The Fox and the Dragon
A Fox was throwing up the soil,And while with his assiduous toilHe burrow'd deep into the ground,A Dragon in his den he found,A-watching hidden treasure there,Whom seeing, Renard speaks him fair:"First, for your pardon I applyFor breaking on your privacy;Then, as you very plainly seeThat gold is of no use to me,Your gentle leave let me obtainTo ask you, what can be the gainOf all this care, and what the fruit,That you should not with sleep recruitYour spirits, but your life consumeThus in an everlasting gloom?""'Tis not my profit here to stay,"He cries; "but I must Jove obey.""What! will you therefore nothing takeYourself, nor others welcome make?""Ev'n so the fates decree:" --"Then, sir,Have patience, whilst I do averThat he who like affections knowsIs born with all the gods his foes.Since to that place you needs must speed,Where all your ancestors precede,Why in the blindness of your heartDo you torment your noble part?"All this to thee do I indite,Thou grudging churl, thy heir's delight,Who robb'st the gods of incense due,Thyself of food and raiment too;Who hear'st the harp with sullen mien,To whom the piper gives the spleen;Who'rt full of heavy groans and sighsWhen in their price provisions rise;Who with thy frauds heaven's patience tireTo make thy heap a little higher,And, lest death thank thee, in thy willHast tax'd the undertaker's bill.
Words in this poem
- renard n.
- A fox; -- so called in fables or familiar tales, and in poetry. [F. renard the fox, the name of the fox in a celebrated epic poem, and of German origin, G. Reinhard, OHG. Reginhard, properly, strong in counsel; regin counsel ]
- recruit v. t.
- To repair by fresh supplies, as anything wasted; to remedy lack or deficiency in; as, food recruits the flesh; fresh air and exercise recruit the spirits. [F. recruter, corrupted (under influence of recrue recruiting, recruit, from recro, p.p. recr, to grow again) from an older recluter, properly, to patch, to mend]
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- aver n.
- A work horse, or working ox. [OF. aver domestic animal, whence LL. averia, pl. cattle. See Habit, and cf. Average.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- indite v. t.
- To compose; to write; to be author of; to dictate; to prompt. [OE. enditen to indite, indict, OF. enditer to indicate, show, dictate, write, inform, and endicter to accuse; both fr. LL. indictare to show, to accuse, fr. L. ]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Fox and the Dragon 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 the Dragon, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-fox-and-the-dragon.html, id L21307.
Form and metre
The Fox and the Dragon is 40 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 90% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 AABBCCD-DDEEFFGGHHII--JJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRR soilA · toilA · groundB · foundB · thereC · fairC · applyD · privacy · seeD · meD · obtainE · gainE · fruitF · recruitF · consumeG · gloomG · stayH · obeyH · takeI · makeI · sir · aver · knowsJ · foesJ · speedK · precedeK · heartL · partL · inditeM · delightM · dueN · tooN · mienO · spleenO · sighsP · riseP · tireQ · higherQ · willR · billR
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 Fox was throwing up the soil, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And while with his assiduous toil | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| He burrow'd deep into the ground, | 8 | ········ |
| A Dragon in his den he found, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A-watching hidden treasure there, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Whom seeing, Renard speaks him fair: | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| "First, for your pardon I apply | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For breaking on your privacy; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Then, as you very plainly see | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That gold is of no use to me, | 8 | ········ |
| Your gentle leave let me obtain | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| To ask you, what can be the gain | 8 | ········ |
| Of all this care, and what the fruit, | 8 | ········ |
| That you should not with sleep recruit | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Your spirits, but your life consume | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Thus in an everlasting gloom?" | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| "'Tis not my profit here to stay," | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He cries; "but I must Jove obey." | 8 | ······˘/ |
| "What! will you therefore nothing take | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yourself, nor others welcome make?" | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| "Ev'n so the fates decree:" --"Then, sir, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Have patience, whilst I do aver | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| That he who like affections knows | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Is born with all the gods his foes. | 8 | ········ |
| Since to that place you needs must speed, | 8 | ········ |
| Where all your ancestors precede, | 8 | ···/·˘˘/ |
| Why in the blindness of your heart | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Do you torment your noble part?" | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| All this to thee do I indite, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Thou grudging churl, thy heir's delight, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Who robb'st the gods of incense due, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Thyself of food and raiment too; | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Who hear'st the harp with sullen mien, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To whom the piper gives the spleen; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who'rt full of heavy groans and sighs | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When in their price provisions rise; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Who with thy frauds heaven's patience tire | 9 | ····/˘/˘/ |
| To make thy heap a little higher, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And, lest death thank thee, in thy will | 8 | ········ |
| Hast tax'd the undertaker's bill. | 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.