quote · Legacy record
The lion craved the fox’s art; The fox the lion’s force and heart; The cock implored the pigeon’s flight, Whose wings were rapid, strong, and light; The pigeon strength of wing despised, And the cock’s matchless valour prized. The fishes wish’d to graze the plain; The beasts to skim beneath the main. Thus, envious of another’s state, Each blam’d the partial hand of fate.
The lion craved the fox’s art; The fox the lion’s force and heart; The cock implored the pigeon’s flight, Whose wings were rapid, strong, and light; The pigeon strength of wing despised, And the cock’s matchless valour prized. The fishes wish’d to graze the plain; The beasts to skim beneath the main. Thus, envious of another’s state, Each blam’d the partial hand of fate.
Approximate author period: c. 1710 AD · early modern
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- John Gay
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1710 AD · early modern
author lifetime midpoint (1688–1732)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 199 · printed citation: Gay · subject: ENVY
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.