Book II: The Hare and the Frogs
Once in his bed deep mused the hare,(What else but muse could he do there?)And soon by gloom was much afflicted;--To gloom the creature's much addicted.'Alas! these constitutions nervous,'He cried, 'how wretchedly they serve us!We timid people, by their action,Can't eat nor sleep with satisfaction;We can't enjoy a pleasure single,But with some misery it must mingle.Myself, for one, am forced by cursed fearTo sleep with open eye as well as ear."Correct yourself," says some adviser.Grows fear, by such advice, the wiser?Indeed, I well enough descryThat men have fear, as well as I.'With such revolving thoughts our hareKept watch in soul-consuming care.A passing shade, or leaflet's quiverWould give his blood a boiling fever.Full soon, his melancholy soulAroused from dreaming dozeBy noise too slight for foes,He scuds in haste to reach his hole.He pass'd a pond; and from its border bogs,Plunge after plunge, in leap'd the timid frogs,'Aha! I do to them, I see,'He cried, 'what others do to me.The sight of even me, a hare,Sufficeth some, I find, to scare.And here, the terror of my trampHath put to rout, it seems, a camp.The trembling fools! they take me forThe very thunderbolt of war!I see, the coward never skulk'd a foeThat might not scare a coward still below.'
Words in this poem
- wretchedly adv.
- In a wretched manner; miserably; despicable.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- descry
- , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance.
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
- thunderbolt n.
- A shaft of lightning; a brilliant stream of electricity passing from one part of the heavens to another, or from the clouds to the earth.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: The Hare and the Frogs 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: The Hare and the Frogs, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/2-14.html, id L28246.
Form and metre
Book II: The Hare and the Frogs is 36 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 83% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII--JKKJLLMMNNOOPPQQ hareA · thereA · afflictedB · addictedB · nervousC · usC · actionD · satisfactionD · singleE · mingleE · fearF · earF · adviserG · wiserG · descryH · iH · hareI · careI · quiver · fever · soulJ · dozeK · foesK · holeJ · bogsL · frogsL · seeM · meM · hareN · scareN · trampO · campO · forP · warP · foeQ · belowQ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Once in his bed deep mused the hare, | 8 | ········ |
| (What else but muse could he do there?) | 8 | ········ |
| And soon by gloom was much afflicted;-- | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| To gloom the creature's much addicted. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| 'Alas! these constitutions nervous,' | 9 | ˘/··˘/˘/˘ |
| He cried, 'how wretchedly they serve us! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We timid people, by their action, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Can't eat nor sleep with satisfaction; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| We can't enjoy a pleasure single, | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| But with some misery it must mingle. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Myself, for one, am forced by cursed fear | 9 | ·/······· |
| To sleep with open eye as well as ear. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| "Correct yourself," says some adviser. | 9 | ˘/˘/··˘/˘ |
| Grows fear, by such advice, the wiser? | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| Indeed, I well enough descry | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘/ |
| That men have fear, as well as I.' | 8 | ········ |
| With such revolving thoughts our hare | 8 | ··˘/˘·/· |
| Kept watch in soul-consuming care. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| A passing shade, or leaflet's quiver | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Would give his blood a boiling fever. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Full soon, his melancholy soul | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| Aroused from dreaming doze | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘· |
| By noise too slight for foes, | 6 | ······ |
| He scuds in haste to reach his hole. | 8 | ········ |
| He pass'd a pond; and from its border bogs, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Plunge after plunge, in leap'd the timid frogs, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Aha! I do to them, I see,' | 8 | ·/······ |
| He cried, 'what others do to me. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sight of even me, a hare, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sufficeth some, I find, to scare. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| And here, the terror of my tramp | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hath put to rout, it seems, a camp. | 8 | ········ |
| The trembling fools! they take me for | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The very thunderbolt of war! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I see, the coward never skulk'd a foe | 8 | ···//··· |
| That might not scare a coward still below.' | 9 | ·····/··· |
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.