Analysis of A Fable
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
A raven, while with glossy breast
Her new-laid eggs she fondly press'd,
And, on her wicker-work high mounted,
Her chickens prematurely counted
(A fault philosophers might blame,
If quite exempted from the same),
Enjoy'd at ease the genial day;
'Twas April, as the bumpkins say,
The legislature call'd it May.
But suddenly a wind, as high
As ever swept a winter sky,
Shook the young leaves about her ears,
And fill'd her with a thousand fears,
Lest the rude blast should snap the bough,
And spread her golden hopes below.
But just at eve the blowing weather
And all her fears were hush'd together:
And now, quoth poor unthinking Ralph.
'Tis over, and the brood is safe;
(For ravens, though, as birds of omen,
They teach both conjurors and old women
To tell us what is to befall,
Can’t prophesy themselves at all.)
The morning came, when neighbour Hodge,
Who long had mark'd her airy lodge,
And destined all the treasure there
A gift to his expecting fair,
Climb’d like a squirrel to his dray,
And bore the worthless prize away.
Moral:
'Tis Providence alone secures
In every change both mine and yours:
Safety consists not in escape
From dangers of a frightful shape;
An earthquake may be bid to spare
The man that’s strangled by a hair.
Fate steals along with silent tread,
Found oft’nest in what least we dread,
Frowns in the storm with angry brow,
But in the sunshine strikes the blow.
Scheme | AABBCCDDDEEFFGHIIXXJJKKLLMMDD XNNOOMMPPGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 01011101 01111101 010101110 01001010 01010011 11010101 01110101 1101011 0100111 11000111 11010101 10110101 01010101 10111101 01010101 111101010 010101010 01110101 11000111 110111110 11110110 11111101 110111 0101111 11110101 01010101 01110101 11010111 01010101 10 11000101 010011101 10011001 11010101 1111111 01110101 11011101 1101111 10011101 1001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,363 |
Words | 248 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 29, 11 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 542 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 123 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 15, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 103 Views
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"A Fable" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39787/a-fable>.
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