Fable Poetry is La Fontaine's masterpiece, with 239 fable poems, which are independent of each other. La Fontaine draws themes from Aesop's fables, Greek, Roman and Indian fables and folk stories, and creates them. His poems reflect French society in the first half of the 7th century, and his works superficially describe various animals in nature. But it is actually about human society. There are kings, lords, courtiers, citizens, priests, judges, scholars, farmers, craftsmen and other various figures in the poetry collection; It involves not only major events at home and abroad at that time, but also economic issues such as philosophy and religion, and paints a fairly broad picture of social life. Allegory poems first exposed and criticized the dark corruption of feudal dynasties and their ruling institutions. In The Beast Suffering from the Plague, there is a realistic painting of the imperial court. The hypocrisy of the lion king, the overbearing and insidious ministers, and the innocence of the king, all of which are vivid. At the beginning of the poem, the epidemic plague among animals was described, which caused them great panic, so the lion king held a meeting to ask for advice. It said that this disaster was caused by God "because of our sins", and only by "offering the most sinful sacrifice among us to the angry God can everyone be cured". The fox immediately flattered the lion and said, "Your Majesty is careful and meticulous ..." This sentence won a full house applause. For the heinous crimes of big beasts, other beasts "don't dare to offend". The donkey himself admitted that he had chewed a piece of grass as big as his tongue, and was said, "It's a terrible crime, and it deserves to die!" The result was flooded. The funeral of the dead lion depicts courtiers as "a group of color-changing lizards", "bumblebees and bees" and other articles sharply accuse the court of hurting people. The judge is like a vicious Elvis Presley. In this realistic picture depicted in fable poems, there are also attacks on feudal dignitaries and monks, the pillars of the system. Wolf and Sheep reveals the jackal logic of "might is right" through the vivid and dramatic dialogue between Wolf and Sheep. Wolf swallowing sheep is an image portrayal of the aristocratic class absorbing the essence from the people in real life. "Heifer, Goat, Sheep and Lion Partner" describes that the lion seized all its prey by force, and wrote about the arrogant plunder of the people by feudal dignitaries. In the poem, the lion shared its prey with its partner and said, "The first one should be mine, because my name is lion, which is indisputable. The second copy, in terms of rights, should also belong to me; This right, you know, is power. I am the bravest, so I want the third one. If any of you touches the fourth copy, I will strangle him at once. " The poem also reveals the parasitism and decay of nobles, comparing them to busts (foxes and busts) with beautiful heads but no brains; "Only clothes are all their talents" (monkeys and leopards); Condemning the nobles for hunting and entertainment in farmland, "making the king suffer" (Gardener and Noble). Chicken, Chicken, Cat and Mouse exposes a hypocritical monk who wears a religious cloak and does evil. In fable poems, the content reflecting the miserable life of working people occupies an important position. The Death Woodman describes that farmers are "exhausted and miserable" and "have they ever enjoyed happiness" under the burden of tax debts, war corvee and heavy family pressure all the year round. Shoemakers and bankers point out from another angle that what the poor want is not "what people think they work hard for"-money. The woodcutter and messenger also praised the valuable quality of the woodcutter who is not greedy for money. It is in these workers who live at the bottom of society that the author sees their virtue of honesty and diligence. Fable poems collect many proverbs or lessons from people's lives and struggles. Lafontaine attaches great importance to these maxims and lessons, and thinks that the soul of fable poetry lies in them. For example: "Charity is good; But to whom? This is the problem (country people and snakes). " Because people have to keep fighting. Peace itself is excellent, I agree; But what's the use of peace when you meet an untrustworthy enemy? "("Wolf and Sheep ")" Work hard; Labor is the most reliable wealth. "La Fontaine criticized the darkness of feudal society from the standpoint of the bankrupt middle and small bourgeoisie, which reflected the historical reality of the decline of feudal society in the17th century, thus making allegorical poetry occupy a unique position in classical literature.
Fable poetry is quite accomplished in art, and La Fontaine attaches great importance to the structure of fable poetry and regards poetry collection as "a hundred-act comedy". He wrote every short poem as a short script with opening, development and ending, which was concise, condensed and dramatic. It is precisely because of the form of drama that dialogue is essential. He is good at interspersed with personalized and anthropomorphic animal dialogues in his poems, which are ups and downs. La Fontaine's language is fluent and natural, exquisite and delicate, with the lightness, elegance and sense of humor unique to the French nation. In addition, he is good at collecting folk languages and applying them to poems properly, so his poems are rich in vocabulary, close to spoken language, containing the wisdom of healthy people and rich in people's nature. In this way, his dialogue is as vivid and natural as daily life, vividly revealing the psychological status of animals and plants in various ways, thus hitting the nail on the head and whipping the reality. In the fable poem, the lion king pretends: "As for me, I have swallowed many sheep to satisfy my greedy appetite ... but I think it is good for everyone to be as frank as I am;" Because from a just standpoint, you should make the greatest sacrifice. "The fox tried to flatter himself, saying that the lion king was" eating such untouchables and bad people "by eating sheep. Is it a crime? No, no, you brought the sheep to munch, which gave the sheep great face ... "These personalized languages are short and pithy, and they are Lafontaine's precious legacy for future generations. La Fontaine is also a pioneer of French free poetry. He likes to use free verse and Alexander verse. Besides 12, 10 and 8 syllables, there are 7 syllables, 6 simple sentences or even two or three simple sentences. The rhythm is ever-changing and catchy. La Fontaine initiated free verse, and with its fluent lyrical language, this poetic style immediately reached a mature stage. Fable poetry is written all over Europe, which makes this genre widely popular. Lafontaine's excellent humor and the tone of his fable itself have strong national characteristics. Pushkin once pointed out that "innocence and simplicity are the innate nature of the French people", and La Fontaine clearly showed this in his fable. Fable writer Lafontaine is a typical classical artist. The vivid, accurate and clear form of his fables first brought him closer to classicism. La Fontaine's poems are harmonious and natural, witty and flexible, and often become perfect proverbs and aphorisms, which can accurately express people's keen thoughts and incisive opinions on life, customs, personality and behavior. This is why Lafontaine's legacy can be widely used in people's lives. The plot, image and vocabulary of his works can be widely used in French oral and written languages.