Juno and the Peacock
Her fav'rite bird to Juno came,And was in dudgeon at the dame,That she had not attuned her throatWith Philomela's matchless note;"She is the wonder of all ears;But when I speak the audience sneers."The goddess to the bird replied,(Willing to have him pacified,)"You are above the rest enduedWith beauty and with magnitude;Your neck the em'rald's gloss outvies,And what a blaze of gemmeous diesShines from the plumage of your tail!""All this dumb show will not avail,"Cries he, "if I'm surpass'd in voice.""The fates entirely have the choiceOf all the lots--fair form is yours;The eagle's strength his prey secures;The nightingale can sing an ode;The crow and raven may forebode:All these in sheer contentment craveNo other voice than Nature gave."By affectation be not sway'd,Where Nature has not lent her aid;Nor to that flatt'ring hope attend,Which must in disappointment end.
Words in this poem
- dudgeon a.
- Homely; rude; coarse.
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- gemmeous a.
- Pertaining to gems; of the nature of gems; resembling gems. [L. gemmeus. See Gem.]
- forebode n.
- Prognostication; presage.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- disappointment n.
- The act of disappointing, or the state of being disappointed; defeat or failure of expectation or hope; miscarriage of design or plan; frustration. [Cf. F. désappointement.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Juno and the Peacock 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, Juno and the Peacock, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/juno-and-the-peacock.html, id L21289.
Form and metre
Juno and the Peacock is 26 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMM cameA · dameA · throatB · noteB · earsC · sneersC · repliedD · pacifiedD · enduedE · magnitudeE · outviesF · diesF · tailG · availG · voiceH · choiceH · yoursI · securesI · odeJ · forebodeJ · craveK · gaveK · sway'dL · aidL · attendM · endM
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Her fav'rite bird to Juno came, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And was in dudgeon at the dame, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That she had not attuned her throat | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| With Philomela's matchless note; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| "She is the wonder of all ears; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But when I speak the audience sneers." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The goddess to the bird replied, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| (Willing to have him pacified,) | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| "You are above the rest endued | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With beauty and with magnitude; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Your neck the em'rald's gloss outvies, | 7 | ······· |
| And what a blaze of gemmeous dies | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Shines from the plumage of your tail!" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "All this dumb show will not avail," | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Cries he, "if I'm surpass'd in voice." | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| "The fates entirely have the choice | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Of all the lots--fair form is yours; | 8 | ········ |
| The eagle's strength his prey secures; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The nightingale can sing an ode; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The crow and raven may forebode: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| All these in sheer contentment crave | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| No other voice than Nature gave." | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By affectation be not sway'd, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Where Nature has not lent her aid; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor to that flatt'ring hope attend, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Which must in disappointment end. | 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.