The Man and the Ass
A certain Man, when he had madeA sacrifice, for special aidTo Hercules, and kill'd a swine,Did for his Ass's share assignAll the remainder of the corn;But he, rejecting it with scorn,Thus said: "I gladly would partake--But apprehend that life's at stake;For he you fatted up and fedWith store of this, is stuck and dead."Struck with the import of this tale,I have succeeded to prevailUpon my passions, and abstain,From peril of immod'rate gain.But, you will say, those that have comeUnjustly by a handsome sum,Upon the pillage still subsist--Why, if we reckon up the list,You'll find by far the major partHave been conducted in the cart:Temerity for some may do,But many more their rashness rue.
Words in this poem
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- subsist v. i.
- To be; to have existence; to inhere. [L. subsistere to stand still, stay, remain alive; sub under + sistere to stand, to cause to stand, from stare to stand: cf. F. subsister. See Stand.]
- temerity n.
- Unreasonable contempt of danger; extreme venturesomeness; rashness; as, the temerity of a commander in war. [L. temeritas, from temere by chance, rashly; perhaps akin to Skr. tamas darkness: cf. F. témérité.]
- rashness n.
- The quality of state of being rash.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Man and the Ass 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 Man and the Ass, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-man-and-the-ass.html, id L21318.
Form and metre
The Man and the Ass is 22 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 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK madeA · aidA · swineB · assignB · cornC · scornC · partakeD · stakeD · fedE · deadE · taleF · prevailF · abstainG · gainG · comeH · sumH · subsistI · listI · partJ · cartJ · doK · rueK
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 certain Man, when he had made | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A sacrifice, for special aid | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To Hercules, and kill'd a swine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Did for his Ass's share assign | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| All the remainder of the corn; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| But he, rejecting it with scorn, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Thus said: "I gladly would partake-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But apprehend that life's at stake; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For he you fatted up and fed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With store of this, is stuck and dead." | 8 | ········ |
| Struck with the import of this tale, | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| I have succeeded to prevail | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Upon my passions, and abstain, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| From peril of immod'rate gain. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But, you will say, those that have come | 8 | ········ |
| Unjustly by a handsome sum, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Upon the pillage still subsist-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Why, if we reckon up the list, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You'll find by far the major part | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Have been conducted in the cart: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Temerity for some may do, | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| But many more their rashness rue. | 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.