Book III: The Swan and the Cook
The pleasures of a poultry yardWere by a swan and gosling shared.The swan was kept there for his looks,The thrifty gosling for the cooks;The first the garden's pride, the latterA greater favourite on the platter.They swam the ditches, side by side,And oft in sports aquatic vied,Plunging, splashing far and wide,With rivalry ne'er satisfied.One day the cook, named Thirsty John,Sent for the gosling, took the swan,In haste his throat to cut,And put him in the pot.The bird's complaint resoundedIn glorious melody;Whereat the cook, astoundedHis sad mistake to see,Cried, 'What! make soup of a musician!Please God, I'll never set such dish on.No, no; I'll never cut a throatThat sings so sweet a note.'
'Tis thus, whatever peril may alarm us,Sweet words will never harm us.
Words in this poem
- gosling n.
- A young or unfledged goose. [AS. g goose + -ling.]
- platter n.
- One who plats or braids. [From Plat to braid.]
- 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.]
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book III: The Swan and the Cook 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 III: The Swan and the Cook, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/3-12.html, id L28264.
Form and metre
Book III: The Swan and the Cook is 24 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 --AABBCCCCDD--E-E-DDFF yard · shared · looksA · cooksA · latterB · platterB · sideC · viedC · wideC · satisfiedC · johnD · swanD · cut · pot · resoundedE · melody · astoundedE · see · musicianD · onD · throatF · noteF
- 2 AA usA · usA
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 pleasures of a poultry yard | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Were by a swan and gosling shared. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The swan was kept there for his looks, | 8 | ········ |
| The thrifty gosling for the cooks; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The first the garden's pride, the latter | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| A greater favourite on the platter. | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| They swam the ditches, side by side, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And oft in sports aquatic vied, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Plunging, splashing far and wide, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| With rivalry ne'er satisfied. | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| One day the cook, named Thirsty John, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sent for the gosling, took the swan, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In haste his throat to cut, | 6 | ······ |
| And put him in the pot. | 6 | ······ |
| The bird's complaint resounded | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| In glorious melody; | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Whereat the cook, astounded | 7 | ˘/··˘/˘ |
| His sad mistake to see, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Cried, 'What! make soup of a musician! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Please God, I'll never set such dish on. | 8 | ···/···· |
| No, no; I'll never cut a throat | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That sings so sweet a note.' | 6 | ······ |
| 'Tis thus, whatever peril may alarm us, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/· |
| Sweet words will never harm us. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
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.