Book VII: To Madame De Montespan
The apologue is from the immortal gods;Or, if the gift of man it is,Its author merits apotheosis.Whoever magic genius laudsWill do what in him liesTo raise this art's inventor to the skies.It hath the potence of a charm,On dulness lays a conquering arm,Subjects the mind to its control,And works its will upon the soul.O lady, arm'd with equal power,If e'er within celestial bower,With messmate gods reclined,My muse ambrosially hath dined,Lend me the favour of a smileOn this her playful toil.If you support, the tooth of time will shun,And let my work the envious years outrun.If authors would themselves survive,To gain your suffrage they should strive.On you my verses wait to get their worth;To you my beauties all will owe their birth,--For beauties you will recognizeInvisible to other eyes.Ah! who can boast a taste so true,Of beauty or of grace,In either thought or face?For words and looks are equal charms in you.Upon a theme so sweet, the truth to tell,My muse would gladly dwell:But this employ to others I must yield;--A greater master claims the field.For me, fair lady, 'twere enoughYour name should be my wall and roof.Protect henceforth the favour'd bookThrough which for second life I look.In your auspicious light,These lines, in envy's spite,Will gain the glorious meed,That all the world shall read.'Tis not that I deserve such fame;--I only ask in Fable's name,(You know what credit that should claim;)And, if successfully I sue,A fane will be to Fable due,--A thing I would not build--except for you.
Words in this poem 17
- apologue n.
- A story or relation of fictitious events, intended to convey some moral truth; a moral fable. [L. apologous, Gr. apologue.]
- apotheosis n.
- The act of elevating a mortal to the rank of, and placing him among,
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- potence n.
- Potency; capacity. Sir W. Hamilton. [F., fr. LL. potentia staff, crutch, L., might, power. See Potency.]
- messmate n.
- An associate in a mess.
- reclined a.
- Falling or turned downward; reclinate.
- ambrosially adv.
- After the manner of ambrosia; delightfully.
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- outrun v. t.
- To exceed, or leave behind, in running; to run faster than; to outstrip; to go beyond.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- 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.]
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
- 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,]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VII: To Madame De Montespan 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 VII: To Madame De Montespan, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/7-0.html, id L28336.
Form and metre
Book VII: To Madame De Montespan is 46 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 65% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ----AABBCCDDEE--FFGGHHIIJKKJLLMM--NNOO--PPPQQQ gods · is · apotheosis · lauds · liesA · skiesA · charmB · armB · controlC · soulC · powerD · bowerD · reclinedE · dinedE · smile · toil · shunF · outrunF · surviveG · striveG · worthH · birthH · recognizeI · eyesI · trueJ · graceK · faceK · youJ · tellL · dwellL · yieldM · fieldM · enough · roof · bookN · lookN · lightO · spiteO · meed · read · fameP · nameP · claimP · sueQ · dueQ · youQ
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 apologue is from the immortal gods; | 11 | ·/˘˘···˘/˘· |
| Or, if the gift of man it is, | 8 | ········ |
| Its author merits apotheosis. | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Whoever magic genius lauds | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Will do what in him lies | 6 | ······ |
| To raise this art's inventor to the skies. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| It hath the potence of a charm, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On dulness lays a conquering arm, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Subjects the mind to its control, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| And works its will upon the soul. | 8 | ········ |
| O lady, arm'd with equal power, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| If e'er within celestial bower, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| With messmate gods reclined, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| My muse ambrosially hath dined, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Lend me the favour of a smile | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On this her playful toil. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If you support, the tooth of time will shun, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And let my work the envious years outrun. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| If authors would themselves survive, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| To gain your suffrage they should strive. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On you my verses wait to get their worth; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To you my beauties all will owe their birth,-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For beauties you will recognize | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Invisible to other eyes. | 8 | ˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Ah! who can boast a taste so true, | 8 | ········ |
| Of beauty or of grace, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In either thought or face? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For words and looks are equal charms in you. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Upon a theme so sweet, the truth to tell, | 10 | ·········· |
| My muse would gladly dwell: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But this employ to others I must yield;-- | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| A greater master claims the field. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For me, fair lady, 'twere enough | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Your name should be my wall and roof. | 8 | ········ |
| Protect henceforth the favour'd book | 8 | ˘///···· |
| Through which for second life I look. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In your auspicious light, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| These lines, in envy's spite, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Will gain the glorious meed, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| That all the world shall read. | 6 | ······ |
| 'Tis not that I deserve such fame;-- | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| I only ask in Fable's name, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| (You know what credit that should claim;) | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, if successfully I sue, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| A fane will be to Fable due,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A thing I would not build--except for you. | 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.