Analysis of The Country Justice
La Fontaine 1621 (Château-Thierry, Champagne) – 1695 (Neuilly-sur-Seine, Île-de-France)
TWO lawyers to their cause so well adhered,
A country justice quite confused appeared,
By them the facts were rendered so obscure
With which the truth remained he was not sure.
At length, completely tired, two straws he sought
Of diff'rent lengths, and to the parties brought.
These in his hand he held:--the plaintiff drew
(So fate decreed) the shortest of the two.
On this the other homeward took his way,
To boast how nicely he had gained the day.
THE bench complained: the magistrate replied
Don't blame I pray--'tis nothing new I've tried;
Courts often judge at hazard in the law,
Without deciding by the longest straw.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEE FFGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101111101 0101010101 1101010101 1101011111 11010101111 1111010101 1011110101 1101010101 1101010111 1111011101 010101001 1111110111 1101110001 011010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 619 |
Words | 111 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 4 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 246 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 68 Views
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"The Country Justice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25346/the-country-justice>.
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