Book III: The Frogs Asking a King
A certain commonwealth aquatic,Grown tired of order democratic,By clamouring in the ears of Jove, effectedIts being to a monarch's power subjected.Jove flung it down, at first, a king pacific.Who nathless fell with such a splash terrific,The marshy folks, a foolish race and timid,Made breathless haste to get from him hid.They dived into the mud beneath the water,Or found among the reeds and rushes quarter.And long it was they dared not seeThe dreadful face of majesty,Supposing that some monstrous frogHad been sent down to rule the bog.The king was really a log,Whose gravity inspired with aweThe first that, from his hiding-placeForth venturing, astonish'd, sawThe royal blockhead's face.With trembling and with fear,At last he drew quite near.Another follow'd, and another yet,Till quite a crowd at last were met;Who, growing fast and strangely bolder,Perch'd soon upon the royal shoulder.His gracious majesty kept still,And let his people work their will.Clack, clack! what din beset the ears of Jove?'We want a king,' the people said, 'to move!'The god straight sent them down a crane,Who caught and slew them without measure,And gulp'd their carcasses at pleasure;Whereat the frogs more wofully complain.'What! what!' great Jupiter replied;'By your desires must I be tied?Think you such government is bad?You should have kept what first you had;Which having blindly fail'd to do,It had been prudent still for youTo let that former king suffice,More meek and mild, if not so wise.With this now make yourselves content,Lest for your sins a worse be sent.'
Words in this poem
- commonwealth n.
- A state; a body politic consisting of a certain number of men, united, by compact or tacit agreement, under one form of government and system of laws. [Common + wealth well-being.]
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- nathless adv.
- Nevertheless. Chaucer. Milton. E. Arnold. [OE. natheles, na the les, not the less, AS. na never. See Na, The, conj., and cf. Nevertheless.]
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- clack v. i.
- To make a sudden, sharp noise, or a succesion of such noises, as by striking an object, or by collision of parts; to rattle; to click. [Prob. of imitative origin; cf. F.claquer to clap, crack, D. klakken, MHG. klac crack, Ir. clagaim I make a noise, ring. Cf. Clack, n., Clatter, Click.]
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- wofully adv.
- In a woeful manner; sorrowfully; mournfully; miserably; dolefully.
- blindly adv.
- Without sight, discernment, or understanding; without thought, investigation, knowledge, or purpose of one's own.
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book III: The Frogs Asking a King 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 Frogs Asking a King, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/3-4.html, id L28256.
Form and metre
Book III: The Frogs Asking a King is 43 lines in a single stanza. 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 ---ABBAA----CC--D-DEEFFGGHH--IJJIKKLLMM--NN aquatic · democratic · effected · subjectedA · pacificB · terrificB · timidA · hidA · water · quarter · see · majesty · frogC · bogC · log · awe · placeD · saw · faceD · fearE · nearE · yetF · metF · bolderG · shoulderG · stillH · willH · jove · move · craneI · measureJ · pleasureJ · complainI · repliedK · tiedK · badL · hadL · doM · youM · suffice · wise · contentN · sentN
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 certain commonwealth aquatic, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Grown tired of order democratic, | 9 | ·/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| By clamouring in the ears of Jove, effected | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Its being to a monarch's power subjected. | 10 | ·/··/·/˘/˘ |
| Jove flung it down, at first, a king pacific. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Who nathless fell with such a splash terrific, | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| The marshy folks, a foolish race and timid, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Made breathless haste to get from him hid. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| They dived into the mud beneath the water, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Or found among the reeds and rushes quarter. | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| And long it was they dared not see | 8 | ········ |
| The dreadful face of majesty, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Supposing that some monstrous frog | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Had been sent down to rule the bog. | 8 | ········ |
| The king was really a log, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Whose gravity inspired with awe | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| The first that, from his hiding-place | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Forth venturing, astonish'd, saw | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| The royal blockhead's face. | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| With trembling and with fear, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| At last he drew quite near. | 6 | ······ |
| Another follow'd, and another yet, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Till quite a crowd at last were met; | 8 | ········ |
| Who, growing fast and strangely bolder, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Perch'd soon upon the royal shoulder. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| His gracious majesty kept still, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| And let his people work their will. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Clack, clack! what din beset the ears of Jove? | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| 'We want a king,' the people said, 'to move!' | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The god straight sent them down a crane, | 8 | ········ |
| Who caught and slew them without measure, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And gulp'd their carcasses at pleasure; | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| Whereat the frogs more wofully complain. | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| 'What! what!' great Jupiter replied; | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| 'By your desires must I be tied? | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Think you such government is bad? | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| You should have kept what first you had; | 8 | ········ |
| Which having blindly fail'd to do, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| It had been prudent still for you | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To let that former king suffice, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| More meek and mild, if not so wise. | 8 | ········ |
| With this now make yourselves content, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Lest for your sins a worse be sent.' | 8 | ········ |
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.