Book VII: The Two Cocks
Two cocks in peace were living, whenA war was kindled by a hen.O love, thou bane of Troy! 'twas thineThe blood of men and gods to shedEnough to turn the Xanthus redAs old Port wine!And long the battle doubtful stood:(I mean the battle of the cocks;)They gave each other fearful shocks:The fame spread o'er the neighbourhood,And gather'd all the crested brood.And Helens more than one, of plumage bright,Led off the victor of that bloody fight.The vanquish'd, drooping, fled,Conceal'd his batter'd head,And in a dark retreatBewail'd his sad defeat.His loss of glory and the prizeHis rival now enjoy'd before his eyes.While this he every day beheld,His hatred kindled, courage swell'd:He whet his beak, and flapp'd his wings,And meditated dreadful things.Waste rage! His rival flew upon a roofAnd crow'd to give his victory proof.--A hawk this boasting heard:Now perish'd all his pride,As suddenly he diedBeneath that savage bird.In consequence of this reverse,The vanquish'd sallied from his hole,And took the harem, master sole,For moderate penance not the worse.Imagine the congratulation,The proud and stately leading,Gallanting, coaxing, feeding,Of wives almost a nation!'Tis thus that Fortune loves to fleeThe insolent by victory.We should mistrust her when we beat,Lest triumph lead us to defeat.
Words in this poem
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- whet v. t.
- To rub or on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening; to sharpen by attrition; as, to whet a knife. [AS. hwettan; akin to D. wetten, G. wetzen, OHG. wezzen, Icel. hvetja, Sw. vättja, and AS. hwæt vigorous, brave, OS. hwat, OHG. waz, was, sharp, Icel. hvatr, bol]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- harem n.
- The apartments or portion of the house allotted to females in Mohammedan families. [Ar.haram, orig., anything forbidden of sacred, fr. harama to forbid, prohibit.]
- congratulation n.
- The act of congratulating; an expression of sympathetic pleasure. [L. congratulatio: cf. F. congratulation.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VII: The Two Cocks 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 Two Cocks, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/7-13.html, id L28349.
Form and metre
Book VII: The Two Cocks is 41 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 54% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AABCCBDEEDDFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMNNMOPPOQRRQ--SS whenA · henA · thineB · shedC · redC · wineB · stoodD · cocksE · shocksE · neighbourhoodD · broodD · brightF · fightF · fledG · headG · retreatH · defeatH · prizeI · eyesI · beheldJ · swell'dJ · wingsK · thingsK · roofL · proofL · heardM · prideN · diedN · birdM · reverseO · holeP · soleP · worseO · congratulationQ · leadingR · feedingR · nationQ · flee · victory · beatS · defeatS
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Two cocks in peace were living, when | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A war was kindled by a hen. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O love, thou bane of Troy! 'twas thine | 8 | ········ |
| The blood of men and gods to shed | 8 | ········ |
| Enough to turn the Xanthus red | 8 | ˘/······ |
| As old Port wine! | 4 | ···· |
| And long the battle doubtful stood: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| (I mean the battle of the cocks;) | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They gave each other fearful shocks: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The fame spread o'er the neighbourhood, | 8 | ········ |
| And gather'd all the crested brood. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Helens more than one, of plumage bright, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Led off the victor of that bloody fight. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The vanquish'd, drooping, fled, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Conceal'd his batter'd head, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| And in a dark retreat | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Bewail'd his sad defeat. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| His loss of glory and the prize | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His rival now enjoy'd before his eyes. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| While this he every day beheld, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| His hatred kindled, courage swell'd: | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| He whet his beak, and flapp'd his wings, | 8 | ········ |
| And meditated dreadful things. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Waste rage! His rival flew upon a roof | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And crow'd to give his victory proof.-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A hawk this boasting heard: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Now perish'd all his pride, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As suddenly he died | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Beneath that savage bird. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In consequence of this reverse, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| The vanquish'd sallied from his hole, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And took the harem, master sole, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For moderate penance not the worse. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Imagine the congratulation, | 9 | ˘/˘·˘·˘/˘ |
| The proud and stately leading, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Gallanting, coaxing, feeding, | 7 | /˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Of wives almost a nation! | 7 | ··/··/˘ |
| 'Tis thus that Fortune loves to flee | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The insolent by victory. | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| We should mistrust her when we beat, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Lest triumph lead us to defeat. | 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.