Book VI: Phoebus and Boreas
Old Boreas and the sun, one dayEspied a traveller on his way,Whose dress did happily provideAgainst whatever might betide.The time was autumn, when, indeed,All prudent travellers take heed.The rains that then the sunshine dash,And Iris with her splendid sash,Warn one who does not like to soakTo wear abroad a good thick cloak.Our man was therefore well bedightWith double mantle, strong and tight.'This fellow,' said the wind, 'has meantTo guard from every ill event;But little does he wot that ICan blow him such a blastThat, not a button fast,His cloak shall cleave the sky.Come, here's a pleasant game, Sir Sun!Wilt play?' Said Phoebus, 'Done!We'll bet between us hereWhich first will take the gearFrom off this cavalier.Begin, and shut away.The brightness of my ray.''Enough.' Our blower, on the bet,Swell'd out his pursy formWith all the stuff for storm--The thunder, hail, and drenching wet,And all the fury he could muster;Then, with a very demon's bluster,He whistled, whirl'd, and splash'd,And down the torrents dash'd,Full many a roof uptearingHe never did before,Full many a vessel bearingTo wreck upon the shore,--And all to doff a single cloak.But vain the furious stroke;The traveller was stout,And kept the tempest out,Defied the hurricane,Defied the pelting rain;And as the fiercer roar'd the blast,His cloak the tighter held he fast.The sun broke out, to win the bet;He caused the clouds to disappear,Refresh'd and warm'd the cavalier,And through his mantle made him sweat,Till off it came, of course,In less than half an hour;And yet the sun saved half his power.--So much doth mildness more than force.
Words in this poem
- boreas n.
- The north wind; -- usually a personification. [L. boreas, Gr. .]
- happily adv.
- By chance; peradventure; haply. Piers Plowman. [From Happy.]
- betide v. t.
- To happen to; to befall; to come to ; as, woe betide the wanderer. [OE. bitiden; pref. bi-, be- + tiden, fr. AS. tidan, to happen, fr. tid time. See Tide.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- bedight v. t.
- To bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn.
- 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,]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- cavalier n.
- A military man serving on horseback; a knight. [F. cavalier, It. cavaliere, LL. caballarius, fr. L. caballus. See Cavalcade, and cf. Cavallier, Caballine.]
- blower n.
- One who, or that which, blows.
- muster n.
- Something shown for imitation; a pattern. [OE. moustre, OF. mostre, moustre, F. montre, LL. monstra. See Muster, v. t.]
- doff v. t.
- To put off, as dress; to divest one's self of; hence, figuratively, to put or thrust away; to rid one's self of. And made us doff our easy robes of peace. [Do + off. See Do, v. t., 7.]
- tighter n.
- A ribbon or string used to draw clothes closer.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VI: Phoebus and Boreas 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: Phoebus and Boreas, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/6-3.html, id L28316.
Form and metre
Book VI: Phoebus and Boreas is 53 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes AABBCCDDEEFFGGHIIHJJKKKLLMNNMOOPPQRQRSSTTUUVVWXXWYZZY. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHIIHJJKKKLLMNNMOOPPQRQRSSTTUUVVWXXWYZZY dayA · wayA · provideB · betideB · indeedC · heedC · dashD · sashD · soakE · cloakE · bedightF · tightF · meantG · eventG · iH · blastI · fastI · skyH · sunJ · doneJ · hereK · gearK · cavalierK · awayL · rayL · betM · formN · stormN · wetM · musterO · blusterO · splash'dP · dash'dP · uptearingQ · beforeR · bearingQ · shoreR · cloakS · strokeS · stoutT · outT · hurricaneU · rainU · blastV · fastV · betW · disappearX · cavalierX · sweatW · courseY · hourZ · powerZ · forceY
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Old Boreas and the sun, one day | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Espied a traveller on his way, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Whose dress did happily provide | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Against whatever might betide. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The time was autumn, when, indeed, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| All prudent travellers take heed. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| The rains that then the sunshine dash, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And Iris with her splendid sash, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Warn one who does not like to soak | 8 | ········ |
| To wear abroad a good thick cloak. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Our man was therefore well bedight | 8 | /·····˘/ |
| With double mantle, strong and tight. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| 'This fellow,' said the wind, 'has meant | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To guard from every ill event; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But little does he wot that I | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Can blow him such a blast | 6 | ······ |
| That, not a button fast, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| His cloak shall cleave the sky. | 6 | ······ |
| Come, here's a pleasant game, Sir Sun! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wilt play?' Said Phoebus, 'Done! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We'll bet between us here | 6 | ······ |
| Which first will take the gear | 6 | ······ |
| From off this cavalier. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Begin, and shut away. | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| The brightness of my ray.' | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'Enough.' Our blower, on the bet, | 8 | ˘///˘··· |
| Swell'd out his pursy form | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With all the stuff for storm-- | 6 | ······ |
| The thunder, hail, and drenching wet, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And all the fury he could muster; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Then, with a very demon's bluster, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| He whistled, whirl'd, and splash'd, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And down the torrents dash'd, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Full many a roof uptearing | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He never did before, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Full many a vessel bearing | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| To wreck upon the shore,-- | 6 | ······ |
| And all to doff a single cloak. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But vain the furious stroke; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The traveller was stout, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| And kept the tempest out, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Defied the hurricane, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Defied the pelting rain; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| And as the fiercer roar'd the blast, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His cloak the tighter held he fast. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sun broke out, to win the bet; | 8 | ········ |
| He caused the clouds to disappear, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Refresh'd and warm'd the cavalier, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| And through his mantle made him sweat, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Till off it came, of course, | 6 | ······ |
| In less than half an hour; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And yet the sun saved half his power.-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| So much doth mildness more than force. | 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.