Analysis of The Jealous Husband
La Fontaine 1621 (Château-Thierry, Champagne) – 1695 (Neuilly-sur-Seine, Île-de-France)
A CERTAIN husband who, from jealous fear,
With one eye slept while t'other watched his dear,
Deprived his wife of every social joy,
(Friends oft the jealous character annoy,)
And made a fine collection in a book,
Of tricks with which the sex their wishes hook.
Strange fool! as if their wiles, to speak the truth,
Were not a hydra, both in age and youth.
HIS wife howe'er engaged his constant cares;
He counted e'en the number of her hairs;
And kept a hag who followed every hour,
Where'er she went, each motion to devour;
Duenna like, true semblance of a shade,
That never quits, yet moves as if afraid.
THIS arch collection, like a prayer-book bound;
Was in the blockhead's pocket always found,
The form religious of the work, he thought,
Would prove a charm 'gainst vice whenever sought!
ONE holy day, it happened that our dame,
As from the neighb'ring church she homeward came;
And passed a house, some wight, concealed from view;
A basket full of filth upon her threw.
WITH anxious care apologies were made;
The lady, frightened by the frolick played,
Quite unsuspicious to the mansion went;
Her aged friend for other clothes she sent,
Who hurried home, and ent'ring out of breath;
Informed old hunks--what pained him more than death
ZOUNDS! cried the latter, vainly I may look
To find a case like this within my book;
A dupe I'm made, and nothing can be worse:--
Hell seize the work--'tis thoroughly a curse!
NOT wrong he proved, for, truly to confess;
This throwing dirt upon the lady's dress
Was done to get the hag, with Argus' eyes
Removed a certain distance from the prize.
The gay gallant, who watched the lucky hour,
Felt doubly blessed to have her in his power.
HOW vain our schemes to guard the wily sex!
Oft plots we find, that ev'ry sense perplex.
Go, jealous husbands, books of cases burn;
Caresses lavish, and you'll find return.
Scheme | AABBCCDD EEFFGG HHII JJKK GGLLMM CCNN OOPPFF QQRR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101011101 11111110111 01111100101 1101010001 0101010001 1111011101 1111111101 0101010101 1110011101 11011010101 010111010010 10111101010 11110101 1101111101 1101010111 10011011 0101010111 1101110101 11011101101 110111101 0101110111 0101110101 1101010001 010101011 1110101 011110111 1101011111 0111111111 1101010111 1101110111 0111010111 1101110001 1111110101 1101010101 1111011101 0101010101 01101101010 11011100110 11101110101 111111101 1101011101 0101001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,815 |
Words | 331 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6, 4, 4, 6, 4, 6, 4 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 180 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 126 Views
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"The Jealous Husband" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25364/the-jealous-husband>.
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