Esop Playing
As Esop was with boys at play,And had his nuts as well as they,A grave Athenian, passing by,Cast on the sage a scornful eye,As on a dotard quite bereaved:Which, when the moralist perceived,(Rather himself a wit profess'dThan the poor subject of a jest)Into the public way he flungA bow that he had just unstrung:"There solve, thou conjurer," he cries,"The problem, that before thee lies."The people throng; he racks his brain,Nor can the thing enjoin'd explain.At last he gives it up--the seerThus then in triumph made it clear:"As the tough bow exerts its spring,A constant tension breaks the string;But if 'tis let at seasons loose,You may depend upon its use."Thus recreative sports and playAre good upon a holiday,And with more spirit they'll pursueThe studies which they shall renew.
Words in this poem
- moralist n.
- One who moralizes; one who teaches or animadverts upon the duties of life; a writer of essays intended to correct vice and inculcate moral duties. [Cf. F. moraliste.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- recreative a.
- Tending to recreate or refresh; recreating; giving new vigor or animation; reinvigorating; giving relief after labor or pain; amusing; diverting. [Cf. F. récr. See Recreate.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Esop Playing 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, Esop Playing, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/esop-playing.html, id L21285.
Form and metre
Esop Playing is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJAAKK playA · theyA · byB · eyeB · bereavedC · perceivedC · profess'dD · jestD · flungE · unstrungE · criesF · liesF · brainG · explainG · seerH · clearH · springI · stringI · looseJ · useJ · playA · holidayA · pursueK · renewK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As Esop was with boys at play, | 8 | ········ |
| And had his nuts as well as they, | 8 | ········ |
| A grave Athenian, passing by, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Cast on the sage a scornful eye, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As on a dotard quite bereaved: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Which, when the moralist perceived, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| (Rather himself a wit profess'd | 8 | /˘˘/··˘/ |
| Than the poor subject of a jest) | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Into the public way he flung | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A bow that he had just unstrung: | 8 | ········ |
| "There solve, thou conjurer," he cries, | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| "The problem, that before thee lies." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The people throng; he racks his brain, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor can the thing enjoin'd explain. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| At last he gives it up--the seer | 8 | ········ |
| Thus then in triumph made it clear: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "As the tough bow exerts its spring, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| A constant tension breaks the string; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But if 'tis let at seasons loose, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You may depend upon its use." | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Thus recreative sports and play | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Are good upon a holiday, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And with more spirit they'll pursue | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The studies which they shall renew. | 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.