A Fable
Some cawing Crows, a hooting Owl,A Hawk, a Canary, an old Marsh-Fowl,One day all meet togetherTo hold a caucus and settle the fateOf a certain bird (without a mate),A bird of another feather.
"My friends," said the Owl, with a look most wise,"The Eagle is soaring too near the skies,In a way that is quite improper;Yet the world is praising her, so I'm told,And I think her actions have grown so boldThat some of us ought to stop her."
"I have heard it said," quoth Hawk, with a sigh,"That young lambs died at the glance of her eye,And I wholly scorn and despise her.This, and more, I am told they say,And I think that the only proper wayIs never to recognize her."
"I am quite convinced," said Crow, with a caw,"That the Eagle minds no moral law,She's a most unruly creature.""She's an ugly thing," piped Canary Bird;"Some call her handsome--it's so absurd--She hasn't a decent feature."
Then the old Marsh-Hen went hopping about,She said she was sure--she hadn't a doubt--Of the truth of each bird's story:And she thought it a duty to stop her flight,To pull her down from her lofty height,And take the gilt from her glory.
But, lo! from a peak on the mountain grandThat looks out over the smiling landAnd over the mighty ocean,The Eagle is spreading her splendid wings--She rises, rises, and upward swings,With a slow, majestic motion.
Up in the blue of God's own skies,With a cry of rapture, away she flies,Close to the Great Eternal:She sweeps the world with her piercing sight;Her soul is filled with the infiniteAnd the joy of things supernal.
Thus rise forever the chosen of God,The genius-crowned or the power-shod,Over the dust-world sailing;And back, like splinters blown by the winds,Must fall the missiles of silly minds,Useless and unavailing.
Words in this poem
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- piped a.
- Formed with a pipe; having pipe or pipes; tubular.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- supernal a.
- Being in a higher place or region; locally higher; as, the supernal orbs; supernal regions. [L. supernus, from super above: cf. F. supernel. See Super-.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Fable is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, A Fable, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/a-fable.html, id L22221.
Form and metre
A Fable is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
See 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 AABCCB owlA · fowlA · togetherB · fateC · mateC · featherB
- 2 AA-BB- wiseA · skiesA · improper · toldB · boldB · her
- 3 AABCCB sighA · eyeA · herB · sayC · wayC · herB
- 4 AABCCB cawA · lawA · creatureB · birdC · absurdC · featureB
- 5 AABCCB aboutA · doubtA · storyB · flightC · heightC · gloryB
- 6 AABCCB grandA · landA · oceanB · wingsC · swingsC · motionB
- 7 AABCCB skiesA · fliesA · eternalB · sightC · infiniteC · supernalB
- 8 AABCCB godA · shodA · sailingB · windsC · mindsC · unavailingB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Some cawing Crows, a hooting Owl, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A Hawk, a Canary, an old Marsh-Fowl, | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| One day all meet together | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| To hold a caucus and settle the fate | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| Of a certain bird (without a mate), | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| A bird of another feather. | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| "My friends," said the Owl, with a look most wise, | 10 | ·········· |
| "The Eagle is soaring too near the skies, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| In a way that is quite improper; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Yet the world is praising her, so I'm told, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And I think her actions have grown so bold | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| That some of us ought to stop her." | 8 | ········ |
| "I have heard it said," quoth Hawk, with a sigh, | 10 | ·········· |
| "That young lambs died at the glance of her eye, | 10 | ·········· |
| And I wholly scorn and despise her. | 9 | ··/˘··˘/· |
| This, and more, I am told they say, | 8 | ········ |
| And I think that the only proper way | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Is never to recognize her." | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| "I am quite convinced," said Crow, with a caw, | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| "That the Eagle minds no moral law, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| She's a most unruly creature." | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| "She's an ugly thing," piped Canary Bird; | 10 | ··/˘··˘/˘· |
| "Some call her handsome--it's so absurd-- | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| She hasn't a decent feature." | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Then the old Marsh-Hen went hopping about, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| She said she was sure--she hadn't a doubt-- | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Of the truth of each bird's story: | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And she thought it a duty to stop her flight, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| To pull her down from her lofty height, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And take the gilt from her glory. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But, lo! from a peak on the mountain grand | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That looks out over the smiling land | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And over the mighty ocean, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| The Eagle is spreading her splendid wings-- | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| She rises, rises, and upward swings, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| With a slow, majestic motion. | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Up in the blue of God's own skies, | 8 | ········ |
| With a cry of rapture, away she flies, | 10 | ····/˘˘/·· |
| Close to the Great Eternal: | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| She sweeps the world with her piercing sight; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Her soul is filled with the infinite | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| And the joy of things supernal. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Thus rise forever the chosen of God, | 10 | ··˘/˘·/˘·· |
| The genius-crowned or the power-shod, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Over the dust-world sailing; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And back, like splinters blown by the winds, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Must fall the missiles of silly minds, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Useless and unavailing. | 7 | /˘··˘/˘ |
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