Book VIII: Jupiter and the Thunderbolts
Said Jupiter, one day,As on a cloud he lay,'Observing all our crimes,Come, let us change the times,By leasing out anewA world whose wicked crewHave wearied out our grace,And cursed us to our face.Hie hellward, Mercury;A Fury bring to me,The direst of the three.Race nursed too tenderly,This day your doom shall be!'E'en while he spoke their fate,His wrath began to moderate.
O kings, with whom His willHath lodged our good and ill,Your wrath and storm betweenOne night should intervene!
The god of rapid wing,And lip unfaltering,To sunless regions sped,And met the sisters dread.To grim Tisiphone,And pale Megaera, hePreferr'd, as murderess,Alecto, pitiless.This choice so roused the fiend,By Pluto's beard she sworeThe human race no moreShould be by handfuls glean'd,But in one solid massTh' infernal gates should pass.But Jove, displeased with bothThe Fury and her oath,Despatched her back to hell.And then a bolt he hurl'd,Down on a faithless world,Which in a desert fell.Aim'd by a father's arm,It caused more fear than harm.(All fathers strike aside.)What did from this betide?Our evil race grew bold,Resumed their wicked tricks,Increased them manifold,Till, all Olympus through,Indignant murmurs flew.When, swearing by the Styx,The sire that rules the airStorms promised to prepareMore terrible and dark,Which should not miss their mark.'A father's wrath it is!'The other deitiesAll in one voice exclaim'd;'And, might the thing be named,Some other god would makeBolts better for our sake.'This Vulcan undertook.His rumbling forges shook,And glow'd with fervent heat,While Cyclops blew and beat.Forth, from the plastic flameTwo sorts of bolts there came.Of these, one misses not:'Tis by Olympus shot,--That is, the gods at large.The other, bearing wide,Hits mountain-top or side,Or makes a cloud its targe.And this it is aloneWhich leaves the father's throne.
Words in this poem 16
- leasing n.
- The act of lying; falsehood; a lie or lies. [AS. leásung, fr. leás loose, false, deceitful. See -less, Loose, a.]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- 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,]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- sunless a.
- Destitute or deprived of the sun or its rays; shaded; shadowed.
- murderess n.
- A woman who commits murder.
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- betide v. t.
- To happen to; to befall; to come to ; as, woe betide the wanderer. [OE. bitiden; pref. bi-, be- + tiden, fr. AS. tidan, to happen, fr. tid time. See Tide.]
- indignant a.
- Affected with indignation; wrathful; passionate; irate; feeling wrath, as when a person is exasperated by unworthy or unjust treatment, by a mean action, or by a degrading accusation. [L. indignans, -antis, p. pr. of indignari to be indignant, disdain. See Indign.]
- styx n.
- The principal river of the lower world, which had to be crossed in passing to the regions of the dead.
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- rumbling
- a. & n. from Rumble, v. i.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- 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.]
- targe n.
- A shield or target. [F. Cf. Target.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VIII: Jupiter and the Thunderbolts 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: Jupiter and the Thunderbolts, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/8-20.html, id L28374.
Form and metre
Book VIII: Jupiter and the Thunderbolts is 73 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 63% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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 AABBCCDD-EE-EFF dayA · layA · crimesB · timesB · anewC · crewC · graceD · faceD · mercury · meE · threeE · tenderly · beE · fateF · moderateF
- 2 AABB willA · illA · betweenB · interveneB
- 3 AABB--CCDEEDFFGGHIIHJJKKLMLNNMOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXYYXZZ wingA · unfalteringA · spedB · dreadB · tisiphone · he · murderessC · pitilessC · fiendD · sworeE · moreE · glean'dD · massF · passF · bothG · oathG · hellH · hurl'dI · worldI · fellH · armJ · harmJ · asideK · betideK · boldL · tricksM · manifoldL · throughN · flewN · styxM · airO · prepareO · darkP · markP · isQ · deitiesQ · exclaim'dR · namedR · makeS · sakeS · undertookT · shookT · heatU · beatU · flameV · cameV · notW · shotW · largeX · wideY · sideY · targeX · aloneZ · throneZ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Said Jupiter, one day, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| As on a cloud he lay, | 6 | ······ |
| 'Observing all our crimes, | 6 | ˘/˘·/· |
| Come, let us change the times, | 6 | ······ |
| By leasing out anew | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| A world whose wicked crew | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Have wearied out our grace, | 6 | ·/˘·/· |
| And cursed us to our face. | 6 | ····/· |
| Hie hellward, Mercury; | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| A Fury bring to me, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The direst of the three. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Race nursed too tenderly, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| This day your doom shall be!' | 6 | ······ |
| E'en while he spoke their fate, | 6 | ······ |
| His wrath began to moderate. | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| O kings, with whom His will | 6 | ······ |
| Hath lodged our good and ill, | 6 | ··/··· |
| Your wrath and storm between | 6 | ······ |
| One night should intervene! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The god of rapid wing, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And lip unfaltering, | 6 | ······ |
| To sunless regions sped, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And met the sisters dread. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To grim Tisiphone, | 5 | ····· |
| And pale Megaera, he | 6 | ······ |
| Preferr'd, as murderess, | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| Alecto, pitiless. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| This choice so roused the fiend, | 6 | ······ |
| By Pluto's beard she swore | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The human race no more | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Should be by handfuls glean'd, | 6 | ···/·· |
| But in one solid mass | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Th' infernal gates should pass. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| But Jove, displeased with both | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The Fury and her oath, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Despatched her back to hell. | 6 | ······ |
| And then a bolt he hurl'd, | 6 | ······ |
| Down on a faithless world, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Which in a desert fell. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Aim'd by a father's arm, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It caused more fear than harm. | 6 | ······ |
| (All fathers strike aside.) | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| What did from this betide? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Our evil race grew bold, | 6 | //˘··· |
| Resumed their wicked tricks, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Increased them manifold, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Till, all Olympus through, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Indignant murmurs flew. | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| When, swearing by the Styx, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The sire that rules the air | 6 | ·/···· |
| Storms promised to prepare | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| More terrible and dark, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Which should not miss their mark. | 6 | ······ |
| 'A father's wrath it is!' | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The other deities | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| All in one voice exclaim'd; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| 'And, might the thing be named, | 6 | ······ |
| Some other god would make | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Bolts better for our sake.' | 6 | ·/˘·/· |
| This Vulcan undertook. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| His rumbling forges shook, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And glow'd with fervent heat, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| While Cyclops blew and beat. | 6 | ·/···· |
| Forth, from the plastic flame | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Two sorts of bolts there came. | 6 | ······ |
| Of these, one misses not: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| 'Tis by Olympus shot,-- | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| That is, the gods at large. | 6 | ······ |
| The other, bearing wide, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Hits mountain-top or side, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Or makes a cloud its targe. | 6 | ······ |
| And this it is alone | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Which leaves the father's throne. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.