Book V: The Stag and the Vine
A stag, by favour of a vine,Which grew where suns most genial shine,And form'd a thick and matted bowerWhich might have turn'd a summer shower,Was saved from ruinous assault.The hunters thought their dogs at fault,And call'd them off. In danger now no moreThe stag, a thankless wretch and vile,Began to browse his benefactress o'er.The hunters, listening the while,The rustling heard, came back,With all their yelping pack,And seized him in that very place.'This is,' said he, 'but justice, in my case.Let every black ingrateHenceforward profit by my fate.'The dogs fell to--'twere wasting breathTo pray those hunters at the death.They left, and we will not revile 'em,A warning for profaners of asylum.
Words in this poem
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- thankless a.
- Not acknowledging favors; not expressing thankfulness; unthankful; ungrateful.
- benefactress n.
- A woman who confers a benefit.
- ingrate n.
- An ungrateful person.
- henceforward adv.
- From this time forward; henceforth.
- asylum n.
- A sanctuary or place of refuge and protection, where criminals and debtors found shelter, and from which they could not be forcibly taken without sacrilege.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book V: The Stag and the Vine 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 V: The Stag and the Vine, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/5-15.html, id L28307.
Form and metre
Book V: The Stag and the Vine is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% 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 AABBCC-D-DEEFFGGHHII vineA · shineA · bowerB · showerB · assaultC · faultC · more · vileD · o'er · whileD · backE · packE · placeF · caseF · ingrateG · fateG · breathH · deathH · emI · asylumI
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 stag, by favour of a vine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which grew where suns most genial shine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And form'd a thick and matted bower | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Which might have turn'd a summer shower, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Was saved from ruinous assault. | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| The hunters thought their dogs at fault, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And call'd them off. In danger now no more | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The stag, a thankless wretch and vile, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Began to browse his benefactress o'er. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| The hunters, listening the while, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| The rustling heard, came back, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| With all their yelping pack, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And seized him in that very place. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'This is,' said he, 'but justice, in my case. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Let every black ingrate | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Henceforward profit by my fate.' | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| The dogs fell to--'twere wasting breath | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To pray those hunters at the death. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They left, and we will not revile 'em, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| A warning for profaners of asylum. | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
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.