Book IX: The Shepherd and His Flock
'What! shall I lose them one by one,This stupid coward throng?And never shall the wolf have done?They were at least a thousand strong,But still they've let poor Robin fall a prey!Ah, woe's the day!Poor Robin Wether lying dead!He follow'd for a bit of breadHis master through the crowded city,And would have follow'd, had he led,Around the world. O! what a pity!My pipe, and even step, he knew;To meet me when I came, he flew;In hedge-row shade we napp'd together;Alas, alas, my Robin Wether!'When Willy thus had duly saidHis eulogy upon the deadAnd unto everlasting fameConsign'd poor Robin Wether's name,He then harangued the flock at large,From proud old chieftain ramsDown to the smallest lambs,Addressing them this weighty charge,--Against the wolf, as one, to standIn firm, united, fearless band,By which they might expel him from their land.Upon their faith, they would not flinch,They promised him, a single inch.'We'll choke,' said they, 'the murderous gluttonWho robbed of us of our Robin Mutton.'Their lives they pledged against the beast,And Willy gave them all a feast.But evil Fate, than Phoebus faster,Ere night had brought a new disaster:A wolf there came. By nature's law,The total flock were prompt to run;And yet 'twas not the wolf they saw,But shadow of him from the setting sun.
Harangue a craven soldiery,What heroes they will seem to be!But let them snuff the smoke of battle,Or even hear the ramrods rattle,Adieu to all their spunk and mettle:Your own example will be vain,And exhortations, to retainThe timid cattle.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- wether n.
- A castrated ram. [OE. wether, AS. we; akin to OS. wethar, withar, a ram, D. weder, G. widder, OHG. widar, Icel. ver, Sw. vädur, Dan. vædder, Goth. wiprus a lamb, L. vitulus calf,]
- willy n.
- A large wicker basket. Halliwell. [Cf. Willow.]
- mutton n.
- A sheep. Chapman. [OE. motoun, OF. moton, molton, a sheep, wether, F. mouton, LL. multo, by transposition of l fr. L. mutilus mutilated. See Mutilate.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- disaster n.
- An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star.]
- craven v. t.
- To make recreant, weak, spiritless, or cowardly.
- soldiery n.
- A body of soldiers; soldiers, collectivelly; the military.
- spunk n.
- Wood that readily takes fire; touchwood; also, a kind of tinder made from a species of fungus; punk; amadou. Sir T. Browne. [Gael. spong, or Ir. sponc, tinder, sponge; cf. AS. sponge a sponge (L. spongia), spon a chip. Cf. Sponge, Punk.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: The Shepherd and His Flock 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 Shepherd and His Flock, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-19.html, id L28400.
Form and metre
Book IX: The Shepherd and His Flock is 46 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 ABABCCDDEDEFFGGHHIIJKKJLLLMMNNOOPPQRQR oneA · throngB · doneA · strongB · preyC · dayC · deadD · breadD · cityE · ledD · pityE · knewF · flewF · togetherG · wetherG · saidH · deadH · fameI · nameI · largeJ · ramsK · lambsK · chargeJ · standL · bandL · landL · flinchM · inchM · gluttonN · muttonN · beastO · feastO · fasterP · disasterP · lawQ · runR · sawQ · sunR
- 2 --AA-BBA soldiery · be · battleA · rattleA · mettle · vainB · retainB · cattleA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'What! shall I lose them one by one, | 8 | ········ |
| This stupid coward throng? | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And never shall the wolf have done? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They were at least a thousand strong, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But still they've let poor Robin fall a prey! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Ah, woe's the day! | 4 | ···· |
| Poor Robin Wether lying dead! | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| He follow'd for a bit of bread | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His master through the crowded city, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And would have follow'd, had he led, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Around the world. O! what a pity! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| My pipe, and even step, he knew; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To meet me when I came, he flew; | 8 | ········ |
| In hedge-row shade we napp'd together; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Alas, alas, my Robin Wether!' | 9 | ˘/˘/·/˘/˘ |
| When Willy thus had duly said | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His eulogy upon the dead | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And unto everlasting fame | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Consign'd poor Robin Wether's name, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| He then harangued the flock at large, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| From proud old chieftain rams | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Down to the smallest lambs, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Addressing them this weighty charge,-- | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Against the wolf, as one, to stand | 8 | ········ |
| In firm, united, fearless band, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| By which they might expel him from their land. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Upon their faith, they would not flinch, | 8 | ········ |
| They promised him, a single inch. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| 'We'll choke,' said they, 'the murderous glutton | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Who robbed of us of our Robin Mutton.' | 10 | ·····//˘/˘ |
| Their lives they pledged against the beast, | 8 | ········ |
| And Willy gave them all a feast. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But evil Fate, than Phoebus faster, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Ere night had brought a new disaster: | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| A wolf there came. By nature's law, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The total flock were prompt to run; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And yet 'twas not the wolf they saw, | 8 | ········ |
| But shadow of him from the setting sun. | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Harangue a craven soldiery, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| What heroes they will seem to be! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But let them snuff the smoke of battle, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Or even hear the ramrods rattle, | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| Adieu to all their spunk and mettle: | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| Your own example will be vain, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And exhortations, to retain | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The timid cattle. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
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.