Book VII: The Maid
A certain maid, as proud as fair,A husband thought to findExactly to her mind--Well-form'd and young, genteel in air,Not cold nor jealous;--mark this well.Whoe'er would wed this dainty belleMust have, besides rank, wealth, and wit,And all good qualities to fit--A man 'twere difficult to get.Kind Fate, however, took great careTo grant, if possible, her prayer.There came a-wooing men of note;The maiden thought them all,By half, too mean and small.'They marry me! the creatures dote:--Alas! poor souls! their case I pity.'(Here mark the bearing of the beauty.)Some were less delicate than witty;Some had the nose too short or long;In others something else was wrong;Which made each in the maiden's eyesAn altogether worthless prize.Profound contempt is aye the viceWhich springs from being over-nice,Thus were the great dismiss'd; and thenCame offers from inferior men.The maid, more scornful than before,Took credit to her tender heartFor giving then an open door.'They think me much in haste to partWith independence! God be thank'dMy lonely nights bring no regret;Nor shall I pine, or greatly fret,Should I with ancient maids be rank'd.'Such were the thoughts that pleased the fair:Age made them only thoughts that were.Adieu to lovers:--passing yearsAwaken doubts and chilling fears.Regret, at last, brings up the train.Day after day she sees, with pain,Some smile or charm take final flight,And leave the features of a 'fright.'Then came a hundred sorts of paint:But still no trick, nor ruse, nor feint,Avail'd to hide the cause of grief,Or bar out Time, that graceless thief.A house, when gone to wreck and ruin,May be repair'd and made a new one.Alas! for ruins of the faceNo such rebuilding e'er takes place.Her daintiness now changed its tune;Her mirror told her, 'Marry soon!'So did a certain wish within,With more of secrecy than sin,--A wish that dwells with even prudes,Annihilating solitudes.This maiden's choice was past belief,She soothing down her restless grief,And smoothing it of every ripple,By marrying a cripple.
Words in this poem
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- belle n.
- A young lady of superior beauty and attractions; a handsome lady, or one who attracts notice in society; a fair lady. [F. belle, fem. of bel, beau, beautiful, fine. See Beau.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- dote n.
- A marriage portion. See 1st Dot, n. Wyatt. [See Dot dowry.]
- witty a.
- Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
- altogether adv.
- All together; conjointly. [OE. altogedere; al all + togedere together. See Together.]
- 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,]
- ruse n.
- An artifice; trick; stratagem; wile; fraund; deceit. Ruse de guerre ( Etym: [F.], a stratagem of war. [F., fr. OF. reüser, rehuser, to turn aside, to shuffle, retreat, fr. L. recusare to refuse; pref. re- again + causa cause. See Cause, and cf. Recusant.]
- feint a.
- Feigned; counterfeit. [F. feint, p.p. of feindre to feign. See Feign.]
- graceless a.
- Wanting in grace or excellence; departed from, or deprived of, divine grace; hence, depraved; corrupt.
- daintiness n.
- The quality of being dainty; nicety; niceness; elegance; delicacy; deliciousness; fastidiousness; squeamishness.
- cripple n.
- One who creeps, halts, or limps; one who has lost, or never had, the use of a limb or limbs; a lame person; hence, one who is partially disabled. [OE. cripel, crepel, crupel, AS. crypel (akin to D. kreuple, G. kr, Dan. kr, Icel. kryppill), prop., one that can not walk, but must creep, fr. AS. cre to creep.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VII: The Maid 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 Maid, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/7-5.html, id L28341.
Form and metre
Book VII: The Maid is 60 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 63% 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 ABBACCDD-EEFGGFH-HIIJJKKLLMNMNOPPO--QQRRSSTTUUVVWWVVXXYYZZaa fairA · findB · mindB · airA · wellC · belleC · witD · fitD · get · careE · prayerE · noteF · allG · smallG · doteF · pityH · beauty · wittyH · longI · wrongI · eyesJ · prizeJ · viceK · niceK · thenL · menL · beforeM · heartN · doorM · partN · thank'dO · regretP · fretP · rank'dO · fair · were · yearsQ · fearsQ · trainR · painR · flightS · frightS · paintT · feintT · griefU · thiefU · ruinV · oneV · faceW · placeW · tuneV · soonV · withinX · sinX · prudesY · solitudesY · beliefZ · griefZ · ripplea · cripplea
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 certain maid, as proud as fair, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A husband thought to find | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Exactly to her mind-- | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Well-form'd and young, genteel in air, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Not cold nor jealous;--mark this well. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whoe'er would wed this dainty belle | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Must have, besides rank, wealth, and wit, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And all good qualities to fit-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| A man 'twere difficult to get. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Kind Fate, however, took great care | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To grant, if possible, her prayer. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| There came a-wooing men of note; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The maiden thought them all, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| By half, too mean and small. | 6 | ······ |
| 'They marry me! the creatures dote:-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Alas! poor souls! their case I pity.' | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| (Here mark the bearing of the beauty.) | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Some were less delicate than witty; | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| Some had the nose too short or long; | 8 | ········ |
| In others something else was wrong; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Which made each in the maiden's eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An altogether worthless prize. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Profound contempt is aye the vice | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Which springs from being over-nice, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thus were the great dismiss'd; and then | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Came offers from inferior men. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The maid, more scornful than before, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Took credit to her tender heart | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For giving then an open door. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| 'They think me much in haste to part | 8 | ········ |
| With independence! God be thank'd | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| My lonely nights bring no regret; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Nor shall I pine, or greatly fret, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Should I with ancient maids be rank'd.' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Such were the thoughts that pleased the fair: | 8 | ········ |
| Age made them only thoughts that were. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Adieu to lovers:--passing years | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Awaken doubts and chilling fears. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Regret, at last, brings up the train. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Day after day she sees, with pain, | 8 | ········ |
| Some smile or charm take final flight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And leave the features of a 'fright.' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then came a hundred sorts of paint: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But still no trick, nor ruse, nor feint, | 8 | ········ |
| Avail'd to hide the cause of grief, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Or bar out Time, that graceless thief. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A house, when gone to wreck and ruin, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| May be repair'd and made a new one. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| Alas! for ruins of the face | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| No such rebuilding e'er takes place. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Her daintiness now changed its tune; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Her mirror told her, 'Marry soon!' | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| So did a certain wish within, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With more of secrecy than sin,-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| A wish that dwells with even prudes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Annihilating solitudes. | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| This maiden's choice was past belief, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| She soothing down her restless grief, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And smoothing it of every ripple, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| By marrying a cripple. | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
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.