Book VII: The Lion's Court
His lion majesty would know, one day,What bestial tribes were subject to his sway.He therefore gave his vassals all,By deputies a call,Despatching everywhereA written circular,Which bore his seal, and did importHis majesty would hold his courtA month most splendidly;--A feast would open his levee,Which done, Sir Jocko's sleightWould give the court delight.By such sublime magnificenceThe king would show his power immense.
Now were they gather'd allWithin the royal hall.--And such a hall! The charnel scentWould make the strongest nerves relent.The bear put up his paw to closeThe double access of his nose.The act had better been omitted;His throne at once the monarch quitted,And sent to Pluto's court the bear,To show his delicacy there.The ape approved the cruel deed,A thorough flatterer by breed.He praised the prince's wrath and claws,He praised the odour and its cause.Judged by the fragrance of that cave,The amber of the Baltic wave,The rose, the pink, the hawthorn bank,Might with the vulgar garlic rank.The mark his flattery overshot,And made him share poor Bruin's lot;This lion playing in his way,The part of Don Caligula.The fox approach'd. 'Now,' said the king,'Apply your nostrils to this thing,And let me hear, without disguise,The judgment of a beast so wise.'The fox replied, 'Your Majesty will pleaseExcuse'--and here he took good care to sneeze;--'Afflicted with a dreadful cold,Your majesty need not be told:My sense of smell is mostly gone.'
From danger thus withdrawn,He teaches us the while,That one, to gain the smileOf kings, must hold the middle place'Twixt blunt rebuke and fulsome praise;And sometimes use with easy grace,The language of the Norman race.
Words in this poem
- bestial a.
- Belonging to a beast, or to the class of beasts. [F. bestial, L. bestialis, fr. bestia beast. See Beast.]
- splendidly adv.
- In a splendid manner; magnificently.
- levee n.
- The act of rising. [F. lever, fr. lever to raise, se lever to rise. See Lever, n.]
- sleight n.
- Cunning; craft; artful practice. [OE. sleighte, sleihte, sleithe, Icel. sl (for sl) slyness, cunning, fr. sl (for sl) sly, cunning. See Sly.]
- magnificence n.
- The act of doing what magnificent; the state or quality of being magnificent. Acts xix. 27. [F. magnificence, L. magnificentia. See Magnific.]
- relent v. i.
- To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [F. ralentir, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + lentus pliant, flexible, slow. See Lithe.]
- odour n.
- Any smell, whether fragrant or offensive; scent; perfume. [OE. odor, odour, OF. odor, odour, F. odeur, fr. L. odor; akin to olere to smell, Gr. Olfactory, Osmium, Ozone, Redolent.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- fulsome a.
- Full; abundant; plenteous; not shriveled. [Full, a. + -some.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VII: The Lion's Court 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 Lion's Court, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/7-7.html, id L28343.
Form and metre
Book VII: The Lion's Court is 52 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 81% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABB--CC--DD-- dayA · swayA · allB · callB · everywhere · circular · importC · courtC · splendidly · levee · sleightD · delightD · magnificence · immense
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOO- allA · hallA · scentB · relentB · closeC · noseC · omittedD · quittedD · bearE · thereE · deedF · breedF · clawsG · causeG · caveH · waveH · bankI · rankI · overshotJ · lotJ · wayK · caligulaK · kingL · thingL · disguiseM · wiseM · pleaseN · sneezeN · coldO · toldO · gone
- 3 -AAB-BB withdrawn · whileA · smileA · placeB · praise · graceB · raceB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| His lion majesty would know, one day, | 8 | ·//˘···· |
| What bestial tribes were subject to his sway. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| He therefore gave his vassals all, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By deputies a call, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Despatching everywhere | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A written circular, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Which bore his seal, and did import | 8 | ······˘/ |
| His majesty would hold his court | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| A month most splendidly;-- | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| A feast would open his levee, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Which done, Sir Jocko's sleight | 6 | ······ |
| Would give the court delight. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| By such sublime magnificence | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| The king would show his power immense. | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Now were they gather'd all | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Within the royal hall.-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And such a hall! The charnel scent | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Would make the strongest nerves relent. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The bear put up his paw to close | 8 | ········ |
| The double access of his nose. | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| The act had better been omitted; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| His throne at once the monarch quitted, | 9 | ·····/·/˘ |
| And sent to Pluto's court the bear, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To show his delicacy there. | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| The ape approved the cruel deed, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| A thorough flatterer by breed. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| He praised the prince's wrath and claws, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He praised the odour and its cause. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Judged by the fragrance of that cave, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The amber of the Baltic wave, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The rose, the pink, the hawthorn bank, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Might with the vulgar garlic rank. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The mark his flattery overshot, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And made him share poor Bruin's lot; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This lion playing in his way, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The part of Don Caligula. | 8 | ········ |
| The fox approach'd. 'Now,' said the king, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| 'Apply your nostrils to this thing, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And let me hear, without disguise, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The judgment of a beast so wise.' | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The fox replied, 'Your Majesty will please | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·· |
| Excuse'--and here he took good care to sneeze;-- | 10 | ˘/········ |
| 'Afflicted with a dreadful cold, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Your majesty need not be told: | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| My sense of smell is mostly gone.' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From danger thus withdrawn, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| He teaches us the while, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That one, to gain the smile | 6 | ······ |
| Of kings, must hold the middle place | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Twixt blunt rebuke and fulsome praise; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And sometimes use with easy grace, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| The language of the Norman race. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
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