Book VI: The Carter in the Mire
The Phaëton who drove a load of hayOnce found his cart bemired.Poor man! the spot was far awayFrom human help--retired,In some rude country place,In Brittany, as near as I can trace,Near Quimper Corentan,--A town that poet never sang,--Which Fate, they say, puts in the traveller's path,When she would rouse the man to special wrath.May Heaven preserve us from that route!But to our carter, hale and stout:--Fast stuck his cart; he swore his worst,And, fill'd with rage extreme,The mud-holes now he cursed,And now he cursed his team,And now his cart and load,--Anon, the like upon himself bestow'd.Upon the god he call'd at length,Most famous through the world for strength.'O, help me, Hercules!' cried he;'For if thy back of yoreThis burly planet bore,Thy arm can set me free.'This prayer gone up, from out a cloud there brokeA voice which thus in godlike accents spoke:--'The suppliant must himself bestir,Ere Hercules will aid confer.Look wisely in the proper quarter,To see what hindrance can be found;Remove the execrable mud and mortar,Which, axle-deep, beset thy wheels around.Thy sledge and crowbar take,And pry me up that stone, or break;Now fill that rut upon the other side.Hast done it?' 'Yes,' the man replied.'Well,' said the voice, 'I'll aid thee now;Take up thy whip.' 'I have ... but, how?My cart glides on with ease!I thank thee, Hercules.''Thy team,' rejoin'd the voice, 'has light ado;So help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too.'
Words in this poem
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- route n.
- The course or way which is traveled or passed, or is to be passed; a passing; a course; a road or path; a march. [OE. & F. route, OF. rote, fr. L. rupta (sc. via), fr. ruptus, p.p. of rumpere to break; hence, literally, a broken or beaten way or path. See Rout, and cf. Rut ]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- bestir v. t.
- To put into brisk or vigorous action; to move with life and vigor; -- usually with the reciprocal pronoun.
- crowbar n.
- A bar of iron sharpened at one end, and used as a lever.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VI: The Carter in the Mire 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 VI: The Carter in the Mire, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/6-18.html, id L28331.
Form and metre
Book VI: The Carter in the Mire is 42 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 A-A-BB--CC--DEDEFFGGHIIHJJKKLMLMNNOOPPQQRR hayA · bemired · awayA · retired · placeB · traceB · corentan · sang · pathC · wrathC · route · stout · worstD · extremeE · cursedD · teamE · loadF · bestow'dF · lengthG · strengthG · heH · yoreI · boreI · freeH · brokeJ · spokeJ · bestirK · conferK · quarterL · foundM · mortarL · aroundM · takeN · breakN · sideO · repliedO · nowP · howP · easeQ · herculesQ · adoR · tooR
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Phaëton who drove a load of hay | 9 | ········· |
| Once found his cart bemired. | 6 | ······ |
| Poor man! the spot was far away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| From human help--retired, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| In some rude country place, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In Brittany, as near as I can trace, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Near Quimper Corentan,-- | 6 | ······ |
| A town that poet never sang,-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Which Fate, they say, puts in the traveller's path, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When she would rouse the man to special wrath. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| May Heaven preserve us from that route! | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| But to our carter, hale and stout:-- | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| Fast stuck his cart; he swore his worst, | 8 | ········ |
| And, fill'd with rage extreme, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The mud-holes now he cursed, | 6 | ······ |
| And now he cursed his team, | 6 | ······ |
| And now his cart and load,-- | 6 | ······ |
| Anon, the like upon himself bestow'd. | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘/ |
| Upon the god he call'd at length, | 8 | ········ |
| Most famous through the world for strength. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'O, help me, Hercules!' cried he; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'For if thy back of yore | 6 | ······ |
| This burly planet bore, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Thy arm can set me free.' | 6 | ······ |
| This prayer gone up, from out a cloud there broke | 10 | ·········· |
| A voice which thus in godlike accents spoke:-- | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| 'The suppliant must himself bestir, | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘/ |
| Ere Hercules will aid confer. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Look wisely in the proper quarter, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| To see what hindrance can be found; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Remove the execrable mud and mortar, | 10 | ˘/··/˘··/˘ |
| Which, axle-deep, beset thy wheels around. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Thy sledge and crowbar take, | 6 | ···/·· |
| And pry me up that stone, or break; | 8 | ········ |
| Now fill that rut upon the other side. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Hast done it?' 'Yes,' the man replied. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'Well,' said the voice, 'I'll aid thee now; | 8 | ········ |
| Take up thy whip.' 'I have ... but, how? | 8 | ········ |
| My cart glides on with ease! | 6 | ······ |
| I thank thee, Hercules.' | 6 | ···/˘· |
| 'Thy team,' rejoin'd the voice, 'has light ado; | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| So help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too.' | 10 | ··˘/·/···· |
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.