Book IX: The Wax-Candle
From bowers of gods the bees came down to man.On Mount Hymettus, first, they say,They made their home, and stored awayThe treasures which the zephyrs fan.When men had robb'd these daughters of the sky,And left their palaces of nectar dry,--Or, as in French the thing's explain'dWhen hives were of their honey drain'd--The spoilers 'gan the wax to handle,And fashion'd from it many a candle.Of these, one, seeing clay, made brick by fire,Remain uninjured by the teeth of time,Was kindled into great desireFor immortality sublime.And so this new EmpedoclesUpon the blazing pile one sees,Self-doom'd by purest follyTo fate so melancholy.The candle lack'd philosophy:All things are made diverse to be.To wander from our destined tracks--There cannot be a vainer wish;But this Empedocles of wax,That melted in the chafing-dish,Was truly not a greater foolThan he of whom we read at school.
About this text
Book IX: The Wax-Candle 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: The Wax-Candle, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-12.html, id L28393.
Form and metre
Book IX: The Wax-Candle is 26 lines in a single stanza. 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 ABBACCDDEEFGFGHHII--JKJKLL manA · sayB · awayB · fanA · skyC · dryC · explain'dD · drain'dD · handleE · candleE · fireF · timeG · desireF · sublimeG · empedoclesH · seesH · follyI · melancholyI · philosophy · be · tracksJ · wishK · waxJ · dishK · foolL · schoolL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From bowers of gods the bees came down to man. | 10 | ·/········ |
| On Mount Hymettus, first, they say, | 8 | ········ |
| They made their home, and stored away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The treasures which the zephyrs fan. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When men had robb'd these daughters of the sky, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And left their palaces of nectar dry,-- | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Or, as in French the thing's explain'd | 8 | ······˘/ |
| When hives were of their honey drain'd-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The spoilers 'gan the wax to handle, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And fashion'd from it many a candle. | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| Of these, one, seeing clay, made brick by fire, | 9 | ···/····/ |
| Remain uninjured by the teeth of time, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Was kindled into great desire | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| For immortality sublime. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| And so this new Empedocles | 7 | ······· |
| Upon the blazing pile one sees, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Self-doom'd by purest folly | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| To fate so melancholy. | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| The candle lack'd philosophy: | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| All things are made diverse to be. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To wander from our destined tracks-- | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| There cannot be a vainer wish; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But this Empedocles of wax, | 7 | ······· |
| That melted in the chafing-dish, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Was truly not a greater fool | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Than he of whom we read at school. | 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.