From the Persian of Kermani
In Farsistan the violet spreadsIts leaves to the rival sky;I ask how far is the Tigris flood,And the vine that grows thereby?
Except the amber morning wind,Not one salutes me here;There is no lover in all BagdatTo offer the exile cheer.
I know that thou, O morning wind!O'er Kernan's meadow blowest,And thou, heart-warming nightingale!My father's orchard knowest.
The merchant hath stuffs of price,And gems from the sea-washed strand,And princes offer me graceTo stay in the Syrian land;
But what is gold for, but for gifts?And dark, without love, is the day;And all that I see in BagdatIs the Tigris to float me away.
About this text
From the Persian of Kermani is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, From the Persian of Kermani, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/from-the-persian-of-kermani.html, id L07529.
Form and metre
From the Persian of Kermani is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A spreads · skyA · flood · therebyA
- 2 -A-A wind · hereA · bagdat · cheerA
- 3 -A-A wind · blowestA · nightingale · knowestA
- 4 -A-A price · strandA · grace · landA
- 5 -A-A gifts · dayA · bagdat · awayA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In Farsistan the violet spreads | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Its leaves to the rival sky; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I ask how far is the Tigris flood, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And the vine that grows thereby? | 7 | ······· |
| Except the amber morning wind, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Not one salutes me here; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| There is no lover in all Bagdat | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| To offer the exile cheer. | 7 | ·/˘·/·· |
| I know that thou, O morning wind! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O'er Kernan's meadow blowest, | 7 | ·/˘/·/˘ |
| And thou, heart-warming nightingale! | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| My father's orchard knowest. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| The merchant hath stuffs of price, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And gems from the sea-washed strand, | 8 | ······˘· |
| And princes offer me grace | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| To stay in the Syrian land; | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| But what is gold for, but for gifts? | 8 | ········ |
| And dark, without love, is the day; | 8 | ········ |
| And all that I see in Bagdat | 8 | ········ |
| Is the Tigris to float me away. | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.