Book II: The Peacock Complaining to Juno
The peacock to the queen of heavenComplain'd in some such words:--'Great goddess, you have givenTo me, the laughing-stock of birds,A voice which fills, by taste quite just,All nature with disgust;Whereas that little paltry thing,The nightingale, pours from her throatSo sweet and ravishing a note,She bears alone the honours of the spring.'
In anger Juno heard,And cried, 'Shame on you, jealous bird!Grudge you the nightingale her voice,Who in the rainbow neck rejoice,Than costliest silks more richly tinted,In charms of grace and form unstinted,--Who strut in kingly pride,Your glorious tail spread wideWith brilliants which in sheen doOutshine the jeweller's bow window?Is there a bird beneath the blueThat has more charms than you?No animal in everything can shine.By just partition of our gifts divine,Each has its full and proper share;Among the birds that cleave the air,The hawk's a swift, the eagle is a brave one,For omens serves the hoarse old raven,The rook's of coming ills the prophet;And if there's any discontent,I've heard not of it.
'Cease, then, your envious complaint;Or I, instead of making up your lack,Will take your boasted plumage from your back.'
Words in this poem
- whereas adv.
- At which place; where.
- ravishing a.
- Rapturous; transporting.
- 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.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- outshine v. i.
- To shine forth.
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: The Peacock Complaining to Juno 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 Peacock Complaining to Juno, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/2-17.html, id L28249.
Form and metre
Book II: The Peacock Complaining to Juno is 34 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -A-ABBCDDC heaven · wordsA · given · birdsA · justB · disgustB · thingC · throatD · noteD · springC
- 2 AABBA-CCD-DDEEFF-EG-G heardA · birdA · voiceB · rejoiceB · tintedA · unstinted · prideC · wideC · doD · window · blueD · youD · shineE · divineE · shareF · airF · one · ravenE · prophetG · discontent · itG
- 3 -AA complaint · lackA · backA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The peacock to the queen of heaven | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| Complain'd in some such words:-- | 6 | ˘/···· |
| 'Great goddess, you have given | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| To me, the laughing-stock of birds, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A voice which fills, by taste quite just, | 8 | ········ |
| All nature with disgust; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Whereas that little paltry thing, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| The nightingale, pours from her throat | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| So sweet and ravishing a note, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| She bears alone the honours of the spring.' | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| In anger Juno heard, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And cried, 'Shame on you, jealous bird! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Grudge you the nightingale her voice, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Who in the rainbow neck rejoice, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| Than costliest silks more richly tinted, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| In charms of grace and form unstinted,-- | 9 | ········· |
| Who strut in kingly pride, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Your glorious tail spread wide | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| With brilliants which in sheen do | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Outshine the jeweller's bow window? | 9 | /··/˘˘·/˘ |
| Is there a bird beneath the blue | 8 | ········ |
| That has more charms than you? | 6 | ······ |
| No animal in everything can shine. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| By just partition of our gifts divine, | 10 | ··˘/˘·/·˘/ |
| Each has its full and proper share; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Among the birds that cleave the air, | 8 | ········ |
| The hawk's a swift, the eagle is a brave one, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| For omens serves the hoarse old raven, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| The rook's of coming ills the prophet; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And if there's any discontent, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| I've heard not of it. | 5 | ····· |
| 'Cease, then, your envious complaint; | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Or I, instead of making up your lack, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Will take your boasted plumage from your back.' | 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.