The Fox and Eagle
Howe'er exalted in your sphere,There's something from the mean to fear;For, if their property you wrong,The poor's revenge is quick and strong.When on a time an Eagle stoleThe cubs from out a Fox's hole,And bore them to her young away,That they might feast upon the prey,The dam pursues the winged thief,And deprecates so great a grief;But safe upon the lofty tree,The Eagle scorn'd the Fox's plea.With that the Fox perceived at handAn altar, whence she snatch'd a brand,And compassing with flames the wood,Put her in terror for her brood.She therefore, lest her house should burn,Submissive did the cubs return.
Words in this poem
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- compassing a.
- Curved; bent; as, compassing timbers.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Fox and Eagle 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 Fox and Eagle, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-fox-and-eagle.html, id L21260.
Form and metre
The Fox and Eagle is 18 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 93%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG--HH sphereA · fearA · wrongB · strongB · stoleC · holeC · awayD · preyD · thiefE · griefE · treeF · pleaF · handG · brandG · wood · brood · burnH · returnH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Howe'er exalted in your sphere, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| There's something from the mean to fear; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For, if their property you wrong, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The poor's revenge is quick and strong. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| When on a time an Eagle stole | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The cubs from out a Fox's hole, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And bore them to her young away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That they might feast upon the prey, | 8 | ········ |
| The dam pursues the winged thief, | 8 | ··˘/··˘· |
| And deprecates so great a grief; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But safe upon the lofty tree, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Eagle scorn'd the Fox's plea. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With that the Fox perceived at hand | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| An altar, whence she snatch'd a brand, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And compassing with flames the wood, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Put her in terror for her brood. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She therefore, lest her house should burn, | 8 | ········ |
| Submissive did the cubs return. | 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.