The Sheep, the Stag, and the Wolf
When one rogue would another getFor surety in a case of debt,'Tis not the thing t' accept the terms,But dread th' event--the tale affirms.A Stag approach'd the Sheep, to treatFor one good bushel of her wheat."The honest Wolf will give his bond."At which, beginning to despond,"The Wolf (cries she) 's a vagrant bite.And you are quickly out of sight;Where shall I find or him or youUpon the day the debt is due?"
Words in this poem
- despond v. i.
- To give up, the will, courage, or spirit; to be thoroughly disheartened; to lose all courage; to become dispirited or depressed; to take an unhopeful view. [L. despond, desponsum, to promise away, promise in marriage, give up, to lose (courage); de- + spond to promise solemnly. See Sponsor.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sheep, the Stag, and the Wolf 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 Sheep, the Stag, and the Wolf, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-sheep-the-stag-and-the-wolf.html, id L21249.
Form and metre
The Sheep, the Stag, and the Wolf is 12 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 88%).
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 getA · debtA · termsB · affirmsB · treatC · wheatC · bondD · despondD · biteE · sightE · youF · dueF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When one rogue would another get | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| For surety in a case of debt, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Tis not the thing t' accept the terms, | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| But dread th' event--the tale affirms. | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| A Stag approach'd the Sheep, to treat | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For one good bushel of her wheat. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "The honest Wolf will give his bond." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| At which, beginning to despond, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| "The Wolf (cries she) 's a vagrant bite. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And you are quickly out of sight; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where shall I find or him or you | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the day the debt is due?" | 8 | ········ |
Notes from the edition 2
Henry T. Riley's notes to his prose translation of the Fables of Phaedrus (George Bell & Sons, 1887; Project Gutenberg #25512), aligned fable-by-fable, per book, against Christopher Smart's verse translation of the same fables, which is what the site carries.
- For a measure)--Ver. 3. Properly "modius;" the principal dry measure of the Romans. It was equal to one-third of the amphora, and therefore to nearly two gallons English.
- Day comes)--Ver. 6. "Quum dies adveniat," a law term, signifying "when the day of payment comes."
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.