Book IX: The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter
A block of marble was so fine,To buy it did a sculptor hasten.'What shall my chisel, now 'tis mine--A god, a table, or a basin?'
'A god,' said he, 'the thing shall be;I'll arm it, too, with thunder.Let people quake, and bow the kneeWith reverential wonder.'
So well the cunning artist wroughtAll things within a mortal's reach,That soon the marble wanted noughtOf being Jupiter, but speech.
Indeed, the man whose skill did makeHad scarcely laid his chisel down,Before himself began to quake,And fear his manufacture's frown.
And even this excess of faithThe poet once scarce fell behind,The hatred fearing, and the wrath,Of gods the product of his mind.
This trait we see in infancyBetween the baby and its doll,Of wax or china, it may be--A pocket stuff'd, or folded shawl.
Imagination rules the heart:And here we find the fountain headFrom whence the pagan errors start,That o'er the teeming nations spread.
With violent and flaming zeal,Each takes his own chimera's part;Pygmalion doth a passion feelFor Venus chisel'd by his art.
All men, as far as in them lies,Create realities of dreams.To truth our nature proves but ice;To falsehood, fire it seems.
Words in this poem
- sculptor n.
- One who sculptures; one whose occupation is to carve statues, or works of sculpture. [L. sculptor, fr. sculpere, sculptum, to carve; cf. scalpere to cut, carve, scratch, and Gr. sculpteur.]
- 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,]
- artist n.
- One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan. [F. artiste, LL. artista, fr. L. ars. See Art, n., and cf. Artiste.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- trait n.
- A stroke; a touch. [F., fr. L. tractus, fr. trahere to draw. See Trace, v., and cf. Tract a region, Trace a strap, Tret.]
- teeming a.
- Prolific; productive.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter 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 Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-6.html, id L28387.
Form and metre
Book IX: The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 ABAB fineA · hastenB · mineA · basinB
- 2 ABAB beA · thunderB · kneeA · wonderB
- 3 ABAB wroughtA · reachB · noughtA · speechB
- 4 ABAB makeA · downB · quakeA · frownB
- 5 ABAB faithA · behindB · wrathA · mindB
- 7 ABAB heartA · headB · startA · spreadB
- 8 ABAB zealA · partB · feelA · artB
- 9 ABAB liesA · dreamsB · iceA · seemsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A block of marble was so fine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To buy it did a sculptor hasten. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| 'What shall my chisel, now 'tis mine-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A god, a table, or a basin?' | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| 'A god,' said he, 'the thing shall be; | 8 | ········ |
| I'll arm it, too, with thunder. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Let people quake, and bow the knee | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With reverential wonder.' | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| So well the cunning artist wrought | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| All things within a mortal's reach, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That soon the marble wanted nought | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of being Jupiter, but speech. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Indeed, the man whose skill did make | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Had scarcely laid his chisel down, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Before himself began to quake, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| And fear his manufacture's frown. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And even this excess of faith | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The poet once scarce fell behind, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The hatred fearing, and the wrath, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of gods the product of his mind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| This trait we see in infancy | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Between the baby and its doll, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of wax or china, it may be-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A pocket stuff'd, or folded shawl. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Imagination rules the heart: | 8 | ˘·˘/˘··· |
| And here we find the fountain head | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From whence the pagan errors start, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That o'er the teeming nations spread. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With violent and flaming zeal, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Each takes his own chimera's part; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Pygmalion doth a passion feel | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For Venus chisel'd by his art. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| All men, as far as in them lies, | 8 | ········ |
| Create realities of dreams. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| To truth our nature proves but ice; | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| To falsehood, fire it seems. | 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.