The Horse and Boar
A Wild-Boar wallow'd in the flood,And troubled all the stream with mud,Just where a horse to drink repair'd--He therefore having war declared,Sought man's alliance for the fight,And bore upon his back the knight;Who being skill'd his darts to throw,Despatched the Wild-Boar at a blow.Then to the steed the victor said,"I'm glad you came to me for aid,For taught how useful you can be,I've got at once a spoil and thee."On which the fields he made him quit,To feel the spur and champ the bit.Then he his sorrow thus express'd:"I needs must have my wrongs redress'd,And making tyrant man the judge,Must all my life become a drudge."This tale the passionate may warn,To bear with any kind of scorn;And rather all complaint withdrawThan either go to war or law.
Words in this poem
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- champ v. t.
- To bite with repeated action of the teeth so as to be heard. [Prob, of Scand. orgin; cf. dial. Sw. kämsa to chew with difficulty, champ; but cf. also OF. champier, champeyer, champoyer, to graze in fields, fr. F. champ fie]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Horse and Boar 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 Horse and Boar, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-horse-and-boar.html, id L21295.
Form and metre
The Horse and Boar is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABBCCDD--EEFFGGHHIIJJ floodA · mudA · repair'dB · declaredB · fightC · knightC · throwD · blowD · said · aid · beE · theeE · quitF · bitF · express'dG · redress'dG · judgeH · drudgeH · warnI · scornI · withdrawJ · lawJ
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 Wild-Boar wallow'd in the flood, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And troubled all the stream with mud, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Just where a horse to drink repair'd-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He therefore having war declared, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Sought man's alliance for the fight, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And bore upon his back the knight; | 8 | ········ |
| Who being skill'd his darts to throw, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Despatched the Wild-Boar at a blow. | 8 | ········ |
| Then to the steed the victor said, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "I'm glad you came to me for aid, | 8 | ········ |
| For taught how useful you can be, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I've got at once a spoil and thee." | 8 | ········ |
| On which the fields he made him quit, | 8 | ········ |
| To feel the spur and champ the bit. | 8 | ········ |
| Then he his sorrow thus express'd: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "I needs must have my wrongs redress'd, | 8 | ········ |
| And making tyrant man the judge, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Must all my life become a drudge." | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| This tale the passionate may warn, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| To bear with any kind of scorn; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And rather all complaint withdraw | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Than either go to war or law. | 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.