The Sacrilegious Thief
A villain to Jove's altar cameTo light his candle in the flame,And robb'd the god in dead of night,By his own consecrated light:Then thus an awful voice was sent,As with the sacrilege he went:"Though all this gold and silver plateAs gifts of evil men I hate;And their removal from the faneCan cause the Deity no pain;Yet, caitiff, at th' appointed time,Thy life shall answer for thy crime.But, for the future, lest this blaze,At which the pious pray and praise,Should guide the wicked, I decreeThat no such intercourse there be."Hence to this day all men declineTo light their candle at the shrine;Nor from a candle e'er presumeThe holy light to re-illume.How many things are here contain'd,By him alone can be explain'dWho could this useful tale invent.In the first place, herein is meant,That they are often most your foesWho from your fost'ring hand arose.Next, that the harden'd villain's fateIs not from wrath precipitate,But rather at a destined hour.Lastly, we're charg'd with all our pow'r,To keep ourselves, by care intense,From all connexions with offence.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- caitiff a.
- Captive; wretched; unfortunate. [OE. caitif, cheitif, captive, miserable, OF. caitif, chaitif, captive, mean, wretched, F. chétif, fr. L. captivus captive, fr. capere to take, akin to E. heave.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- presume v. t.
- To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. [F. présumer, L. praesumere, praesumptum; prae before + sumere to take. See Assume, Redeem.]
- invent v. t.
- To come or light upon; to meet; to find. [L. inventus, p. p. of invenire to come upon, to find, invent; pref. in- in + venire to come, akin to E. come: cf. F. inventer. See Come.]
- lastly adv.
- In the last place; in conclusion.
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sacrilegious Thief 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 Sacrilegious Thief, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-sacrilegious-thief.html, id L21302.
Form and metre
The Sacrilegious Thief 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 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNN--OO cameA · flameA · nightB · lightB · sentC · wentC · plateD · hateD · faneE · painE · timeF · crimeF · blazeG · praiseG · decreeH · beH · declineI · shrineI · presumeJ · illumeJ · contain'dK · explain'dK · inventL · meantL · foesM · aroseM · fateN · precipitateN · hour · pow'r · intenseO · offenceO
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 villain to Jove's altar came | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To light his candle in the flame, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And robb'd the god in dead of night, | 8 | ········ |
| By his own consecrated light: | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| Then thus an awful voice was sent, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As with the sacrilege he went: | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| "Though all this gold and silver plate | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As gifts of evil men I hate; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And their removal from the fane | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Can cause the Deity no pain; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Yet, caitiff, at th' appointed time, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Thy life shall answer for thy crime. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But, for the future, lest this blaze, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| At which the pious pray and praise, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Should guide the wicked, I decree | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That no such intercourse there be." | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hence to this day all men decline | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To light their candle at the shrine; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor from a candle e'er presume | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The holy light to re-illume. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| How many things are here contain'd, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| By him alone can be explain'd | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Who could this useful tale invent. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| In the first place, herein is meant, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| That they are often most your foes | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who from your fost'ring hand arose. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Next, that the harden'd villain's fate | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is not from wrath precipitate, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But rather at a destined hour. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Lastly, we're charg'd with all our pow'r, | 8 | /˘····/· |
| To keep ourselves, by care intense, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| From all connexions with offence. | 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.