Book V: The Eagle and the Owl
The eagle and the owl, resolved to ceaseTheir war, embraced in pledge of peace.On faith of king, on faith of owl, they sworeThat they would eat each other's chicks no more.'But know you mine?' said Wisdom's bird.'Not I, indeed,' the eagle cried.'The worse for that,' the owl replied:'I fear your oath's a useless word;I fear that you, as king, will notConsider duly who or what:You kings and gods, of what's before ye,Are apt to make one category.Adieu, my young, if you should meet them!''Describe them, then, or let me greet them,And, on my life, I will not eat them,'The eagle said. The owl replied:'My little ones, I say with pride,For grace of form cannot be match'd,--The prettiest birds that e'er were hatch'd;By this you cannot fail to know them;'Tis needless, therefore, that I show them.Pray don't forget, but keep this mark in view,Lest fate should curse my happy nest by you.'At length God gives the owl a set of heirs,And while at early eve abroad he fares,In quest of birds and mice for food,Our eagle haply spies the brood,As on some craggy rock they sprawl,Or nestle in some ruined wall,(But which it matters not at all,)And thinks them ugly little frights,Grim, sad, with voice like shrieking sprites.'These chicks,' says he, 'with looks almost infernal,Can't be the darlings of our friend nocturnal.I'll sup of them.' And so he did, not slightly:--He never sups, if he can help it, lightly.The owl return'd; and, sad, he foundNought left but claws upon the ground.He pray'd the gods above and gods belowTo smite the brigand who had caused his woe.Quoth one, 'On you alone the blame must fall;Or rather on the law of nature,Which wills that every earthly creatureShall think its like the loveliest of all.You told the eagle of your young ones' graces;You gave the picture of their faces:--Had it of likeness any traces?'
Words in this poem
- category n.
- One of the highest classes to which the objects of knowledge or thought can be reduced, and by which they can be arranged in a system; an ultimate or undecomposable conception; a predicament.
- needless a.
- Having no need.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- sprawl v. i.
- To spread and stretch the body or limbs carelessly in a horizontal position; to lie with the limbs stretched out ungracefully. [OE. spraulen; cf. Sw. sprattla to sprawl, dial. Sw. spralla, Dan. spælle, sprælde, D. spartelen, spertelen, to flounder, to struggle.]
- nestle v. i.
- To make and occupy a nest; to nest. [AS. nestlian.]
- brigand n.
- A light-armed, irregular foot soldier. [F. brigand, OF. brigant light-armed soldier, fr. LL. brigans light-armed soldier (cf. It. brigante.) fr. brigare to strive, contend, fr. briga quarrel; prob. of]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book V: The Eagle and the Owl 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 Eagle and the Owl, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/5-18.html, id L28310.
Form and metre
Book V: The Eagle and the Owl is 47 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 AABBCDDC-------EEFF--GGHHIIJJJKKJJLLMMNNO--O-PP ceaseA · peaceA · sworeB · moreB · birdC · criedD · repliedD · wordC · not · what · ye · category · them · them · them · repliedE · prideE · match'dF · hatch'dF · them · them · viewG · youG · heirsH · faresH · foodI · broodI · sprawlJ · wallJ · allJ · frightsK · spritesK · infernalJ · nocturnalJ · slightlyL · lightlyL · foundM · groundM · belowN · woeN · fallO · nature · creature · allO · graces · facesP · tracesP
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The eagle and the owl, resolved to cease | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Their war, embraced in pledge of peace. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| On faith of king, on faith of owl, they swore | 10 | ·········· |
| That they would eat each other's chicks no more. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| 'But know you mine?' said Wisdom's bird. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Not I, indeed,' the eagle cried. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| 'The worse for that,' the owl replied: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'I fear your oath's a useless word; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I fear that you, as king, will not | 8 | ········ |
| Consider duly who or what: | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| You kings and gods, of what's before ye, | 9 | ········· |
| Are apt to make one category. | 9 | ·····/˘·˘ |
| Adieu, my young, if you should meet them!' | 9 | ˘/······· |
| 'Describe them, then, or let me greet them, | 9 | ˘/······· |
| And, on my life, I will not eat them,' | 9 | ········· |
| The eagle said. The owl replied: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| 'My little ones, I say with pride, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For grace of form cannot be match'd,-- | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| The prettiest birds that e'er were hatch'd; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By this you cannot fail to know them; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| 'Tis needless, therefore, that I show them. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Pray don't forget, but keep this mark in view, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Lest fate should curse my happy nest by you.' | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| At length God gives the owl a set of heirs, | 10 | ·········· |
| And while at early eve abroad he fares, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| In quest of birds and mice for food, | 8 | ········ |
| Our eagle haply spies the brood, | 8 | //˘/˘··· |
| As on some craggy rock they sprawl, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or nestle in some ruined wall, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| (But which it matters not at all,) | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And thinks them ugly little frights, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Grim, sad, with voice like shrieking sprites. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'These chicks,' says he, 'with looks almost infernal, | 11 | ······/·˘/˘ |
| Can't be the darlings of our friend nocturnal. | 11 | ···/˘·/·˘/˘ |
| I'll sup of them.' And so he did, not slightly:-- | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| He never sups, if he can help it, lightly. | 10 | ·/······/˘ |
| The owl return'd; and, sad, he found | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Nought left but claws upon the ground. | 8 | ········ |
| He pray'd the gods above and gods below | 10 | ·········· |
| To smite the brigand who had caused his woe. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Quoth one, 'On you alone the blame must fall; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Or rather on the law of nature, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Which wills that every earthly creature | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Shall think its like the loveliest of all. | 10 | ·········· |
| You told the eagle of your young ones' graces; | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| You gave the picture of their faces:-- | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Had it of likeness any traces?' | 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.