Book IV: The Fly and the Ant
A fly and ant, upon a sunny bank,Discuss'd the question of their rank.'O Jupiter!' the former said,'Can love of self so turn the head,That one so mean and crawling,And of so low a calling,To boast equality shall dareWith me, the daughter of the air?In palaces I am a guest,And even at thy glorious feast.Whene'er the people that adore theeMay immolate for thee a bullock,I'm sure to taste the meat before thee.Meanwhile this starveling, in her hillock,Is living on some bit of strawWhich she has labour'd home to draw.But tell me now, my little thing,Do you camp ever on a king,An emperor, or lady?I do, and have full many a play-dayOn fairest bosom of the fair,And sport myself upon her hair.Come now, my hearty, rack your brainTo make a case about your grain.''Well, have you done?' replied the ant.'You enter palaces, I grant,And for it get right soundly cursed.Of sacrifices, rich and fat,Your taste, quite likely, is the first;--Are they the better off for that?You enter with the holy train;So enters many a wretch profane.On heads of kings and asses you may squat;Deny your vaunting I will not;But well such impudence, I know,Provokes a sometimes fatal blow.The name in which your vanity delightsIs own'd as well by parasites,And spies that die by ropes--as you soon willBy famine or by ague-chill,When Phoebus goes to cheerThe other hemisphere,--The very time to me most dear.Not forced abroad to goThrough wind, and rain, and snow,My summer's work I then enjoy,And happily my mind employ,From care by care exempted.By which this truth I leave to you,That by two sorts of glory we are tempted,The false one and the true.Work waits, time flies; adieu:--This gabble does not fillMy granary or till.'
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- 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,]
- 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.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- immolate v. t.
- To sacrifice; to offer in sacrifice; to kill, as a sacrificial victim. [L. immolatus, p. p. of immolare to sacrifice, orig., to sprinkle a victim with sacrifical meal; pref. im- in + mola grits or grains of spelt coarsely ground and]
- bullock n.
- A young bull, or any male of the ox kind. [AS. bulluc a young bull. See Bull.]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- starveling n.
- One who, or that which, pines from lack or food, or nutriment. [Starve + -ling.]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- happily adv.
- By chance; peradventure; haply. Piers Plowman. [From Happy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: The Fly and the Ant 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 Fly and the Ant, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/4-3.html, id L28273.
Form and metre
Book IV: The Fly and the Ant is 54 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 63% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 AABBCCDD------EEFF--GGHHIIJKJKLLMMNNOOPPQQQRRSS-T-TTUU bankA · rankA · saidB · headB · crawlingC · callingC · dareD · airD · guest · feast · thee · bullock · thee · hillock · strawE · drawE · thingF · kingF · lady · day · fairG · hairG · brainH · grainH · antI · grantI · cursedJ · fatK · firstJ · thatK · trainL · profaneL · squatM · notM · knowN · blowN · delightsO · parasitesO · willP · chillP · cheerQ · hemisphereQ · dearQ · goR · snowR · enjoyS · employS · exempted · youT · tempted · trueT · adieuT · fillU · tillU
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 fly and ant, upon a sunny bank, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Discuss'd the question of their rank. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| 'O Jupiter!' the former said, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| 'Can love of self so turn the head, | 8 | ········ |
| That one so mean and crawling, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And of so low a calling, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To boast equality shall dare | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| With me, the daughter of the air? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In palaces I am a guest, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And even at thy glorious feast. | 8 | ·/··/˘˘· |
| Whene'er the people that adore thee | 10 | ····/˘·˘/· |
| May immolate for thee a bullock, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| I'm sure to taste the meat before thee. | 9 | ········· |
| Meanwhile this starveling, in her hillock, | 9 | /··/˘··/˘ |
| Is living on some bit of straw | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which she has labour'd home to draw. | 8 | ········ |
| But tell me now, my little thing, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Do you camp ever on a king, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An emperor, or lady? | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| I do, and have full many a play-day | 9 | ·····/··· |
| On fairest bosom of the fair, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And sport myself upon her hair. | 8 | ···/···· |
| Come now, my hearty, rack your brain | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To make a case about your grain.' | 8 | ········ |
| 'Well, have you done?' replied the ant. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| 'You enter palaces, I grant, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| And for it get right soundly cursed. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of sacrifices, rich and fat, | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| Your taste, quite likely, is the first;-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Are they the better off for that? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You enter with the holy train; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| So enters many a wretch profane. | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| On heads of kings and asses you may squat; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Deny your vaunting I will not; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| But well such impudence, I know, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Provokes a sometimes fatal blow. | 8 | ˘/·/·/˘· |
| The name in which your vanity delights | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| Is own'd as well by parasites, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And spies that die by ropes--as you soon will | 10 | ·········· |
| By famine or by ague-chill, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When Phoebus goes to cheer | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The other hemisphere,-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The very time to me most dear. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Not forced abroad to go | 7 | ··˘˘/·· |
| Through wind, and rain, and snow, | 6 | ······ |
| My summer's work I then enjoy, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And happily my mind employ, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| From care by care exempted. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| By which this truth I leave to you, | 8 | ········ |
| That by two sorts of glory we are tempted, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| The false one and the true. | 6 | ······ |
| Work waits, time flies; adieu:-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| This gabble does not fill | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My granary or till.' | 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.