Book V: The Hare and the Partridge
Beware how you derideThe exiles from life's sunny side:To you is little knownHow soon their case may be your own.On this, sage Aesop gives a tale or two,As in my verses I propose to do.A field in common shareA partridge and a hare,And live in peaceful state,Till, woeful to relate!The hunters' mingled cryCompels the hare to fly.He hurries to his fort,And spoils almost the sportBy faulting every houndThat yelps upon the ground.At last his reeking heatBetrays his snug retreat.Old Tray, with philosophic nose,Snuffs carefully, and growsSo certain, that he cries,'The hare is here; bow wow!'And veteran Ranger now,--The dog that never lies,--'The hare is gone,' replies.Alas! poor, wretched hare,Back comes he to his lair,To meet destruction there!The partridge, void of fear,Begins her friend to jeer:--'You bragg'd of being fleet;How serve you, now, your feet?'Scarce has she ceased to speak,--The laugh yet in her beak,--When comes her turn to die,From which she could not fly.She thought her wings, indeed,Enough for every need;But in her laugh and talk,Forgot the cruel hawk!
Words in this poem
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- deride v. t.
- To laugh at with contempt; to laugh to scorn; to turn to ridicule or make sport of; to mock; to scoff at. [L. deridere, derisum; de- + rid to laugh. See Ridicule.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- propose v. i.
- To speak; to converse.
- hurries n.
- A staith or framework from which coal is discharged from cars into vessels.
- faulting n.
- The state or condition of being faulted; the process by which a fault is produced.
- philosophic a.
- Of or pertaining to philosophy; versed in, or imbued with, the principles of philosophy; hence, characterizing a philosopher; rational; wise; temperate; calm; cool. [L. philosophicus: cf. F. philosophique.]
- ranger n.
- One who ranges; a rover; sometimes, one who ranges for plunder; a roving robber.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book V: The Hare and the Partridge 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 Hare and the Partridge, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/5-17.html, id L28309.
Form and metre
Book V: The Hare and the Partridge is 40 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 85% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKLLKKMMMMMNNOOPPQQRR derideA · sideA · knownB · ownB · twoC · doC · shareD · hareD · stateE · relateE · cryF · flyF · fortG · sportG · houndH · groundH · heatI · retreatI · noseJ · growsJ · criesK · wowL · nowL · liesK · repliesK · hareM · lairM · thereM · fearM · jeerM · fleetN · feetN · speakO · beakO · dieP · flyP · indeedQ · needQ · talkR · hawkR
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Beware how you deride | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| The exiles from life's sunny side: | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| To you is little known | 6 | ···/˘· |
| How soon their case may be your own. | 8 | ········ |
| On this, sage Aesop gives a tale or two, | 10 | ···/······ |
| As in my verses I propose to do. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| A field in common share | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A partridge and a hare, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And live in peaceful state, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Till, woeful to relate! | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The hunters' mingled cry | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Compels the hare to fly. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| He hurries to his fort, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And spoils almost the sport | 6 | ··/··· |
| By faulting every hound | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That yelps upon the ground. | 6 | ······ |
| At last his reeking heat | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Betrays his snug retreat. | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| Old Tray, with philosophic nose, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Snuffs carefully, and grows | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| So certain, that he cries, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'The hare is here; bow wow!' | 6 | ······ |
| And veteran Ranger now,-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The dog that never lies,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| 'The hare is gone,' replies. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Alas! poor, wretched hare, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Back comes he to his lair, | 6 | ······ |
| To meet destruction there! | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| The partridge, void of fear, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Begins her friend to jeer:-- | 6 | ˘/···· |
| 'You bragg'd of being fleet; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| How serve you, now, your feet?' | 6 | ······ |
| Scarce has she ceased to speak,-- | 6 | ······ |
| The laugh yet in her beak,-- | 6 | ······ |
| When comes her turn to die, | 6 | ······ |
| From which she could not fly. | 6 | ······ |
| She thought her wings, indeed, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Enough for every need; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| But in her laugh and talk, | 6 | ······ |
| Forgot the cruel hawk! | 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.