Book VII: The Head and the Tail of the Serpent
Two parts the serpent has--Of men the enemies--The head and tail: the sameHave won a mighty fame,Next to the cruel Fates;--So that, indeed, henceThey once had great debatesAbout precedence.The first had always gone ahead;The tail had been for ever led;And now to Heaven it pray'd,And said,'O, many and many a league,Dragg'd on in sore fatigue,Behind his back I go.Shall he for ever use me so?Am I his humble servant;No. Thanks to God most fervent!His brother I was born,And not his slave forlorn.The self-same blood in both,I'm just as good as he:A poison dwells in meAs virulent as dothIn him. In mercy, heed,And grant me this decree,That I, in turn, may lead--My brother, follow me.My course shall be so wise,That no complaint shall rise.'
With cruel kindness Heaven grantedThe very thing he blindly wanted:To such desires of beasts and men,Though often deaf, it was not then.At once this novel guide,That saw no more in broad daylightThan in the murk of darkest night,His powers of leading tried,Struck trees, and men, and stones, and bricks,And led his brother straight to Styx.And to the same unlovely home,Some states by such an error come.
Words in this poem
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- 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,]
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- blindly adv.
- Without sight, discernment, or understanding; without thought, investigation, knowledge, or purpose of one's own.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- murk n.
- Darkness; mirk.
- styx n.
- The principal river of the lower world, which had to be crossed in passing to the regions of the dead.
- unlovely a.
- Not lovely; not amiable; possessing qualities that excite dislike; disagreeable; displeasing; unpleasant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VII: The Head and the Tail of the Serpent 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 Head and the Tail of the Serpent, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/7-17.html, id L28353.
Form and metre
Book VII: The Head and the Tail of the Serpent is 42 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABBCDCDEE-EFFGGHHII-JJ--JEJKK hasA · enemiesA · sameB · fameB · fatesC · henceD · debatesC · precedenceD · aheadE · ledE · pray'd · saidE · leagueF · fatigueF · goG · soG · servantH · ferventH · bornI · forlornI · both · heJ · meJ · doth · heed · decreeJ · leadE · meJ · wiseK · riseK
- 2 AABBACCADDEE grantedA · wantedA · menB · thenB · guideA · daylightC · nightC · triedA · bricksD · styxD · homeE · comeE
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Two parts the serpent has-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of men the enemies-- | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| The head and tail: the same | 6 | ······ |
| Have won a mighty fame, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Next to the cruel Fates;-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So that, indeed, hence | 5 | ··˘/· |
| They once had great debates | 6 | ····˘/ |
| About precedence. | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| The first had always gone ahead; | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| The tail had been for ever led; | 7 | ·····/· |
| And now to Heaven it pray'd, | 6 | ···/·· |
| And said, | 2 | ·· |
| 'O, many and many a league, | 6 | ·/·/·· |
| Dragg'd on in sore fatigue, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Behind his back I go. | 6 | ······ |
| Shall he for ever use me so? | 7 | ···/··· |
| Am I his humble servant; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| No. Thanks to God most fervent! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| His brother I was born, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And not his slave forlorn. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The self-same blood in both, | 6 | ······ |
| I'm just as good as he: | 6 | ······ |
| A poison dwells in me | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As virulent as doth | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| In him. In mercy, heed, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And grant me this decree, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That I, in turn, may lead-- | 6 | ······ |
| My brother, follow me. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| My course shall be so wise, | 6 | ······ |
| That no complaint shall rise.' | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| With cruel kindness Heaven granted | 7 | ·//˘//˘ |
| The very thing he blindly wanted: | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| To such desires of beasts and men, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Though often deaf, it was not then. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| At once this novel guide, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That saw no more in broad daylight | 8 | ······/· |
| Than in the murk of darkest night, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His powers of leading tried, | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| Struck trees, and men, and stones, and bricks, | 8 | ········ |
| And led his brother straight to Styx. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And to the same unlovely home, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Some states by such an error come. | 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.