Book VIII: The Power of Fables
Can diplomatic dignityTo simple fables condescend?Can I your famed benignityInvoke, my muse an ear to lend?If once she dares a high intent,Will you esteem her impudent?Your cares are weightier, indeed,Than listening to the sage debatesOf rabbit or of weasel states:So, as it pleases, burn or read;But save us from the woful harmsOf Europe roused in hostile arms.That from a thousand other placesOur enemies should show their faces,May well be granted with a smile,But not that England's IsleOur friendly kings should setTheir fatal blades to whet.Comes not the time for Louis to repose?What Hercules, against these hydra foes,Would not grow weary? Must new heads opposeHis ever-waxing energy of blows?Now, if your gentle, soul-persuasive powers,As sweet as mighty in this world of ours,Can soften hearts, and lull this war to sleep,I'll pile your altars with a hundred sheep;And this is not a small affairFor a Parnassian mountaineer.Meantime, (if you have time to spare,)Accept a little incense-cheer.A homely, but an ardent prayer,And tale in verse, I give you here.I'll only say, the theme is fit for you.With praise, which envy must confessTo worth like yours is justly due,No man on earth needs propping less.
In Athens, once, that city fickle,An orator, awake to feelHis country in a dangerous pickle,Would sway the proud republic's heart,Discoursing of the common weal,As taught by his tyrannic art.The people listen'd--not a word.Meanwhile the orator recurr'dTo bolder tropes--enough to rouseThe dullest blocks that e'er did drowse;He clothed in life the very dead,And thunder'd all that could be said.The wind received his breath,As to the ear of death.That beast of many heads and light,The crowd, accustom'd to the soundWas all intent upon a sight--A brace of lads in mimic fight.A new resource the speaker found.'Ceres,' in lower tone said he,'Went forth her harvest fields to see:An eel, as such a fish might he,And swallow, were her company.A river check'd the travellers three.Two cross'd it soon without ado;The smooth eel swam, the swallow flew.--'Outcried the crowdWith voices loud--'And Ceres--what did she?''Why, what she pleased; but firstYourselves she justly cursed--A people puzzling aye your brainsWith children's tales and children's play,While Greece puts on her steel array,To save her limbs from, tyrant chains!Why ask you not what Philip does?'At this reproach the idle buzzFell to the silence of the grave,Or moonstruck sea without a wave,And every eye and ear awokeTo drink the words the patriot spoke.This feather stick in Fable's cap.We're all Athenians, mayhap;And I, for one, confess the sin;For, while I write this moral here,If one should tell that tale so queerYcleped, I think, "The Ass's Skin,"I should not mind my work a pin.The world is old, they say; I don't deny it;--But, infant stillIn taste and will,Whoe'er would teach, must gratify it.
Words in this poem 20
- condescend v. i.
- To stoop or descend; to let one's self down; to submit; to waive the privilege of rank or dignity; to accommodate one's self to an inferior. [F. condescendre, LL. condescendere, fr. L. con- + descendere. See Descend.]
- benignity n.
- The quality of being benign; goodness; kindness; graciousness. [OE. benignite, F. bénignité, OF. bénigneté, fr. L. benignitas. See Benign.]
- woful a.
- Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- whet v. t.
- To rub or on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening; to sharpen by attrition; as, to whet a knife. [AS. hwettan; akin to D. wetten, G. wetzen, OHG. wezzen, Icel. hvetja, Sw. vättja, and AS. hwæt vigorous, brave, OS. hwat, OHG. waz, was, sharp, Icel. hvatr, bol]
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
- parnassian a.
- Of or pertaining to Parnassus. [L. Parnassius.]
- mountaineer n.
- An inhabitant of a mountain; one who lives among mountains. [OF. montanier, LL. montanarius. See Mountain.]
- homely a.
- Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. [From Home, n.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- tyrannic a.
- Of or pertaining to a tyrant; suiting a tyrant; unjustly severe in government; absolute; imperious; despotic; cruel; arbitrary; as, a tyrannical prince; a tyrannical master; tyrannical government. [L. tyrannicus, Gr. tyrannique. See Tyrant.]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- drowse v. i.
- To sleep imperfectly or unsoundly; to slumber; to be heavy with sleepiness; to doze. [AS. dr, dr, to sink, become slow or inactive; cf. OD. droosen to be sleepy, fall asleep, LG. dr, druusken, to slumber, fall down with a noise; prob, akin to AS.]
- resource n.
- That to which one resorts orr on which one depends for supply or support; means of overcoming a difficulty; resort; expedient. [F. ressource, fr. OF. ressourdre, resourdre, to spring forth or up again; pref. re- re- + sourdre to spring forth. See Source.]
- ceres n.
- The daughter of Saturn and Ops or Rhea, the goddess of corn and tillage. [L., Ceres, also corn, grain, akin to E. create.]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- moonstruck a.
- Mentally affected or deranged by the supposed influence of the moon; lunatic.
- 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.]
- mayhap adv.
- Perhaps; peradventure. [Prov. or Dialectic]
- ycleped p. p.
