Book IV: The Old Man and His Sons
All power is feeble with dissension:For this I quote the Phrygian slave.If aught I add to his invention,It is our manners to engrave,And not from any envious wishes;--I'm not so foolishly ambitious.Phaedrus enriches oft his story,In quest--I doubt it not--of glory:Such thoughts were idle in my breast.An aged man, near going to his rest,His gather'd sons thus solemnly address'd:--'To break this bunch of arrows you may try;And, first, the string that binds them I untie.'The eldest, having tried with might and main,Exclaim'd, 'This bundle I resignTo muscles sturdier than mine.'The second tried, and bow'd himself in vain.The youngest took them with the like success.All were obliged their weakness to confess.Unharm'd the arrows pass'd from son to son;Of all they did not break a single one.'Weak fellows!' said their sire, 'I now must showWhat in the case my feeble strength can do.'They laugh'd, and thought their father but in joke,Till, one by one, they saw the arrows broke.'See, concord's power!' replied the sire; 'as longAs you in love agree, you will be strong.I go, my sons, to join our fathers good;Now promise me to live as brothers should,And soothe by this your dying father's fears.'Each strictly promised with a flood of tears.Their father took them by the hand, and died;And soon the virtue of their vows was tried.Their sire had left a large estateInvolved in lawsuits intricate;Here seized a creditor, and thereA neighbour levied for a share.At first the trio nobly boreThe brunt of all this legal war.But short their friendship as 'twas rare.Whom blood had join'd--and small the wonder!--The force of interest drove asunder;And, as is wont in such affairs,Ambition, envy, were co-heirs.In parcelling their sire's estate,They quarrel, quibble, litigate,Each aiming to supplant the other.The judge, by turns, condemns each brother.Their creditors make new assault,Some pleading error, some default.The sunder'd brothers disagree;For counsel one, have counsels three.All lose their wealth; and now their sorrowsBring fresh to mind those broken arrows.
Words in this poem
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- engrave v. t.
- To deposit in the grave; to bury. [Pref. en- + grave a tomb. Cf. Engrave to carve.]
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- trio n.
- Three, considered collectively; three in company or acting together; a set of three; three united. [It., fr. L. tres, tria, three: cf. F. trio, from the Italian. See Three.]
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- brunt n.
- The heat, or utmost violence, of an onset; the strength or greatest fury of any contention; as, the brunt of a battle. [OE. brunt, bront, fr. Icel. bruna to rush; cf. Icel. brenna to burn. Cf. Burn, v. t.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- litigate v. t.
- To make the subject of a lawsuit; to contest in law; to prosecute or defend by pleadings, exhibition of evidence, and judicial debate in a court; as, to litigate a cause. [See Litigation.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: The Old Man and His Sons 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 IV: The Old Man and His Sons, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/4-18.html, id L28288.
Form and metre
Book IV: The Old Man and His Sons is 54 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABAB--CCDDDEEFGGFHHII--JJKKLL--MMNNOOPPOQQRRSSTTUUVV-- dissensionA · slaveB · inventionA · engraveB · wishes · ambitious · storyC · gloryC · breastD · restD · address'dD · tryE · untieE · mainF · resignG · mineG · vainF · successH · confessH · sonI · oneI · show · do · jokeJ · brokeJ · longK · strongK · goodL · shouldL · fears · tears · diedM · triedM · estateN · intricateN · thereO · shareO · boreP · warP · rareO · wonderQ · asunderQ · affairsR · heirsR · estateS · litigateS · otherT · brotherT · assaultU · defaultU · disagreeV · threeV · sorrows · arrows
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| All power is feeble with dissension: | 9 | ·/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| For this I quote the Phrygian slave. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If aught I add to his invention, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| It is our manners to engrave, | 8 | ··//˘·˘/ |
| And not from any envious wishes;-- | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| I'm not so foolishly ambitious. | 9 | ···/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Phaedrus enriches oft his story, | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| In quest--I doubt it not--of glory: | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Such thoughts were idle in my breast. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An aged man, near going to his rest, | 8 | ····/··· |
| His gather'd sons thus solemnly address'd:-- | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘/ |
| 'To break this bunch of arrows you may try; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And, first, the string that binds them I untie.' | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The eldest, having tried with might and main, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Exclaim'd, 'This bundle I resign | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| To muscles sturdier than mine.' | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| The second tried, and bow'd himself in vain. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| The youngest took them with the like success. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| All were obliged their weakness to confess. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Unharm'd the arrows pass'd from son to son; | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Of all they did not break a single one. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Weak fellows!' said their sire, 'I now must show | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| What in the case my feeble strength can do.' | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| They laugh'd, and thought their father but in joke, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Till, one by one, they saw the arrows broke. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'See, concord's power!' replied the sire; 'as long | 10 | ·/·/˘/·/·· |
| As you in love agree, you will be strong. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| I go, my sons, to join our fathers good; | 10 | ······//˘· |
| Now promise me to live as brothers should, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And soothe by this your dying father's fears.' | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Each strictly promised with a flood of tears. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Their father took them by the hand, and died; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And soon the virtue of their vows was tried. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Their sire had left a large estate | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| Involved in lawsuits intricate; | 8 | ˘/·/·/˘˘ |
| Here seized a creditor, and there | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| A neighbour levied for a share. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| At first the trio nobly bore | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| The brunt of all this legal war. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But short their friendship as 'twas rare. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whom blood had join'd--and small the wonder!-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The force of interest drove asunder; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| And, as is wont in such affairs, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ambition, envy, were co-heirs. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| In parcelling their sire's estate, | 8 | ·˘/˘··˘/ |
| They quarrel, quibble, litigate, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Each aiming to supplant the other. | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| The judge, by turns, condemns each brother. | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| Their creditors make new assault, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Some pleading error, some default. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The sunder'd brothers disagree; | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| For counsel one, have counsels three. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| All lose their wealth; and now their sorrows | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Bring fresh to mind those broken arrows. | 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.