Book II: The Cock and the Fox
Upon a tree there mounted guardA veteran cock, adroit and cunning;When to the roots a fox up running,Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard:--'Our quarrel, brother, 's at an end;Henceforth I hope to live your friend;For peace now reignsThroughout the animal domains.I bear the news:--come down, I pray,And give me the embrace fraternal;And please, my brother, don't delay.So much the tidings do concern all,That I must spread them far to-day.Now you and yours can take your walksWithout a fear or thought of hawks.And should you clash with them or others,In us you'll find the best of brothers;--For which you may, this joyful night,Your merry bonfires light.But, first, let's seal the blissWith one fraternal kiss.''Good friend,' the cock replied, 'upon my word,A better thing I never heard;And doubly I rejoiceTo hear it from your voice;And, really there must be something in it,For yonder come two greyhounds, which I flatterMyself are couriers on this very matter.They come so fast, they'll be here in a minute.I'll down, and all of us will seal the blessingWith general kissing and caressing.''Adieu,' said fox; 'my errand's pressing;I'll hurry on my way,And we'll rejoice some other day.'So off the fellow scamper'd, quick and light,To gain the fox-holes of a neighbouring height,Less happy in his stratagem than flight.The cock laugh'd sweetly in his sleeve;--'Tis doubly sweet deceiver to deceive.
Words in this poem
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- fraternal a.
- Pf, pertaining to, or involving, brethren; becoming to brothers; brotherly; as, fraternal affection; a fraternal embrace. [F. fraternel, LL. fraternalis, fr. L. fraternus, fr. frater brother. See Brother.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- neighbouring a.
- Living or being near; adjacent; as, the neighboring nations or countries.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: The Cock and the Fox 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 Cock and the Fox, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/2-15.html, id L28247.
Form and metre
Book II: The Cock and the Fox is 39 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 51% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 ABBACCDDEFEFEGGHHIIJJKKLLMNNMOOOPPQQQRR guardA · cunningB · runningB · regardA · endC · friendC · reignsD · domainsD · prayE · fraternalF · delayE · allF · dayE · walksG · hawksG · othersH · brothersH · nightI · lightI · blissJ · kissJ · wordK · heardK · rejoiceL · voiceL · itM · flatterN · matterN · minuteM · blessingO · caressingO · pressingO · wayP · dayP · lightQ · heightQ · flightQ · sleeveR · deceiveR
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Upon a tree there mounted guard | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A veteran cock, adroit and cunning; | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| When to the roots a fox up running, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard:-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'Our quarrel, brother, 's at an end; | 9 | //˘/˘···· |
| Henceforth I hope to live your friend; | 8 | //······ |
| For peace now reigns | 4 | ···· |
| Throughout the animal domains. | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| I bear the news:--come down, I pray, | 8 | ········ |
| And give me the embrace fraternal; | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| And please, my brother, don't delay. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| So much the tidings do concern all, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/· |
| That I must spread them far to-day. | 8 | ········ |
| Now you and yours can take your walks | 8 | ········ |
| Without a fear or thought of hawks. | 8 | ········ |
| And should you clash with them or others, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| In us you'll find the best of brothers;-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| For which you may, this joyful night, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Your merry bonfires light. | 7 | ·/˘/·˘· |
| But, first, let's seal the bliss | 6 | ······ |
| With one fraternal kiss.' | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| 'Good friend,' the cock replied, 'upon my word, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| A better thing I never heard; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And doubly I rejoice | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| To hear it from your voice; | 6 | ······ |
| And, really there must be something in it, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| For yonder come two greyhounds, which I flatter | 11 | ·/˘··/···/˘ |
| Myself are couriers on this very matter. | 11 | ·/·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| They come so fast, they'll be here in a minute. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I'll down, and all of us will seal the blessing | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| With general kissing and caressing.' | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| 'Adieu,' said fox; 'my errand's pressing; | 9 | ˘/···/˘/˘ |
| I'll hurry on my way, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And we'll rejoice some other day.' | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| So off the fellow scamper'd, quick and light, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To gain the fox-holes of a neighbouring height, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Less happy in his stratagem than flight. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| The cock laugh'd sweetly in his sleeve;-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Tis doubly sweet deceiver to deceive. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
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.