- Called; named; -- obsolete, except in archaic or humorous writings. [Spelt also yclept.] [AS. geclipod, p. p. of clipian, cleopian, cliopian, to call. See Clepe, and also the Note under Y-.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VIII: The Power of Fables 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 Power of Fables, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/8-4.html, id L28358.
Form and metre
Book VIII: The Power of Fables is 88 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% 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 ABABCC-DD-EEFFGGHHIIIIIIJJKKKKKKLMLM dignityA · condescendB · benignityA · lendB · intentC · impudentC · indeed · debatesD · statesD · read · harmsE · armsE · placesF · facesF · smileG · isleG · setH · whetH · reposeI · foesI · opposeI · blowsI · powersI · oursI · sleepJ · sheepJ · affairK · mountaineerK · spareK · cheerK · prayerK · hereK · youL · confessM · dueL · lessM
- 2 AAABABCC--DDEEFGFFGHHH-HIIJJ-KKLMMLNNOOPPQQRSSRR-TT- fickleA · feelA · pickleA · heartB · wealA · artB · wordC · recurr'dC · rouse · drowse · deadD · saidD · breathE · deathE · lightF · soundG · sightF · fightF · foundG · heH · seeH · heH · company · threeH · adoI · flewI · crowdJ · loudJ · she · firstK · cursedK · brainsL · playM · arrayM · chainsL · doesN · buzzN · graveO · waveO · awokeP · spokeP · capQ · mayhapQ · sinR · hereS · queerS · skinR · pinR · it · stillT · willT · it
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Can diplomatic dignity | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| To simple fables condescend? | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Can I your famed benignity | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Invoke, my muse an ear to lend? | 8 | ˘/······ |
| If once she dares a high intent, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Will you esteem her impudent? | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| Your cares are weightier, indeed, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Than listening to the sage debates | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Of rabbit or of weasel states: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| So, as it pleases, burn or read; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But save us from the woful harms | 8 | ········ |
| Of Europe roused in hostile arms. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That from a thousand other places | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Our enemies should show their faces, | 9 | //˘˘···/˘ |
| May well be granted with a smile, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But not that England's Isle | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Our friendly kings should set | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Their fatal blades to whet. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Comes not the time for Louis to repose? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| What Hercules, against these hydra foes, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Would not grow weary? Must new heads oppose | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| His ever-waxing energy of blows? | 8 | ·//˘/˘·· |
| Now, if your gentle, soul-persuasive powers, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| As sweet as mighty in this world of ours, | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| Can soften hearts, and lull this war to sleep, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I'll pile your altars with a hundred sheep; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And this is not a small affair | 8 | ······˘/ |
| For a Parnassian mountaineer. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Meantime, (if you have time to spare,) | 8 | /······· |
| Accept a little incense-cheer. | 8 | ˘/·/˘/·· |
| A homely, but an ardent prayer, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And tale in verse, I give you here. | 8 | ········ |
| I'll only say, the theme is fit for you. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| With praise, which envy must confess | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To worth like yours is justly due, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No man on earth needs propping less. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In Athens, once, that city fickle, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| An orator, awake to feel | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| His country in a dangerous pickle, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Would sway the proud republic's heart, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Discoursing of the common weal, | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| As taught by his tyrannic art. | 8 | ········ |
| The people listen'd--not a word. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Meanwhile the orator recurr'd | 8 | /··/˘˘˘/ |
| To bolder tropes--enough to rouse | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The dullest blocks that e'er did drowse; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He clothed in life the very dead, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And thunder'd all that could be said. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The wind received his breath, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| As to the ear of death. | 6 | ······ |
| That beast of many heads and light, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The crowd, accustom'd to the sound | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Was all intent upon a sight-- | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| A brace of lads in mimic fight. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A new resource the speaker found. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| 'Ceres,' in lower tone said he, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| 'Went forth her harvest fields to see: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An eel, as such a fish might he, | 8 | ········ |
| And swallow, were her company. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| A river check'd the travellers three. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Two cross'd it soon without ado; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The smooth eel swam, the swallow flew.--' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Outcried the crowd | 3 | ··· |
| With voices loud-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| 'And Ceres--what did she?' | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'Why, what she pleased; but first | 7 | ····˘·· |
| Yourselves she justly cursed-- | 7 | ˘/·/˘·˘ |
| A people puzzling aye your brains | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With children's tales and children's play, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| While Greece puts on her steel array, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To save her limbs from, tyrant chains! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Why ask you not what Philip does?' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At this reproach the idle buzz | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Fell to the silence of the grave, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or moonstruck sea without a wave, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And every eye and ear awoke | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| To drink the words the patriot spoke. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This feather stick in Fable's cap. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We're all Athenians, mayhap; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| And I, for one, confess the sin; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| For, while I write this moral here, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If one should tell that tale so queer | 8 | ········ |
| Ycleped, I think, "The Ass's Skin," | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| I should not mind my work a pin. | 8 | ········ |
| The world is old, they say; I don't deny it;-- | 11 | ········˘/· |
| But, infant still | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In taste and will, | 4 | ···· |
| Whoe'er would teach, must gratify it. | 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.