Book VII: The Curate and the Corpse
A dead man going slowly, sadly,To occupy his last abode,A curate by him, rather gladly,Did holy service on the road.Within a coach the dead was borne,A robe around him duly worn,Of which I wot he was not proud--That ghostly garment call'd a shroud.In summer's blaze and winter's blast,That robe is changeless--'tis the last.The curate, with his priestly dress on,Recited all the church's prayers,The psalm, the verse, response, and lesson,In fullest style of such affairs.Sir Corpse, we beg you, do not fearA lack of such things on your bier;They'll give abundance every way,Provided only that you pay.The Reverend John CabbagepateWatch'd o'er the corpse as if it wereA treasure needing guardian care;And all the while, his looks elate,This language seem'd to hold:'The dead will pay so much in gold,So much in lights of molten wax,So much in other sorts of tax:'With all he hoped to buy a cask of wine,The best which thereabouts produced the vine.A pretty niece, on whom he doted,And eke his chambermaid, should be promoted,By being newly petticoated.The coach upset, and dash'd to pieces,Cut short these thoughts of wine and nieces!There lay poor John with broken head,Beneath the coffin of the dead!His rich, parishioner in leadDrew on the priest the doomOf riding with him to the tomb!
The Pot of Milk, and fateOf Curate Cabbagepate,As emblems, do but giveThe history of most that live.
Words in this poem
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- curate n.
- One who has the cure souls; originally, any clergyman, but now usually limited to one who assist a rector or vicar Hook. [LL. curatus, prop., one who is charged with the care (L. cura) of souls. See Cure, n., and cf. Cur]
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- bier n.
- A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
- reverend a.
- Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- thereabouts adv.
- Near that place. [The latter spelling is less proper, but more commonly used.]
- niece n.
- A relative, in general; especially, a descendant, whether male or female; a granddaughter or a grandson. B. Jonson. Wyclif. [OE. nece, F. nièce, LL. neptia, for L. neptis a granddaughter, niece, akin to nepos. See Nephew.]
- doted a.
- Stupid; foolish.
- chambermaid n.
- A maidservant who has the care of chambers, making the beds, sweeping, cleaning the rooms, etc.
- parishioner n.
- One who belongs to, or is connected with, a parish. [F. paroissien, LL. parochianus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VII: The Curate and the Corpse 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 Curate and the Corpse, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/7-11.html, id L28347.
Form and metre
Book VII: The Curate and the Corpse is 42 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 ABABCCDDEEFGFGHHIIJ--JKKLLMMNNN--NNNOO sadlyA · abodeB · gladlyA · roadB · borneC · wornC · proudD · shroudD · blastE · lastE · onF · prayersG · lessonF · affairsG · fearH · bierH · wayI · payI · cabbagepateJ · were · care · elateJ · holdK · goldK · waxL · taxL · wineM · vineM · dotedN · promotedN · petticoatedN · pieces · nieces · headN · deadN · leadN · doomO · tombO
- 2 AABB fateA · cabbagepateA · giveB · liveB
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 dead man going slowly, sadly, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| To occupy his last abode, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A curate by him, rather gladly, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Did holy service on the road. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Within a coach the dead was borne, | 8 | ········ |
| A robe around him duly worn, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of which I wot he was not proud-- | 8 | ········ |
| That ghostly garment call'd a shroud. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In summer's blaze and winter's blast, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That robe is changeless--'tis the last. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The curate, with his priestly dress on, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Recited all the church's prayers, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| The psalm, the verse, response, and lesson, | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| In fullest style of such affairs. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Sir Corpse, we beg you, do not fear | 8 | ········ |
| A lack of such things on your bier; | 8 | ········ |
| They'll give abundance every way, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Provided only that you pay. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| The Reverend John Cabbagepate | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Watch'd o'er the corpse as if it were | 8 | ········ |
| A treasure needing guardian care; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And all the while, his looks elate, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| This language seem'd to hold: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'The dead will pay so much in gold, | 8 | ········ |
| So much in lights of molten wax, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So much in other sorts of tax:' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With all he hoped to buy a cask of wine, | 10 | ·········· |
| The best which thereabouts produced the vine. | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| A pretty niece, on whom he doted, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And eke his chambermaid, should be promoted, | 11 | ···/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| By being newly petticoated. | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘ |
| The coach upset, and dash'd to pieces, | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| Cut short these thoughts of wine and nieces! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| There lay poor John with broken head, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath the coffin of the dead! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His rich, parishioner in lead | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Drew on the priest the doom | 6 | ······ |
| Of riding with him to the tomb! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Pot of Milk, and fate | 6 | ······ |
| Of Curate Cabbagepate, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| As emblems, do but give | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The history of most that live. | 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.