Book II: Against the Hard to Suit
Were I a pet of fair Calliope,I would devote the gifts conferr'd on meTo dress in verse old Aesop's lies divine;For verse, and they, and truth, do well combine;But, not a favourite on the Muses' hill,I dare not arrogate the magic skill,To ornament these charming stories.A bard might brighten up their glories,No doubt. I try,--what one more wise must do.Thus much I have accomplish'd hitherto:--By help of my translation,The beasts hold conversation,In French, as ne'er they did before.Indeed, to claim a little more,The plants and trees, with smiling features,Are turn'd by me to talking creatures.Who says, that this is not enchanting?'Ah,' says the critics, 'hear what vaunting!From one whose work, all told, no more isThan half-a-dozen baby stories.'Would you a theme more credible, my censors,In graver tone, and style which now and then soars?Then list! For ten long years the men of Troy,By means that only heroes can employ,Had held the allied hosts of Greece at bay,--Their minings, batterings, stormings day by day,Their hundred battles on the crimson plain,Their blood of thousand heroes, all in vain,--When, by Minerva's art, a horse of wood,Of lofty size before their city stood,Whose flanks immense the sage Ulysses hold,Brave Diomed, and Ajax fierce and bold,Whom, with their myrmidons, the huge machineWould bear within the fated town unseen,To wreak upon its very gods their rage--Unheard-of stratagem, in any age.Which well its crafty authors did repay....'Enough, enough,' our critic folks will say;'Your period excites alarm,Lest you should do your lungs some harm;And then your monstrous wooden horse,With squadrons in it at their ease,Is even harder to endorseThan Renard cheating Raven of his cheese.And, more than that, it fits you illTo wield the old heroic quill.'Well, then, a humbler tone, if such your will is:--Long sigh'd and pined the jealous AmaryllisFor her Alcippus, in the sad belief,None, save her sheep and dog, would know her grief.Thyrsis, who knows, among the willows slips,And hears the gentle shepherdess's lipsBeseech the kind and gentle zephyrTo bear these accents to her lover....'Stop!' says my censor:'To laws of rhyme quite irreducible,That couplet needs again the crucible;Poetic men, sir,Must nicely shun the shocksOf rhymes unorthodox.'A curse on critics! hold your tongue!Know I not how to end my song?Of time and strength what greater wasteThan my attempt to suit your taste?
Some men, more nice than wise,There's nought that satisfies.
Words in this poem 18
- calliope n.
- The Muse that presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; mother of Orpheus, and chief of the nine Muses.
- arrogate v. t.
- To assume, or claim as one's own, unduly, proudly, or presumptuously; to make undue claims to, from vanity or baseless pretensions to right or merit; as, the pope arrogated dominion over kings. [L. arrogatus, p. p. of adrogare, arrogare, to ask, appropriate to one's self; ad + rogare to ask. See Rogation.]
- brighten v. t.
- To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- graver n.
- One who graves; an engraver or a sculptor; one whose occupation is te cut letters or figures in stone or other hard material.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- wreak v. i.
- To reck; to care.
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- endorse n.
- A subordinary, resembling the pale, but of one fourth its width (according to some writers, one eighth).
- renard n.
- A fox; -- so called in fables or familiar tales, and in poetry. [F. renard the fox, the name of the fox in a celebrated epic poem, and of German origin, G. Reinhard, OHG. Reginhard, properly, strong in counsel; regin counsel ]
- wield v. t.
- To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
- humbler n.
- One who, or that which, humbles some one.
- amaryllis n.
- A pastoral sweetheart.
- zephyr n.
- The west wind; poetically, any soft, gentle breeze. [L. zephyrus, Gr. zéphyr.]
- censor n.
- One of two magistrates of Rome who took a register of the number and property of citizens, and who also exercised the office of inspector of morals and conduct. [L. censor, fr. censere to value, tax.]
- irreducible a.
- Incapable of being reduced, or brought into a different state; incapable of restoration to its proper or normal condition; as, an irreducible hernia.
- couplet n.
- Two taken together; a pair or couple; especially two lines of verse that rhyme with each other. [F. couplet, dim. of couple. See Couple, n.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: Against the Hard to Suit 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 II: Against the Hard to Suit, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/2-1.html, id L28233.
