Book VII: The Dairywoman and the Pot of Milk
A pot of milk upon her cushion'd crown,Good Peggy hasten'd to the market town;Short clad and light, with speed she went,Not fearing any accident;Indeed, to be the nimbler tripper,Her dress that day,The truth to say,Was simple petticoat and slipper.And, thus bedight,Good Peggy, light,--Her gains already counted,--Laid out the cashAt single dash,Which to a hundred eggs amounted.Three nests she made,Which, by the aidOf diligence and care were hatch'd.'To raise the chicks,I'll easy fix,'Said she, 'beside our cottage thatch'd.The fox must getMore cunning yet,Or leave enough to buy a pig.With little careAnd any fare,He'll grow quite fat and big;And then the priceWill be so nice,For which, the pork will sell!'Twill go quite hardBut in our yardI'll bring a cow and calf to dwell--A calf to frisk among the flock!'The thought made Peggy do the same;And down at once the milk-pot came,And perish'd with the shock.Calf, cow, and pig, and chicks, adieu!Your mistress' face is sad to view;She gives a tear to fortune spilt;Then with the downcast look of guiltHome to her husband empty goes,Somewhat in danger of his blows.
Who buildeth not, sometimes, in airHis cots, or seats, or castles fair?From kings to dairy women,--all,--The wise, the foolish, great and small,--Each thinks his waking dream the best.Some flattering error fills the breast:The world with all its wealth is ours,Its honours, dames, and loveliest bowers.Instinct with valour, when alone,I hurl the monarch from his throne;The people, glad to see him dead,Elect me monarch in his stead,And diadems rain on my head.Some accident then calls me back,And I'm no more than simple Jack.
Words in this poem
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- tripper n.
- One who trips or supplants; also, one who walks or trips nimbly; a dancer.
- bedight v. t.
- To bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn.
- 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]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VII: The Dairywoman and the Pot of Milk 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: The Dairywoman and the Pot of Milk, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/7-10.html, id L28346.
Form and metre
Book VII: The Dairywoman and the Pot of Milk is 57 lines in 2 stanzas. 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 AABBCDDCEEFGGFFFHIIHJJKLLKMMNOONPQQPRRSSTT crownA · townA · wentB · accidentB · tripperC · dayD · sayD · slipperC · bedightE · lightE · countedF · cashG · dashG · amountedF · madeF · aidF · hatch'dH · chicksI · fixI · thatch'dH · getJ · yetJ · pigK · careL · fareL · bigK · priceM · niceM · sellN · hardO · yardO · dwellN · flockP · sameQ · cameQ · shockP · adieuR · viewR · spiltS · guiltS · goesT · blowsT
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFFGG airA · fairA · allB · smallB · bestC · breastC · oursD · bowersD · aloneE · throneE · deadF · steadF · headF · backG · jackG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A pot of milk upon her cushion'd crown, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Good Peggy hasten'd to the market town; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Short clad and light, with speed she went, | 8 | ········ |
| Not fearing any accident; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Indeed, to be the nimbler tripper, | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| Her dress that day, | 4 | ···· |
| The truth to say, | 4 | ···· |
| Was simple petticoat and slipper. | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| And, thus bedight, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Good Peggy, light,-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Her gains already counted,-- | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Laid out the cash | 4 | ···· |
| At single dash, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Which to a hundred eggs amounted. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Three nests she made, | 4 | ···· |
| Which, by the aid | 4 | ···· |
| Of diligence and care were hatch'd. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| 'To raise the chicks, | 4 | ···· |
| I'll easy fix,' | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Said she, 'beside our cottage thatch'd. | 8 | ··˘///˘· |
| The fox must get | 4 | ···· |
| More cunning yet, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Or leave enough to buy a pig. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| With little care | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And any fare, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| He'll grow quite fat and big; | 6 | ······ |
| And then the price | 4 | ···· |
| Will be so nice, | 4 | ···· |
| For which, the pork will sell! | 6 | ······ |
| 'Twill go quite hard | 4 | ···· |
| But in our yard | 5 | ··/˘· |
| I'll bring a cow and calf to dwell-- | 8 | ········ |
| A calf to frisk among the flock!' | 8 | ········ |
| The thought made Peggy do the same; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And down at once the milk-pot came, | 8 | ········ |
| And perish'd with the shock. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Calf, cow, and pig, and chicks, adieu! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Your mistress' face is sad to view; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| She gives a tear to fortune spilt; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then with the downcast look of guilt | 8 | ···/···· |
| Home to her husband empty goes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Somewhat in danger of his blows. | 8 | //·/˘··· |
| Who buildeth not, sometimes, in air | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| His cots, or seats, or castles fair? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From kings to dairy women,--all,-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The wise, the foolish, great and small,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each thinks his waking dream the best. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Some flattering error fills the breast: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The world with all its wealth is ours, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Its honours, dames, and loveliest bowers. | 9 | ·/˘·····/ |
| Instinct with valour, when alone, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| I hurl the monarch from his throne; | 8 | ···/···· |
| The people, glad to see him dead, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Elect me monarch in his stead, | 8 | ˘/·/···· |
| And diadems rain on my head. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Some accident then calls me back, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And I'm no more than simple Jack. | 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.