Book IX: Nothing Too Much
Look where we will throughout creation,We look in vain for moderation.There is a certain golden mean,Which Nature's sovereign Lord, I ween,Design'd the path of all forever.Doth one pursue it? Never.E'en things which by their nature bless,Are turn'd to curses by excess.
The grain, best gift of Ceres fair,Green waving in the genial air,By overgrowth exhausts the soil;By superfluity of leavesDefrauds the treasure of its sheaves,And mocks the busy farmer's toil.Not less redundant is the tree,So sweet a thing is luxury.The grain within due bounds to keep,Their Maker licenses the sheepThe leaves excessive to retrench.In troops they spread across the plain,And, nibbling down the hapless grain,Contrive to spoil it, root and branch.So, then, with, licence from on high,The wolves are sent on sheep to prey;The whole the greedy gluttons slay;Or, if they don't, they try.
Next, men are sent on wolves to takeThe vengeance now condign:In turn the same abuse they makeOf this behest divine.
Of animals, the human kindAre to excess the most inclined.On low and high we make the charge,--Indeed, upon the race at large.There liveth not the soul selectThat sinneth not in this respect.Of "Nought too much," the fact is,All preach the truth,--none practise.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- 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.]
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- overgrowth n.
- Excessive growth.
- retrench v. t.
- To cut off; to pare away. [OF. retrenchier, F. retrancher; pref. re- re- + OF. trenchier, F. trancher, to cut. See Trench.]
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- condign a.
- Worthy; suitable; deserving; fit. [F. condigne, L. condignus very worthy; con- + dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Digne.]
- behest v. t.
- To vow. Paston.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: Nothing Too Much 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 IX: Nothing Too Much, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-11.html, id L28392.
Form and metre
Book IX: Nothing Too Much is 38 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABBCCDD creationA · moderationA · meanB · weenB · foreverC · neverC · blessD · excessD
- 2 AABCCB--DD-EE-FGGF fairA · airA · soilB · leavesC · sheavesC · toilB · tree · luxury · keepD · sheepD · retrench · plainE · grainE · branch · highF · preyG · slayG · tryF
- 3 ABAB takeA · condignB · makeA · divineB
- 4 AABBCCDD kindA · inclinedA · chargeB · largeB · selectC · respectC · isD · practiseD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Look where we will throughout creation, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| We look in vain for moderation. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| There is a certain golden mean, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Which Nature's sovereign Lord, I ween, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Design'd the path of all forever. | 9 | ˘/····˘/˘ |
| Doth one pursue it? Never. | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| E'en things which by their nature bless, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are turn'd to curses by excess. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The grain, best gift of Ceres fair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Green waving in the genial air, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By overgrowth exhausts the soil; | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| By superfluity of leaves | 7 | ······· |
| Defrauds the treasure of its sheaves, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And mocks the busy farmer's toil. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Not less redundant is the tree, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| So sweet a thing is luxury. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The grain within due bounds to keep, | 8 | ········ |
| Their Maker licenses the sheep | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| The leaves excessive to retrench. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| In troops they spread across the plain, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And, nibbling down the hapless grain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Contrive to spoil it, root and branch. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| So, then, with, licence from on high, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The wolves are sent on sheep to prey; | 8 | ········ |
| The whole the greedy gluttons slay; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Or, if they don't, they try. | 6 | ······ |
| Next, men are sent on wolves to take | 8 | ········ |
| The vengeance now condign: | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| In turn the same abuse they make | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Of this behest divine. | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| Of animals, the human kind | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Are to excess the most inclined. | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| On low and high we make the charge,-- | 8 | ········ |
| Indeed, upon the race at large. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| There liveth not the soul select | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That sinneth not in this respect. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Of "Nought too much," the fact is, | 7 | ······· |
| All preach the truth,--none practise. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.