Book VI: The Stag Seeing Himself in the Water
Beside a placid, crystal flood,A stag admired the branching woodThat high upon his forehead stood,But gave his Maker little thanksFor what he call'd his spindle shanks.'What limbs are these for such a head!--So mean and slim!' with grief he said.'My glorious heads o'ertopsThe branches of the copse;My legs are my disgrace.'As thus he talk'd, a bloodhound gave him chase.To save his life he flewWhere forests thickest grew.His horns,--pernicious ornament!--Arresting him where'er he went,Did unavailing renderWhat else, in such a strife,Had saved his precious life--His legs, as fleet as slender.Obliged to yield, he cursed the gearWhich nature gave him every year.
Too much the beautiful we prize;The useful, often, we despise:Yet oft, as happen'd to the stag,The former doth to ruin drag.
Words in this poem
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- admired a.
- Regarded with wonder and delight; highly prized; as, an admired poem.
- 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.]
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- arresting a.
- Striking; attracting attention; impressive.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VI: The Stag Seeing Himself in the Water 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 Stag Seeing Himself in the Water, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/6-9.html, id L28322.
Form and metre
Book VI: The Stag Seeing Himself in the Water is 25 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AAABBCCDDEEFFGGHIIHJJ floodA · woodA · stoodA · thanksB · shanksB · headC · saidC · o'ertopsD · copseD · disgraceE · chaseE · flewF · grewF · ornamentG · wentG · renderH · strifeI · lifeI · slenderH · gearJ · yearJ
- 2 AABB prizeA · despiseA · stagB · dragB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beside a placid, crystal flood, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| A stag admired the branching wood | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That high upon his forehead stood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But gave his Maker little thanks | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For what he call'd his spindle shanks. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'What limbs are these for such a head!-- | 8 | ········ |
| So mean and slim!' with grief he said. | 8 | ········ |
| 'My glorious heads o'ertops | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The branches of the copse; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My legs are my disgrace.' | 6 | ····˘/ |
| As thus he talk'd, a bloodhound gave him chase. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To save his life he flew | 6 | ······ |
| Where forests thickest grew. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| His horns,--pernicious ornament!-- | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Arresting him where'er he went, | 9 | ˘/˘·˘˘/·· |
| Did unavailing render | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| What else, in such a strife, | 6 | ······ |
| Had saved his precious life-- | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| His legs, as fleet as slender. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Obliged to yield, he cursed the gear | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Which nature gave him every year. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Too much the beautiful we prize; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The useful, often, we despise: | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Yet oft, as happen'd to the stag, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The former doth to ruin drag. | 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.