Book V: The Old Woman and Her Two Servants
A beldam kept two spinning maids,Who plied so handily their trades,Those spinning sisters down belowWere bunglers when compared with these.No care did this old woman knowBut giving tasks as she might please.No sooner did the god of dayHis glorious locks enkindle,Than both the wheels began to play,And from each whirling spindleForth danced the thread right merrily,And back was coil'd unceasingly.Soon as the dawn, I say, its tresses show'd,A graceless cock most punctual crow'd.The beldam roused, more graceless yet,In greasy petticoat bedight,Struck up her farthing light,And then forthwith the bed beset,Where deeply, blessedly did snoreThose two maid-servants tired and poor.One oped an eye, an arm one stretch'd,And both their breath most sadly fetch'd,This threat concealing in the sigh--'That cursed cock shall surely die!'And so he did:--they cut his throat,And put to sleep his rousing note.And yet this murder mended notThe cruel hardship of their lot;For now the twain were scarce in bedBefore they heard the summons dread.The beldam, full of apprehensionLest oversleep should cause detention,Ran like a goblin through her mansion.Thus often, when one thinksTo clear himself from ill,His effort only sinksHim in the deeper still.The beldam, acting for the cock,Was Scylla for Charybdis' rock.
Words in this poem 18
- beldam n.
- Grandmother; -- corresponding to belsire. [Pref. bel-, denoting relationship + dame mother: cf. F. belledame fair lady, It. belladonna. See Belle, and Dame.]
- handily adv.
- In a handy manner; skillfully; conveniently. [See Handy.]
- 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.]
- enkindle v. t.
- To set on fire; to inflame; to kindle.
- graceless a.
- Wanting in grace or excellence; departed from, or deprived of, divine grace; hence, depraved; corrupt.
- punctual a.
- Consisting in a point; limited to a point; unextended. [F. ponctuel (cf. Sp.puntual, It. puntuale), from L. punctum point. See Point.]
- bedight v. t.
- To bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn.
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
- blessedly adv.
- Happily; fortunately; joyfully.
- snore v. i.
- To breathe with a rough, hoarse, nasal voice in sleep. [OE. snoren, AS. snora a snoring; akin to LG. snoren, snorken, snurken, to snore, D. snorken, G. schnarchen to snore, schnarren to rattle, MHG. snarren, Sw. snar]
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- 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,]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- 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]
- oversleep v. t.
- To sleep beyond; as, to oversleep one's self or one's usual hour of rising.
- detention n.
- The act of detaining or keeping back; a withholding. [L. detentio: cf. F. détention. See Detain.]
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book V: The Old Woman and Her Two Servants 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 Old Woman and Her Two Servants, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/5-6.html, id L28298.
Form and metre
Book V: The Old Woman and Her Two Servants is 39 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABCBCDEDE--FFGHHG--IIJJKKLLMMNN-OPOPQQ maidsA · tradesA · belowB · theseC · knowB · pleaseC · dayD · enkindleE · playD · spindleE · merrily · unceasingly · show'dF · crow'dF · yetG · bedightH · lightH · besetG · snore · poor · stretch'dI · fetch'dI · sighJ · dieJ · throatK · noteK · notL · lotL · bedM · dreadM · apprehensionN · detentionN · mansion · thinksO · illP · sinksO · stillP · cockQ · rockQ
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 beldam kept two spinning maids, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who plied so handily their trades, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Those spinning sisters down below | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Were bunglers when compared with these. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| No care did this old woman know | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But giving tasks as she might please. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No sooner did the god of day | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His glorious locks enkindle, | 8 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Than both the wheels began to play, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And from each whirling spindle | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Forth danced the thread right merrily, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And back was coil'd unceasingly. | 8 | ········ |
| Soon as the dawn, I say, its tresses show'd, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A graceless cock most punctual crow'd. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The beldam roused, more graceless yet, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In greasy petticoat bedight, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Struck up her farthing light, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And then forthwith the bed beset, | 8 | ··//··˘/ |
| Where deeply, blessedly did snore | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Those two maid-servants tired and poor. | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| One oped an eye, an arm one stretch'd, | 8 | ········ |
| And both their breath most sadly fetch'd, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This threat concealing in the sigh-- | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| 'That cursed cock shall surely die!' | 8 | ··˘··/˘· |
| And so he did:--they cut his throat, | 8 | ········ |
| And put to sleep his rousing note. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And yet this murder mended not | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The cruel hardship of their lot; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For now the twain were scarce in bed | 8 | ········ |
| Before they heard the summons dread. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The beldam, full of apprehension | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Lest oversleep should cause detention, | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| Ran like a goblin through her mansion. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Thus often, when one thinks | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To clear himself from ill, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| His effort only sinks | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Him in the deeper still. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The beldam, acting for the cock, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Was Scylla for Charybdis' rock. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
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.