The Owl and the Grasshopper
Those who will not the forms obeyTo be obliging in their way,Must often punishment abideFor their ill-nature, and their pride.A Grasshopper, in rank ill-will,Was very loud and very shrillAgainst a sapient Owl's repose,Who was compelled by day to dozeWithin a hollow oak's retreat,As wont by night to quest for meat--She is desired to hold her peace.But at the word her cries increase;Again requested to abateHer noise, she's more importunate.The Owl perceiving no redress,And that her words were less and lessAccounted of, no longer pray'd,But thus an artifice essay'd:"Since 'tis impossible to nod,While harping like the Delphian god,You charm our ears, stead of a nap,A batch of nectar will I tap,Which lately from Minerva came;Now if you do not scorn the same,Together let us bumpers ply."The Grasshopper, extremely dry,And, finding she had hit the keyThat gain'd applause, approach'd with glee;At which the Owl upon her flew,And quick the trembling vixen slew.Thus by her death she was adjudgedTo give what in her life she grudged.
Words in this poem
- sapient a.
- Wise; sage; discerning; -- often in irony or contempt. [L. sapiens, -entis, p.pr. of sapere to taste to have sense, to know. See Sage, a.]
- harping a.
- Pertaining to the harp; as, harping symphonies.
- batch n.
- The quantity of bread baked at one time. [OE. bache, bacche, fr. AS. bacan to bake; cf. G. gebäck and D. baksel. See Bake, v. t.]
- minerva n.
- The goddess of wisdom, of war, of the arts and sciences, of poetry, and of spinning and weaving; -- identified with the Grecian Pallas Athene. [L.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Owl and the Grasshopper 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 Owl and the Grasshopper, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-owl-and-the-grasshopper.html, id L21287.
Form and metre
The Owl and the Grasshopper is 32 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% 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 AABBCCDDEEFF--GGHHIIJJKKLLLLMMNN obeyA · wayA · abideB · prideB · willC · shrillC · reposeD · dozeD · retreatE · meatE · peaceF · increaseF · abate · importunate · redressG · lessG · pray'dH · essay'dH · nodI · godI · napJ · tapJ · cameK · sameK · plyL · dryL · keyL · gleeL · flewM · slewM · adjudgedN · grudgedN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Those who will not the forms obey | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To be obliging in their way, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Must often punishment abide | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| For their ill-nature, and their pride. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A Grasshopper, in rank ill-will, | 8 | ·/·˘···· |
| Was very loud and very shrill | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Against a sapient Owl's repose, | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| Who was compelled by day to doze | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Within a hollow oak's retreat, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As wont by night to quest for meat-- | 8 | ········ |
| She is desired to hold her peace. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But at the word her cries increase; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Again requested to abate | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Her noise, she's more importunate. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| The Owl perceiving no redress, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| And that her words were less and less | 8 | ········ |
| Accounted of, no longer pray'd, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| But thus an artifice essay'd: | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| "Since 'tis impossible to nod, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| While harping like the Delphian god, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| You charm our ears, stead of a nap, | 8 | ··/····· |
| A batch of nectar will I tap, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which lately from Minerva came; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Now if you do not scorn the same, | 8 | ········ |
| Together let us bumpers ply." | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| The Grasshopper, extremely dry, | 8 | ·/·˘˘/˘· |
| And, finding she had hit the key | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That gain'd applause, approach'd with glee; | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| At which the Owl upon her flew, | 8 | ········ |
| And quick the trembling vixen slew. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thus by her death she was adjudged | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To give what in her life she grudged. | 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.