Epilogue (Book VI) by Jean de La Fontaine

The speaker pauses his course, fearing the length of books and wishing not to exhaust his material, since the finest subjects are sufficient. He turns from the present work toward new themes because Love, the tyrant of his life, commands another task. Called by Damon, he agrees to make Psyche’s sorrows and joys his subject. He hopes that this employment may give his muse a richer glow, and wishes that Psyche’s spouse will cause him no further pain beyond the labor of this work.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Poetry, Epilogue, Lyric Poetry · 266 words

First lines

Here check we our career: / Long books I greatly fear. / I would not quite exhaust my stuff; / The flower of subjects is enough. / To me, the time is come, it seems, / To draw my breath for other themes. / Love, tyrant of my life, commands / That other work be on my hands. / I dare not disobey. / Once more shall Psyche be my lay. / I'm call'd by Damon to portray / Her sorrows and her joys. / I yield: perhaps, while she employs, / My muse will catch a richer glow; / And well if this my labour'd strain / Shall be the last and only pain / Her spouse[1] shall cause me here below.

• Open reader

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Genres

• Poetry — A brief verse composition written in rhymed, metrical lines and centered on the speaker's artistic reflections.
• Epilogue — It explicitly concludes Book VI, reviewing the completed fable collection and announcing the poet's transition to another work.
• Lyric Poetry — The poem foregrounds a personal first-person voice, expressing the poet's fatigue, desires, and hopes for his future Muse.
• Meta-poetry — Its principal subject is literary composition itself: the limits of the author's material, the completion of long books, and the choice of new themes.

Tags

French poetry · seventeenth century · verse epilogue · fable collection · poetic self-reflection · closing poem · the limits of writing · brevity · fear of long books · literary exhaustion · choice of subjects · the poet's muse

What this Textopian page supports

Epilogue (Book VI) is listed on Textopian as a poem by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Poem
• Author: Jean de La Fontaine
• Date: 1668 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Poetry, Epilogue, Lyric Poetry, Meta-poetry, Literary Farewell
• Length: 266 words
• Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for Epilogue (Book VI) by Jean de La Fontaine
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
• Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

More by Jean de La Fontaine

• To Monseigneur the Dauphin (1668)
• The Grasshopper and the Ant (1668)
• The Raven and the Fox (1668)
• The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox (1668)
• The Two Mules (1668)
• The Wolf and the Dog (1668)
• The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep, in Company with the Lion (1668)
• The Wallet (1668)
• All works by Jean de La Fontaine