Book II: The Lion and the Gnat
'Go, paltry insect, nature's meanest brat!'Thus said the royal lion to the gnat.The gnat declared immediate war.'Think you,' said he, 'your royal nameTo me worth caring for?Think you I tremble at your power or fame?The ox is bigger far than you;Yet him I drive, and all his crew.'This said, as one that did no fear owe,Himself he blew the battle charge,Himself both trumpeter and hero.At first he play'd about at large,Then on the lion's neck, at leisure, settled,And there the royal beast full sorely nettled.With foaming mouth, and flashing eye,He roars. All creatures hide or fly,--Such mortal terror atThe work of one poor gnat!With constant change of his attack,The snout now stinging, now the back,And now the chambers of the nose;The pigmy fly no mercy shows.The lion's rage was at its height;His viewless foe now laugh'd outright,When on his battle-ground he saw,That every savage tooth and clawHad got its proper beautyBy doing bloody duty;Himself, the hapless lion, tore his hide,And lash'd with sounding tail from side to side.Ah! bootless blow, and bite, and curse!He beat the harmless air, and worse;For, though so fierce and stout,By effort wearied out,He fainted, fell, gave up the quarrel.The gnat retires with verdant laurel.Now rings his trumpet clang,As at the charge it rang.But while his triumph note he blows,Straight on our valiant conqueror goesA spider's ambuscade to meet,And make its web his winding-sheet.
We often have the most to fearFrom those we most despise;Again, great risks a man may clear,Who by the smallest dies.
Words in this poem
- brat n.
- A coarse garnment or cloak; also, coarse clothing, in general. [OE. bratt coarse garnment, AS. bratt cloak, fr. the Celtic; cf. W. brat clout, rag, Gael. brat cloak, apron, raf, Ir. brat cloak; properly then, a child's bib o]
- bigger a.
- , compar. of Big.
- trumpeter n.
- One who sounds a trumpet.
- sorely adv.
- In a sore manner; grievously; painfully; as, to be sorely afflicted.
- viewless a.
- Not perceivable by the eye; invisible; unseen.
- outright adv.
- Immediately; without delay; at once; as, he was killed outright.
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- bootless a.
- Unavailing; unprofitable; useless; without advantage or success. [From Boot profit.]
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- ambuscade n.
- A lying in a wood, concealed, for the purpose of attacking an enemy by surprise. Hence: A lying in wait, and concealed in any situation, for a like purpose; a snare laid for an enemy; an ambush. [F. embuscade, fr. It. imboscata, or Sp. emboscada, fr. emboscar to ambush, fr. LL. imboscare. See Ambush, v. t.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: The Lion and the Gnat 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 Lion and the Gnat, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/2-9.html, id L28241.
Form and metre
Book II: The Lion and the Gnat is 46 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABCBCDD-E-EFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTT bratA · gnatA · warB · nameC · forB · fameC · youD · crewD · owe · chargeE · hero · largeE · settledF · nettledF · eyeG · flyG · atH · gnatH · attackI · backI · noseJ · showsJ · heightK · outrightK · sawL · clawL · beautyM · dutyM · hideN · sideN · curseO · worseO · stoutP · outP · quarrelQ · laurelQ · clangR · rangR · blowsS · goesS · meetT · sheetT
- 2 ABAB fearA · despiseB · clearA · diesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Go, paltry insect, nature's meanest brat!' | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Thus said the royal lion to the gnat. | 9 | ···/˘/··· |
| The gnat declared immediate war. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| 'Think you,' said he, 'your royal name | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To me worth caring for? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Think you I tremble at your power or fame? | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| The ox is bigger far than you; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet him I drive, and all his crew.' | 8 | ········ |
| This said, as one that did no fear owe, | 9 | ········· |
| Himself he blew the battle charge, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Himself both trumpeter and hero. | 9 | ˘/·/˘˘·/˘ |
| At first he play'd about at large, | 8 | ········ |
| Then on the lion's neck, at leisure, settled, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And there the royal beast full sorely nettled. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| With foaming mouth, and flashing eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He roars. All creatures hide or fly,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Such mortal terror at | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The work of one poor gnat! | 6 | ······ |
| With constant change of his attack, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The snout now stinging, now the back, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And now the chambers of the nose; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The pigmy fly no mercy shows. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The lion's rage was at its height; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His viewless foe now laugh'd outright, | 8 | ·/˘···// |
| When on his battle-ground he saw, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That every savage tooth and claw | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Had got its proper beauty | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| By doing bloody duty; | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Himself, the hapless lion, tore his hide, | 9 | ˘/·/˘/··· |
| And lash'd with sounding tail from side to side. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ah! bootless blow, and bite, and curse! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He beat the harmless air, and worse; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For, though so fierce and stout, | 6 | ······ |
| By effort wearied out, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| He fainted, fell, gave up the quarrel. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| The gnat retires with verdant laurel. | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Now rings his trumpet clang, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As at the charge it rang. | 6 | ······ |
| But while his triumph note he blows, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Straight on our valiant conqueror goes | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| A spider's ambuscade to meet, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And make its web his winding-sheet. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We often have the most to fear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| From those we most despise; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Again, great risks a man may clear, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Who by the smallest dies. | 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.