The Panther and Shepherds
Their scorn comes home to them againWho treat the wretched with disdain.A careless Panther long agoFell in a pit, which overthrowThe Shepherds all around alarm'd;When some themselves with cudgels arm'd;Others threw stones upon its head;But some in pity sent her bread,As death was not the creature's due.The night came on--the hostile crewWent home, not doubting in the wayTo find the Panther dead next day.But she, recovering of her strength,Sprang from the pit and fled at length.But rushing in a little spaceFrom forth her den upon the place,She tears the flock, the Shepherd slays,And all the region round dismays.Then they began to be afraidWho spared the beast and lent their aid;They reck not of the loss, but makeTheir pray'r for life, when thus she spake:"I well remember them that threwThe stones, and well remember youWho gave me bread--desist to fear,For 'twas the oppressor brought me here."
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- reck v. t.
- To make account of; to care for; to heed; to regard. [AS. reccan, remccan, to care for; akin to OS. rokian, OHG. ruochan, G. geruhen, Icel. rækja, also to E. reckon, rake an implement. See Rake, and cf. Reckon.]
- oppressor n.
- One who oppresses; one who imposes unjust burdens on others; one who harasses others with unjust laws or unreasonable severity. [L.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Panther and Shepherds 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 Panther and Shepherds, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-panther-and-shepherds.html, id L21275.
Form and metre
The Panther and Shepherds is 26 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 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKEELL againA · disdainA · agoB · overthrowB · alarm'dC · arm'dC · headD · breadD · dueE · crewE · wayF · dayF · strengthG · lengthG · spaceH · placeH · slaysI · dismaysI · afraidJ · aidJ · makeK · spakeK · threwE · youE · fearL · hereL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Their scorn comes home to them again | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Who treat the wretched with disdain. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A careless Panther long ago | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Fell in a pit, which overthrow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Shepherds all around alarm'd; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| When some themselves with cudgels arm'd; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Others threw stones upon its head; | 8 | /˘······ |
| But some in pity sent her bread, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As death was not the creature's due. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The night came on--the hostile crew | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Went home, not doubting in the way | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To find the Panther dead next day. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But she, recovering of her strength, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Sprang from the pit and fled at length. | 8 | ········ |
| But rushing in a little space | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From forth her den upon the place, | 8 | ········ |
| She tears the flock, the Shepherd slays, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And all the region round dismays. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Then they began to be afraid | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Who spared the beast and lent their aid; | 8 | ········ |
| They reck not of the loss, but make | 8 | ········ |
| Their pray'r for life, when thus she spake: | 8 | ········ |
| "I well remember them that threw | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The stones, and well remember you | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Who gave me bread--desist to fear, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| For 'twas the oppressor brought me here." | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
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.