Book VII: The Vultures and the Pigeons
Mars once made havoc in the air:Some cause aroused a quarrel thereAmong the birds;--not those that sing,The courtiers of the merry Spring,And by their talk, in leafy bowers,Of loves they feel, enkindle ours;Nor those which Cupid's mother yokesTo whirl on high her golden spokes;But naughty hawk and vulture folks,Of hooked beak and talons keen.The carcass of a dog, 'tis said,Had to this civil carnage led.Blood rain'd upon the swarded green,And valiant deeds were done, I ween.But time and breath would surely failTo give the fight in full detail;Suffice to say, that chiefs were slain,And heroes strow'd the sanguine plain,Till old Prometheus, in his chains,Began to hope an end of pains.'Twas sport to see the battle rage,And valiant hawk with hawk engage;'Twas pitiful to see them fall,--Torn, bleeding, weltering, gasping, all.Force, courage, cunning, all were plied;Intrepid troops on either sideNo effort spared to populateThe dusky realms of hungry Fate.This woful strife awoke compassionWithin another feather'd nation,Of iris neck and tender heart.They tried their hand at mediation--To reconcile the foes, or part.The pigeon people duly choseAmbassadors, who work'd so wellAs soon the murderous rage to quell,And stanch the source of countless woes.A truce took place, and peace ensued.Alas! the people dearly paidWho such pacification made!Those cursed hawks at once pursuedThe harmless pigeons, slew and ate,Till towns and fields were desolate.Small prudence had the friends of peaceTo pacify such foes as these!
The safety of the rest requiresThe bad should flesh each other's spears:Whoever peace with them desiresHad better set them by the ears.
Words in this poem 18
- havoc n.
- Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste. [W. hafog devastation, havoc; or, if this be itself fr. E. havoc, cf. OE. havot, or AS. hafoc hawk, which is a cruel or rapacious bird, or F. hai, voux! a cry to]
- enkindle v. t.
- To set on fire; to inflame; to kindle.
- naughty a.
- Having little or nothing.
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- carcass n.
- A dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast. [F. carcasse, fr. It. carcassa, fr. L. caro flesh + capsa chest, box, case. Cf. Carnal, Case a sheath.]
- carnage n.
- Flesh of slain animals or men. [F. carnage, LL. carnaticum tribute of animals, flesh of animals, fr. L. caro, carnis, flesh. See Carnal.]
- swarded a.
- Covered with sward. Mrs. Browning.
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- populate v. t.
- To furnish with inhabitants, either by natural increase or by immigration or colonization; to cause to be inhabited; to people.
- woful a.
- Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
- pacification n.
- The act or process of pacifying, or of making peace between parties at variance; reconciliation.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VII: The Vultures and the Pigeons 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 Vultures and the Pigeons, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/7-8.html, id L28344.
Form and metre
Book VII: The Vultures and the Pigeons is 49 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 AABBCCDDDEFFEEGGHHIIJJKKLLMM-NONOPQQPRSSRTT-- airA · thereA · singB · springB · bowersC · oursC · yokesD · spokesD · folksD · keenE · saidF · ledF · greenE · weenE · failG · detailG · slainH · plainH · chainsI · painsI · rageJ · engageJ · fallK · allK · pliedL · sideL · populateM · fateM · compassion · nationN · heartO · mediationN · partO · choseP · wellQ · quellQ · woesP · ensuedR · paidS · madeS · pursuedR · ateT · desolateT · peace · these
- 2 ABAB requiresA · spearsB · desiresA · earsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mars once made havoc in the air: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Some cause aroused a quarrel there | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Among the birds;--not those that sing, | 8 | ········ |
| The courtiers of the merry Spring, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And by their talk, in leafy bowers, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Of loves they feel, enkindle ours; | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Nor those which Cupid's mother yokes | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To whirl on high her golden spokes; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But naughty hawk and vulture folks, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of hooked beak and talons keen. | 8 | ··˘··/˘· |
| The carcass of a dog, 'tis said, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Had to this civil carnage led. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Blood rain'd upon the swarded green, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And valiant deeds were done, I ween. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But time and breath would surely fail | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To give the fight in full detail; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Suffice to say, that chiefs were slain, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And heroes strow'd the sanguine plain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Till old Prometheus, in his chains, | 9 | ··˘/˘˘··· |
| Began to hope an end of pains. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| 'Twas sport to see the battle rage, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And valiant hawk with hawk engage; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| 'Twas pitiful to see them fall,-- | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Torn, bleeding, weltering, gasping, all. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Force, courage, cunning, all were plied; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Intrepid troops on either side | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| No effort spared to populate | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The dusky realms of hungry Fate. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| This woful strife awoke compassion | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Within another feather'd nation, | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Of iris neck and tender heart. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They tried their hand at mediation-- | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| To reconcile the foes, or part. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The pigeon people duly chose | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Ambassadors, who work'd so well | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| As soon the murderous rage to quell, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And stanch the source of countless woes. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A truce took place, and peace ensued. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Alas! the people dearly paid | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Who such pacification made! | 8 | ···˘˘/˘· |
| Those cursed hawks at once pursued | 8 | ··˘···˘/ |
| The harmless pigeons, slew and ate, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Till towns and fields were desolate. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Small prudence had the friends of peace | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To pacify such foes as these! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The safety of the rest requires | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| The bad should flesh each other's spears: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whoever peace with them desires | 9 | ˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| Had better set them by the ears. | 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.