Epilogue
A statue of great cost and fameTh' Athenians raised to Esop's name,Him setting on th' eternal base,Whom servile rank could not disgrace;That they might teach to all mankindThe way to honor's unconfined,That glory's due to rising worth,And not alone to pomp and birth.Since then another seized the postLest I priority should boast,This pow'r and praise was yet my own,That he should not excel alone:Nor is this Envy's jealous ire,But Emulation's genuine fire.And if Rome should approve my piece,She'll soon have more to rival Greece.But should th' invidious town declareAgainst my plodding over-care,They cannot take away, nor hurtTh' internal conscience of desert.If these my studies reach their aim,And, reader, your attention claim,If your perception fully weighsThe drift of these my labour'd lays;Then such success precludes complaint.But if the Picture which I paintShould happen to attract their sight,Whom luckless Nature brought to light,Who scorn the labours of a man,And when they carp do all they can;Yet must this fatal cause to mournWith all its bitterness be borne,Till fortune be ashamed of days,When genius fails, and int'rest sways.
Words in this poem
- invidious a.
- Envious; malignant. Evelyn. [L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Envious.]
- plodding a.
- Progressing in a slow, toilsome manner; characterized by laborious diligence; as, a plodding peddler; a plodding student; a man of plodding habits. --Plod"ding*ly, adv.
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- luckless a.
- Being without luck; unpropitious; unfortunate; unlucky; meeting with ill success or bad fortune; as, a luckless gamester; a luckless maid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epilogue is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Fables of Phædrus Literally translated into English prose with notes, Project Gutenberg ebook #25512; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Phaedrus, Epilogue, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/epilogue.html, id L21272.
Form and metre
Epilogue is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% 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 AABBCCDDEEFF--GGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPP fameA · nameA · baseB · disgraceB · mankindC · unconfinedC · worthD · birthD · postE · boastE · ownF · aloneF · ire · fire · pieceG · greeceG · declareH · careH · hurtI · desertI · aimJ · claimJ · weighsK · laysK · complaintL · paintL · sightM · lightM · manN · canN · mournO · borneO · daysP · swaysP
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 statue of great cost and fame | 8 | ·/······ |
| Th' Athenians raised to Esop's name, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Him setting on th' eternal base, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whom servile rank could not disgrace; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| That they might teach to all mankind | 8 | ······// |
| The way to honor's unconfined, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That glory's due to rising worth, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And not alone to pomp and birth. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Since then another seized the post | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Lest I priority should boast, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| This pow'r and praise was yet my own, | 8 | ········ |
| That he should not excel alone: | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Nor is this Envy's jealous ire, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But Emulation's genuine fire. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘/ |
| And if Rome should approve my piece, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| She'll soon have more to rival Greece. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But should th' invidious town declare | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Against my plodding over-care, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They cannot take away, nor hurt | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Th' internal conscience of desert. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| If these my studies reach their aim, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, reader, your attention claim, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| If your perception fully weighs | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| The drift of these my labour'd lays; | 8 | ········ |
| Then such success precludes complaint. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘/ |
| But if the Picture which I paint | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Should happen to attract their sight, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Whom luckless Nature brought to light, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Who scorn the labours of a man, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And when they carp do all they can; | 8 | ········ |
| Yet must this fatal cause to mourn | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With all its bitterness be borne, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Till fortune be ashamed of days, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| When genius fails, and int'rest sways. | 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.