The Ant and the Fly
An Ant and Fly had sharp disputeWhich creature was of most repute;When thus began the flaunting Fly:"Are you so laudible as I?I, ere the sacrifice is carved,Precede the gods; first come, first served--Before the altar take my place,And in all temples show my face,Whene'er I please I set me downUpon the head that wears a crown.I with impunity can tasteThe kiss of matrons fair and chaste.And pleasure without labor claim--Say, trollop, canst thou do the same?""The feasts of gods are glorious fare.No doubt, to those who're welcome there;But not for such detested things.--You talk of matron's lips and kings;I, who with wakeful care and painsAgainst the winter hoard my grains,Thee feeding upon ordure view.--The altars you frequent, 'tis true;But still are driv'n away from thence,And elsewhere, as of much offence.A life of toil you will not lead,And so have nothing when you need.Besides all this, you talk with prideOf things that modesty should hide.You plague me here, while days increase,But when the winter comes you cease.Me, when the cold thy life bereaves,A plenteous magazine receives.I think I need no more advanceTo cure you of your arrogance."The tenor of this tale infersTwo very diff'rent characters;Of men self-praised and falsely vain,And men of real worth in grain.
Words in this poem
- impunity n.
- Exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss. [L. impunitas, fr. impunis without punishment; pref. im- not + poena punishment: cf. F. impunité. See Pain.]
- trollop n.
- A stroller; a loiterer; esp., an idle, untidy woman; a slattern; a slut; a whore. [From Troll to roll, to stroll; but cf. also Trull.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ant and the Fly 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, The Ant and the Fly, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-ant-and-the-fly.html, id L21311.
Form and metre
The Ant and the Fly is 38 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% 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 AABB--CCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK--LLMMNNOOPPQQ disputeA · reputeA · flyB · iB · carved · served · placeC · faceC · downD · crownD · tasteE · chasteE · claimF · sameF · fareG · thereG · thingsH · kingsH · painsI · grainsI · viewJ · trueJ · thenceK · offenceK · lead · need · prideL · hideL · increaseM · ceaseM · bereavesN · receivesN · advanceO · arroganceO · infersP · charactersP · vainQ · grainQ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| An Ant and Fly had sharp dispute | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Which creature was of most repute; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| When thus began the flaunting Fly: | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| "Are you so laudible as I? | 8 | ········ |
| I, ere the sacrifice is carved, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Precede the gods; first come, first served-- | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Before the altar take my place, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in all temples show my face, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whene'er I please I set me down | 9 | ········· |
| Upon the head that wears a crown. | 8 | ········ |
| I with impunity can taste | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| The kiss of matrons fair and chaste. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And pleasure without labor claim-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Say, trollop, canst thou do the same?" | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "The feasts of gods are glorious fare. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No doubt, to those who're welcome there; | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| But not for such detested things.-- | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| You talk of matron's lips and kings; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I, who with wakeful care and pains | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Against the winter hoard my grains, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thee feeding upon ordure view.-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The altars you frequent, 'tis true; | 8 | ·/˘·/··· |
| But still are driv'n away from thence, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And elsewhere, as of much offence. | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| A life of toil you will not lead, | 8 | ········ |
| And so have nothing when you need. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Besides all this, you talk with pride | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Of things that modesty should hide. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| You plague me here, while days increase, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But when the winter comes you cease. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Me, when the cold thy life bereaves, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A plenteous magazine receives. | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| I think I need no more advance | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To cure you of your arrogance." | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The tenor of this tale infers | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Two very diff'rent characters; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of men self-praised and falsely vain, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And men of real worth in grain. | 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.