Form and metre
Book II: Against the Hard to Suit is 66 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIHHH-JJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSTSTUU--VVWW---XX-YY--ZZ calliopeA · meA · divineB · combineB · hillC · skillC · storiesD · gloriesD · doE · hithertoE · translationF · conversationF · beforeG · moreG · featuresH · creaturesH · enchantingI · vauntingI · isH · storiesH · censorsH · soars · troyJ · employJ · bayK · dayK · plainL · vainL · woodM · stoodM · holdN · boldN · machineO · unseenO · rageP · ageP · repayQ · sayQ · alarmR · harmR · horseS · easeT · endorseS · cheeseT · illU · quillU · is · amaryllis · beliefV · griefV · slipsW · lipsW · zephyr · lover · censor · irreducibleX · crucibleX · sir · shocksY · unorthodoxY · tongue · song · wasteZ · tasteZ
- 2 AA wiseA · satisfiesA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Were I a pet of fair Calliope, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| I would devote the gifts conferr'd on me | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| To dress in verse old Aesop's lies divine; | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| For verse, and they, and truth, do well combine; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| But, not a favourite on the Muses' hill, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| I dare not arrogate the magic skill, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To ornament these charming stories. | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| A bard might brighten up their glories, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| No doubt. I try,--what one more wise must do. | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus much I have accomplish'd hitherto:-- | 10 | ····˘/˘/·/ |
| By help of my translation, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| The beasts hold conversation, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| In French, as ne'er they did before. | 8 | ········ |
| Indeed, to claim a little more, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| The plants and trees, with smiling features, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Are turn'd by me to talking creatures. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Who says, that this is not enchanting? | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| 'Ah,' says the critics, 'hear what vaunting! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| From one whose work, all told, no more is | 9 | ········· |
| Than half-a-dozen baby stories.' | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Would you a theme more credible, my censors, | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| In graver tone, and style which now and then soars? | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Then list! For ten long years the men of Troy, | 10 | ·········· |
| By means that only heroes can employ, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Had held the allied hosts of Greece at bay,-- | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Their minings, batterings, stormings day by day, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Their hundred battles on the crimson plain, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Their blood of thousand heroes, all in vain,-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| When, by Minerva's art, a horse of wood, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Of lofty size before their city stood, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Whose flanks immense the sage Ulysses hold, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Brave Diomed, and Ajax fierce and bold, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Whom, with their myrmidons, the huge machine | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Would bear within the fated town unseen, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To wreak upon its very gods their rage-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Unheard-of stratagem, in any age. | 9 | ˘/·/˘·/˘· |
| Which well its crafty authors did repay.... | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| 'Enough, enough,' our critic folks will say; | 10 | ˘/˘///˘··· |
| 'Your period excites alarm, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘/ |
| Lest you should do your lungs some harm; | 8 | ········ |
| And then your monstrous wooden horse, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With squadrons in it at their ease, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is even harder to endorse | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Than Renard cheating Raven of his cheese. | 10 | ·˘//˘/˘··· |
| And, more than that, it fits you ill | 8 | ········ |
| To wield the old heroic quill.' | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Well, then, a humbler tone, if such your will is:-- | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Long sigh'd and pined the jealous Amaryllis | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| For her Alcippus, in the sad belief, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| None, save her sheep and dog, would know her grief. | 10 | ·········· |
| Thyrsis, who knows, among the willows slips, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| And hears the gentle shepherdess's lips | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Beseech the kind and gentle zephyr | 9 | ˘/···/˘/˘ |
| To bear these accents to her lover.... | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| 'Stop!' says my censor: | 5 | ···/˘ |
| 'To laws of rhyme quite irreducible, | 10 | ·········· |
| That couplet needs again the crucible; | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Poetic men, sir, | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| Must nicely shun the shocks | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of rhymes unorthodox.' | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| A curse on critics! hold your tongue! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Know I not how to end my song? | 8 | ········ |
| Of time and strength what greater waste | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Than my attempt to suit your taste? | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Some men, more nice than wise, | 6 | ······ |
| There's nought that satisfies. | 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.