Simonides Preserved By The Gods.[1] Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBAACCDDEFGGHHIIAA JJKKAAKKJJLCAAMNOPQQ CCRRJJSSDDTTDDUVVUAA AAWWXYJJZAZAJJA2B2AA AAQQAA| Three sorts there are as Malherbe says | A |
| Which one can never overpraise | A |
| The gods the ladies and the king | B |
| And I for one endorse the thing | B |
| The heart praise tickles and entices | A |
| Of fair one's smile it oft the price is | A |
| See how the gods sometimes repay it | C |
| Simonides the ancients say it | C |
| Once undertook in poem lyric | D |
| To write a wrestler's panegyric | D |
| Which ere he had proceeded far in | E |
| He found his subject somewhat barren | F |
| No ancestors of great renown | G |
| His sire of some unnoted town | G |
| Himself as little known to fame | H |
| The wrestler's praise was rather tame | H |
| The poet having made the most of | I |
| Whate'er his hero had to boast of | I |
| Digress'd by choice that was not all luck's | A |
| To Castor and his brother Pollux | A |
| Whose bright career was subject ample | J |
| For wrestlers sure a good example | J |
| Our poet fatten'd on their story | K |
| Gave every fight its place and glory | K |
| Till of his panegyric words | A |
| These deities had got two thirds | A |
| All done the poet's fee | K |
| A talent was to be | K |
| But when he comes his bill to settle | J |
| The wrestler with a spice of mettle | J |
| Pays down a third and tells the poet | L |
| 'The balance they may pay who owe it | C |
| The gods than I are rather debtors | A |
| To such a pious man of letters | A |
| But still I shall be greatly pleased | M |
| To have your presence at my feast | N |
| Among a knot of guests select | O |
| My kin and friends I most respect ' | P |
| More fond of character than coffer | Q |
| Simonides accepts the offer | Q |
| While at the feast the party sit | C |
| And wine provokes the flow of wit | C |
| It is announced that at the gate | R |
| Two men in haste that cannot wait | R |
| Would see the bard He leaves the table | J |
| No loss at all to 'ts noisy gabble | J |
| The men were Leda's twins who knew | S |
| What to a poet's praise was due | S |
| And thanking paid him by foretelling | D |
| The downfall of the wrestler's dwelling | D |
| From which ill fated pile indeed | T |
| No sooner was the poet freed | T |
| Than props and pillars failing | D |
| Which held aloft the ceiling | D |
| So splendid o'er them | U |
| It downward loudly crash'd | V |
| The plates and flagons dash'd | V |
| And men who bore them | U |
| And what was worse | A |
| Full vengeance for the man of verse | A |
| A timber broke the wrestler's thighs | A |
| And wounded many otherwise | A |
| The gossip Fame of course took care | W |
| Abroad to publish this affair | W |
| 'A miracle ' the public cried delighted | X |
| No more could god beloved bard be slighted | Y |
| His verse now brought him more than double | J |
| With neither duns nor care nor trouble | J |
| Whoe'er laid claim to noble birth | Z |
| Must buy his ancestors a slice | A |
| Resolved no nobleman on earth | Z |
| Should overgo him in the price | A |
| From which these serious lessons flow | J |
| Fail not your praises to bestow | J |
| On gods and godlike men Again | A2 |
| To sell the product of her pain | B2 |
| Is not degrading to the Muse | A |
| Indeed her art they do abuse | A |
| Who think her wares to use | A |
| And yet a liberal pay refuse | A |
| Whate'er the great confer upon her | Q |
| They're honour'd by it while they honour | Q |
| Of old Olympus and Parnassus | A |
| In friendship heaved their sky crown'd masses | A |
Jean De La Fontaine
(1)
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About Simonides Preserved By The Gods.[1]
Simonides Preserved By The Gods.[1] is a poem by Jean De La Fontaine. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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