But now the Sun at first peered gently forth,

And thawed the chills of the uncanny North;

Then in their turn his beams more amply plied,

Till sudden heat the clown's endurance tried;

Stripping himself, away his cloak he flung:

The Sun from Boreas thus a triumph wrung.

The fable means, "My son, at mildness aim:

Persuasion more results than force may claim."

JUPITER AND THE MONKEY