Book IV: The Shepherd and the Sea
A shepherd, neighbour to the sea,Lived with his flock contentedly.His fortune, though but small,Was safe within his call.At last some stranded kegs of goldHim tempted, and his flock he sold,Turn'd merchant, and the ocean's wavesBore all his treasure--to its caves.Brought back to keeping sheep once more,But not chief shepherd, as before,When sheep were his that grazed the shore,He who, as Corydon or Thyrsis,Might once have shone in pastoral verses,Bedeck'd with rhyme and metre,Was nothing now but Peter.But time and toil redeem'd in fullThose harmless creatures rich in wool;And as the lulling winds, one day,The vessels wafted with a gentle motion,'Want you,' he cried, 'more money, Madam Ocean?Address yourself to some one else, I pray;You shall not get it out of me!I know too well your treachery.'
This tale's no fiction, but a fact,Which, by experience back'd,Proves that a single penny,At present held, and certain,Is worth five times as many,Of Hope's, beyond the curtain;That one should be content with his condition,And shut his ears to counsels of ambition,More faithless than the wreck-strown sea, and whichDoth thousands beggar where it makes one rich,--Inspires the hope of wealth, in glorious forms,And blasts the same with piracy and storms.
Words in this poem
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- 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.]
- piracy n.
- The act or crime of a pirate. [Cf. LL. piratia, Gr. Pirate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: The Shepherd and the Sea 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 Shepherd and the Sea, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/4-2.html, id L28272.
Form and metre
Book IV: The Shepherd and the Sea is 35 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 A-BBCCDDEEE--FFGGHIIHA- seaA · contentedly · smallB · callB · goldC · soldC · wavesD · cavesD · moreE · beforeE · shoreE · thyrsis · verses · metreF · peterF · fullG · woolG · dayH · motionI · oceanI · prayH · meA · treachery
- 2 AABCBCDDEEFF factA · back'dA · pennyB · certainC · manyB · curtainC · conditionD · ambitionD · whichE · richE · formsF · stormsF
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 shepherd, neighbour to the sea, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Lived with his flock contentedly. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| His fortune, though but small, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Was safe within his call. | 6 | ······ |
| At last some stranded kegs of gold | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Him tempted, and his flock he sold, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Turn'd merchant, and the ocean's waves | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Bore all his treasure--to its caves. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Brought back to keeping sheep once more, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But not chief shepherd, as before, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When sheep were his that grazed the shore, | 8 | ········ |
| He who, as Corydon or Thyrsis, | 9 | ········· |
| Might once have shone in pastoral verses, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Bedeck'd with rhyme and metre, | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| Was nothing now but Peter. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| But time and toil redeem'd in full | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Those harmless creatures rich in wool; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And as the lulling winds, one day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The vessels wafted with a gentle motion, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| 'Want you,' he cried, 'more money, Madam Ocean? | 10 | ·····/˘/˘/ |
| Address yourself to some one else, I pray; | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| You shall not get it out of me! | 8 | ········ |
| I know too well your treachery.' | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| This tale's no fiction, but a fact, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which, by experience back'd, | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Proves that a single penny, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| At present held, and certain, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Is worth five times as many, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Of Hope's, beyond the curtain; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That one should be content with his condition, | 11 | ····˘/··˘/˘ |
| And shut his ears to counsels of ambition, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| More faithless than the wreck-strown sea, and which | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Doth thousands beggar where it makes one rich,-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Inspires the hope of wealth, in glorious forms, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| And blasts the same with piracy and storms. | 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.