The Wolf and Fox, with the Ape for Judge
Whoe'er by practice indiscreetHas pass'd for a notorious cheat,Will shortly find his credit fail,Though he speak truth, says Esop's tale.The Wolf the Fox for theft arraign'd;The Fox her innocence maintain'd:The Ape, as umpire, takes his seat;Each pleads his cause with skill and heat.Then thus the Ape, with aspect grave,The sentence from the hustings gave:"For you, Sir Wolf, I do descryThat all your losses are a lie--And you, with negatives so stout,O Fox! have stolen the goods no doubt."
Words in this poem
- shortly adv.
- In a short or brief time or manner; soon; quickly. [AS. sceortlice.]
- descry
- , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Wolf and Fox, with the Ape for Judge 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 Wolf and Fox, with the Ape for Judge, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-wolf-and-fox-with-the-ape-for-judge.html, id L21243.
Form and metre
The Wolf and Fox, with the Ape for Judge is 14 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 AABBCCAADDEEFF indiscreetA · cheatA · failB · taleB · arraign'dC · maintain'dC · seatA · heatA · graveD · gaveD · descryE · lieE · stoutF · doubtF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whoe'er by practice indiscreet | 7 | ··/˘˘˘/ |
| Has pass'd for a notorious cheat, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Will shortly find his credit fail, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though he speak truth, says Esop's tale. | 8 | ········ |
| The Wolf the Fox for theft arraign'd; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The Fox her innocence maintain'd: | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| The Ape, as umpire, takes his seat; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each pleads his cause with skill and heat. | 8 | ········ |
| Then thus the Ape, with aspect grave, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The sentence from the hustings gave: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "For you, Sir Wolf, I do descry | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That all your losses are a lie-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And you, with negatives so stout, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| O Fox! have stolen the goods no doubt." | 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.