood of yore,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Once quit the lowly meadows, sated, | 9 | ···/˘/·/˘ |
| And sought the hills, as it would seem: | 8 | ········ |
| In search of luck, by luck they met | 8 | ········ |
| Each other at a mountain stream. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As bridge a narrow plank was set, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On which, if truth must be confest, | 8 | ········ |
| Two weasels scarce could go abreast. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And then the torrent, foaming white, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| As down it tumbled from the height, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Might well those Amazons affright. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But maugre such a fearful rapid, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Both took the bridge, the goats intrepid! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| I seem to see our Louis Grand | 8 | ····//˘· |
| And Philip IV. advance | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| To the Isle of Conference, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| That lies 'twixt Spain and France, | 6 | ······ |
| Each sturdy for his glorious land. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thus each of our adventurers goes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Till foot to foot, and nose to nose, | 8 | ········ |
| Somewhere about the midst they meet, | 8 | /······· |
| And neither will an inch retreat. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| For why? they both enjoy'd the glory | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| Of ancestors in ancient story. | 9 | ·/·˘·/˘/˘ |
| The one, a goat of peerless rank, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which, browsing on Sicilian bank, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The Cyclop gave to Galataea; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The other famous Amalthaea, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The goat that suckled Jupiter, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| As some historians aver. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| For want of giving back, in troth, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A common fall involved them both.-- | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| A common accident, no doubt, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| On Fortune's changeful route. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
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.