Analysis of An Animal In The Moon.
Jean de La Fontaine 1621 (Château-Thierry) – 1695 (Paris)
While one philosopheraffirms
That by our senses we're deceived,
Anotherswears, in plainest terms,
The senses are to be believed.
The twain are right. Philosophy
Correctly calls us dupes whene'er
Upon mere senses we rely.
But when we wisely rectify
The raw report of eye or ear,
By distance, medium, circumstance,
In real knowledge we advance.
These things hath nature wisely plann'd -
Whereof the proof shall be at hand.
I see the sun: its dazzling glow
Seems but a hand-breadth here below;
But should I see it in its home,
That azure, star-besprinkled dome,
Of all the universe the eye,
Its blaze would fill one half the sky.
The powers of trigonometry
Have set my mind from blunder free.
The ignorant believe it flat;
I make it round, instead of that.
I fasten, fix, on nothing ground it,
And send the earth to travel round it.
In short, I contradict my eyes,
And sift the truth from constant lies.
The mind, not hasty at conclusion,
Resists the onset of illusion,
Forbids the sense to get the better,
And ne'er believes it to the letter.
Between my eyes, perhaps too ready,
And ears as much or more too slow,
A judge with balance true and steady,
I come, at last, some things to know.
Thus when the water crooks a stick,
My reason straightens it as quick -
Kind Mistress Reason - foe of error,
And best of shields from needless terror!
The creed is common with our race,
The moon contains a woman's face.
True? No. Whence, then, the notion,
From mountain top to ocean?
The roughness of that satellite,
Its hills and dales, of every grade,
Effect a change of light and shade
Deceptive to our feeble sight;
So that, besides the human face,
All sorts of creatures one might trace.
Indeed, a living beast, I ween,
Has lately been by England seen.
All duly placed the telescope,
And keen observers full of hope,
An animal entirely new,
In that fair planet, came to view.
Abroad and fast the wonder flew; -
Some change had taken place on high,
Presaging earthly changes nigh;
Perhaps, indeed, it might betoken
The warsthat had already broken
Out wildly o'er the Continent.
The king to see the wonder went:
(As patron of the sciences,
No right to go more plain than his.)
To him, in turn, distinct and clear,
This lunar monster did appear. -
A mouse, between the lenses caged,
Had caused these wars, so fiercely waged!
No doubt the happy English folks
Laugh'd at it as the best of jokes.
How soon will Mars afford the chance
For like amusements here in France!
He makes us reap broad fields of glory.
Our foes may fear the battle-ground;
For us, it is no sooner found,
Than Louis, with fresh laurels crown'd,
Bears higher up our country's story.
The daughters, too, of Memory, -
The Pleasures and the Graces, -
Still show their cheering faces:
We wish for peace, but do not sigh.
The English Charles the secret knows
To make the most of his repose.
And more than this, he'll know the way,
By valour, working sword in hand,
To bring his sea-encircled land
To share the fight it only sees to-day.
Yet, could he but this quarrel quell,
What incense-clouds would grateful swell!
What deed more worthy of his fame!
Augustus, Julius- pray, which Caesar's name
Shines now on story's page with purest flame?
O people happy in your sturdy hearts!
Say, when shall Peace pack up these bloody darts,
And send us all, like you, to softer arts?
Scheme | ABABCDEEDAAFFGGHHEEDCIIJJAAKKDDCGCGLLDDAAKKMNNMAAKOPPQQQEEKKRSAADDTTAAAACUUUCCAAEAAVFFVWWXXXAAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111 111010101 1011 01011101 01110100 0101111 01110101 1111010 01011111 11010010 0110101 11110101 1011111 110111001 11011101 11111011 110111 1101001 11111101 01011 11111101 01000111 11110111 110111011 010111011 0110111 01011101 011101010 01011010 010111010 010111010 011101110 01111111 011101010 11111111 11010101 11010111 110101110 011111010 011101101 01010101 1111010 1101110 0101110 110111001 01011101 010110101 11010101 11110111 01010111 11011101 1101010 01010111 110001001 01110111 01010101 11110111 10010101 0101111 01101010 110100100 01110101 11010100 11111111 11010101 11010101 01010101 11111101 11010101 11110111 11110101 11010101 111111110 101110101 11111101 11011101 1101101010 01011100 0100010 1111010 11111111 01010101 11011101 01111101 1110101 11110101 1101110111 11111101 10111101 11110111 0101011101 1111011101 1101001101 1111111101 0111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 3,235 |
Words | 600 |
Sentences | 36 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 95 |
Lines Amount | 95 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 2,580 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 598 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on April 05, 2023
- 3:03 min read
- 95 Views
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"An Animal In The Moon." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55773/an-animal-in-the-moon.>.
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