Book VIII: The Use of Knowledge
Between two citizensA controversy grew.The one was poor, but much he knew:The other, rich, with little sense,Claim'd that, in point of excellence,The merely wise should bow the kneeTo all such money'd men as he.The merely fools, he should have said;For why should wealth hold up its head,When merit from its side hath fled?'My friend,' quoth Bloated-purse,To his reverse,'You think yourself considerable.Pray, tell me, do you keep a table?What comes of this incessant reading,In point of lodging, clothing, feeding?It gives one, true, the highest chamber,One coat for June and for December,His shadow for his sole attendant,And hunger always in th' ascendant.What profits he his country, too,Who scarcely ever spends a sou--Will, haply, be a public charge?Who profits more the state at large,Than he whose luxuries dispenseAmong the people wealth immense?We set the streams of life a-flowing;We set all sorts of trades a-going.The spinner, weaver, sewer, vender,And many a wearer, fair and tender,All live and flourish on the spender--As do, indeed, the reverend rooksWho waste their time in making books.'These words, so full of impudence,Received their proper recompense.The man of letters held his peace,Though much he might have said with ease.A war avenged him soon and well;In it their common city fell.Both fled abroad; the ignorant,By fortune thus brought down to want,Was treated everywhere with scorn,And roamed about, a wretch forlorn;Whereas the scholar, everywhere,Was nourish'd by the public care.
Let fools the studious despise;There's nothing lost by being wise.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- ascendant n.
- Ascent; height; elevation. [F. ascendant, L. ascendens; p. pr. of ascendere.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
- spinner n.
- One who, or that which, spins one skilled in spinning; a spinning machine.
- vender n.
- One who vends; one who transfers the exclusive right of possessing a thing, either his own, or that of another as his agent, for a price or pecuniary equivalent; a seller; a vendor. [From Vend: cf. F. vendeur, OF. vendeor. Cf. Vendor.]
- spender n.
- One who spends; esp., one who spends lavishly; a prodigal; a spendthrift.
- reverend a.
- Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
- 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]
- whereas adv.
- At which place; where.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VIII: The Use of Knowledge 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 VIII: The Use of Knowledge, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/8-19.html, id L28373.
Form and metre
Book VIII: The Use of Knowledge is 47 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 -AABBCCDDDEE------FF--GGHHIIJJJKK----LLMMNNOO citizens · grewA · knewA · senseB · excellenceB · kneeC · heC · saidD · headD · fledD · purseE · reverseE · considerable · table · reading · feeding · chamber · december · attendantF · ascendantF · too · sou · chargeG · largeG · dispenseH · immenseH · flowingI · goingI · venderJ · tenderJ · spenderJ · rooksK · booksK · impudence · recompense · peace · ease · wellL · fellL · ignorantM · wantM · scornN · forlornN · everywhereO · careO
- 2 AA despiseA · wiseA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Between two citizens | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| A controversy grew. | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
| The one was poor, but much he knew: | 8 | ········ |
| The other, rich, with little sense, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Claim'd that, in point of excellence, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The merely wise should bow the knee | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To all such money'd men as he. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The merely fools, he should have said; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For why should wealth hold up its head, | 8 | ········ |
| When merit from its side hath fled? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'My friend,' quoth Bloated-purse, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To his reverse, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| 'You think yourself considerable. | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘˘˘ |
| Pray, tell me, do you keep a table? | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| What comes of this incessant reading, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| In point of lodging, clothing, feeding? | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| It gives one, true, the highest chamber, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| One coat for June and for December, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| His shadow for his sole attendant, | 9 | ·/····˘/˘ |
| And hunger always in th' ascendant. | 9 | ·/˘/··˘/˘ |
| What profits he his country, too, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who scarcely ever spends a sou-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Will, haply, be a public charge? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who profits more the state at large, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Than he whose luxuries dispense | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Among the people wealth immense? | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| We set the streams of life a-flowing; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| We set all sorts of trades a-going. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The spinner, weaver, sewer, vender, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| And many a wearer, fair and tender, | 9 | ·/·/˘··/˘ |
| All live and flourish on the spender-- | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| As do, indeed, the reverend rooks | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Who waste their time in making books.' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| These words, so full of impudence, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Received their proper recompense. | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| The man of letters held his peace, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Though much he might have said with ease. | 8 | ········ |
| A war avenged him soon and well; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| In it their common city fell. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Both fled abroad; the ignorant, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| By fortune thus brought down to want, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Was treated everywhere with scorn, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And roamed about, a wretch forlorn; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Whereas the scholar, everywhere, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Was nourish'd by the public care. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Let fools the studious despise; | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| There's nothing lost by being wise. | 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.