Book V: The Satyr and the Traveller
Within a savage forest grotA satyr and his chipsWere taking down their porridge hot;Their cups were at their lips.
You might have seen in mossy den,Himself, his wife, and brood;They had not tailor-clothes, like men,But appetites as good.
In came a traveller, benighted,All hungry, cold, and wet,Who heard himself to eat invitedWith nothing like regret.
He did not give his host the painHis asking to repeat;But first he blew with might and mainTo give his fingers heat.
Then in his steaming porridge dishHe delicately blew.The wondering satyr said, 'I wishThe use of both I knew.'
'Why, first, my blowing warms my hand,And then it cools my porridge.''Ah!' said his host, 'then understandI cannot give you storage.'To sleep beneath one roof with you,I may not be so bold.Far be from me that mouth untrueWhich blows both hot and cold.'
Words in this poem
- satyr n.
- A sylvan deity or demigod, represented as part man and part goat, and characterized by riotous merriment and lasciviousness. [L. satyrus, Gr. satyre.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book V: The Satyr and the Traveller 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 Satyr and the Traveller, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/5-7.html, id L28299.
Form and metre
Book V: The Satyr and the Traveller is 28 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB grotA · chipsB · hotA · lipsB
- 2 ABAB denA · broodB · menA · goodB
- 3 ABAB benightedA · wetB · invitedA · regretB
- 4 ABAB painA · repeatB · mainA · heatB
- 5 ABAB dishA · blewB · wishA · knewB
- 6 ABABCDCD handA · porridgeB · understandA · storageB · youC · boldD · untrueC · coldD
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Within a savage forest grot | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A satyr and his chips | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Were taking down their porridge hot; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Their cups were at their lips. | 6 | ······ |
| You might have seen in mossy den, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Himself, his wife, and brood; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| They had not tailor-clothes, like men, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But appetites as good. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In came a traveller, benighted, | 9 | ···/˘˘˘/˘ |
| All hungry, cold, and wet, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Who heard himself to eat invited | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| With nothing like regret. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| He did not give his host the pain | 8 | ········ |
| His asking to repeat; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| But first he blew with might and main | 8 | ········ |
| To give his fingers heat. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then in his steaming porridge dish | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| He delicately blew. | 6 | ·/˘˘˘· |
| The wondering satyr said, 'I wish | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The use of both I knew.' | 6 | ······ |
| 'Why, first, my blowing warms my hand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And then it cools my porridge.' | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| 'Ah!' said his host, 'then understand | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I cannot give you storage. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| 'To sleep beneath one roof with you, | 8 | ········ |
| I may not be so bold. | 6 | ······ |
| Far be from me that mouth untrue | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Which blows both hot and cold.' | 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.