Book II: The Cat Metamorphosed into a Woman
A bachelor caress'd his cat,A darling, fair, and delicate;So deep in love, he thought her mewThe sweetest voice he ever knew.By prayers, and tears, and magic art,The man got Fate to take his part;And, lo! one morning at his sideHis cat, transform'd, became his bride.In wedded state our man was seenThe fool in courtship he had been.No lover e'er was so bewitch'dBy any maiden's charmsAs was this husband, so enrich'dBy hers within his arms.He praised her beauties, this and that,And saw there nothing of the cat.In short, by passion's aid, heThought her a perfect lady.
'Twas night: some carpet-gnawing miceDisturb'd the nuptial joys.Excited by the noise,The bride sprang at them in a trice;The mice were scared and fled.The bride, scarce in her bed,The gnawing heard, and sprang again,--And this time not in vain,For, in this novel form array'd,Of her the mice were less afraid.Through life she loved this mousing course,So great is stubborn nature's force.
In mockery of change, the oldWill keep their youthful bent.When once the cloth has got its fold,The smelling-pot its scent,In vain your efforts and your careTo make them other than they are.To work reform, do what you will,Old habit will be habit still.Nor fork nor strap can mend its manners,Nor cudgel-blows beat down its banners.Secure the doors against the renter,And through the windows it will enter.
Words in this poem
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- courtship n.
- The act of paying court, with the intent to solicit a favor.
- trice v. t.
- To pull; to haul; to drag; to pull away. [OE. trisen; of Scand. or Low German origin; cf. Sw. trissa a sheave, pulley, triss a spritsail brace, Dan. tridse a pulley, tridse to haul by means of a pulley,]
- 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]
- mousing a.
- Impertinently inquisitive; prying; meddlesome.
- renter n.
- One who rents or leases an estate; -- usually said of a lessee or tenant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: The Cat Metamorphosed into a Woman 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 Cat Metamorphosed into a Woman, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/2-18.html, id L28250.
Form and metre
Book II: The Cat Metamorphosed into a Woman is 42 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AABBCCDD--EFEFAA-- catA · delicateA · mewB · knewB · artC · partC · sideD · brideD · seen · been · bewitch'dE · charmsF · enrich'dE · armsF · thatA · catA · he · lady
- 2 ABBACCDDEEFF miceA · joysB · noiseB · triceA · fledC · bedC · againD · vainD · array'dE · afraidE · courseF · forceF
- 3 ABAB--CCDDEE oldA · bentB · foldA · scentB · care · are · willC · stillC · mannersD · bannersD · renterE · enterE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A bachelor caress'd his cat, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| A darling, fair, and delicate; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| So deep in love, he thought her mew | 8 | ········ |
| The sweetest voice he ever knew. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By prayers, and tears, and magic art, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The man got Fate to take his part; | 8 | ········ |
| And, lo! one morning at his side | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His cat, transform'd, became his bride. | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| In wedded state our man was seen | 8 | ·/˘·/··· |
| The fool in courtship he had been. | 8 | ···/···· |
| No lover e'er was so bewitch'd | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| By any maiden's charms | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| As was this husband, so enrich'd | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| By hers within his arms. | 6 | ······ |
| He praised her beauties, this and that, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And saw there nothing of the cat. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In short, by passion's aid, he | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Thought her a perfect lady. | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| 'Twas night: some carpet-gnawing mice | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Disturb'd the nuptial joys. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Excited by the noise, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| The bride sprang at them in a trice; | 8 | ········ |
| The mice were scared and fled. | 7 | ····˘·· |
| The bride, scarce in her bed, | 6 | ······ |
| The gnawing heard, and sprang again,-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And this time not in vain, | 6 | ······ |
| For, in this novel form array'd, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Of her the mice were less afraid. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Through life she loved this mousing course, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So great is stubborn nature's force. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In mockery of change, the old | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Will keep their youthful bent. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When once the cloth has got its fold, | 8 | ········ |
| The smelling-pot its scent, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In vain your efforts and your care | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To make them other than they are. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To work reform, do what you will, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Old habit will be habit still. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor fork nor strap can mend its manners, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Nor cudgel-blows beat down its banners. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Secure the doors against the renter, | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| And through the windows it will enter. | 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.