How Rustam went to the Chace
I tell what rustic bard and archimageTold from the legends of a bygone age:—One morn in dudgeon Rustam rose to hunt,Girt him, filled up his quiver, mounted Rakhsh,And hied him to the marches of Túrán,A savage Lion prowling after prey.When he drew near the marches and beheldThe plain well stocked with onager, he flushedRose-like and smiled, then urging on his steedHe dropped much game with arrow, mace, and lasso.He lit a fire with sticks, dry grass, and thorns,Chose out a tree to serve him for a spit,And set thereon a lusty onager—A feather's weight to him! He tore the meat,When roasted, from the bones and sucked the marrow,Drank of a neighbouring stream and wooed repose,While Rakhsh careered and grazed along the mead.
Some Turkman horsemen chanced upon the plainAnd marked the tracks of Rakhsh. These they pursuedBeside the stream, observed him in the pasture,Surrounded him, and with their royal lassosEssayed to take him. Rakhsh perceiving thisRaged like a mighty lion. Lashing outHe laid two Turkmans low and with his teethTore off another's head. Thus three were slain,And still the head of Rakhsh escaped the noose;At length the others threw from every sideTheir lassos, caught him round the neck and took him,Then walked him to the city, all desirousTo have a share in him.
When Rustam wokeFrom pleasant sleep and needed docile RakhshHe looked about the mead but found him not,Whereat in dudgeon and astound he hurriedToward Samangán. "Now whither shall I trudge,"He said, "to 'scape my dark soul's shame, or how,Thus armed with quiver, mace, helm, scimitar,And tiger-skin cuirass, shall I o'erpassThe waste or make a shift to deal with foes?How will the Turkmans say: 'Who stole his Rakhsh?Thus matchless Rustam slept his life away!'Now must I plod all helpless and forlorn;Still let me arm, I yet may trace him out."
Thus with a weary, aching heart he wentIn evil case and much discouragement.
Words in this poem 25
- archimage n.
- The high priest of the Persian Magi, or worshipers of fire.
- bygone n.
- Something gone by or past; a past event.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- dudgeon a.
- Homely; rude; coarse.
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- prowling a.
- Accustomed to prowl, or engaged in roving stealthily, as for prey.
- onager n.
- A military engine acting like a sling, which threw stones from a bag or wooden bucket, and was operated by machinery. Fairholt.
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- neighbouring a.
- Living or being near; adjacent; as, the neighboring nations or countries.
- lashing n.
- The act of one who, or that which, lashes; castigation; chastisement. South. Lashing out, a striking out; also, extravagance.
- docile a.
- Teachable; easy to teach; docible. [L. docilis,fr. docere to teach; cf. Gr. discere to learn, Gr. docile. Cf. Doctor, Didactic, Disciple.]
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- astound a.
- Stunned; astounded; astonished. [OE. astouned, astound, astoned, p. p. of astone. See Astone.]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- trudge v. i.
- To walk or march with labor; to jog along; to move wearily. [Perhaps of Scand. origin, and originally meaning, to walk on snowshoes; cf. dial. Sw. truga, trudja, a snowshoe, Norw. truga, Icel. þruga.]
- scimitar n.
- A saber with a much curved blade having the edge on the convex side, -- in use among Mohammedans, esp., the Arabs and persians. [F. cimeterre, cf. It. scimitarra, Sp. cimitarra; fr. Biscayan cimetarry with a sharp edge; or corrupted from Per. shimshir.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- plod v. i.
- To travel slowly but steadily; to trudge. [Gf. Gael. plod a clod, a pool; also, to strike or pelt with a clod or clods.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How Rustam went to the Chace is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Shahnama of Firdausi, done into English by Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner, vol. II (Trübner’s Oriental Series), London, 1906; Part III, Suhráb (sections 1 to 25), Internet Archive, the Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ferdowsi, How Rustam went to the Chace, in Rustam and Sohrab (from the Shahnama) (1906), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/ferdowsi-rustam-and-sohrab/2.html, id L29100.
Form and metre
How Rustam went to the Chace is 45 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 archimage · age · hunt · rakhsh · — · prey · beheld · flushed · steedA · lasso · thorns · spit · onager · meat · marrow · repose · meadA
- 2 A------AB-CBC plainA · pursued · pasture · lassos · this · out · teeth · slainA · nooseB · side · himC · desirousB · himC
- 3 -A-------A--- woke · rakhshA · not · hurried · trudge · how · scimitar · o'erpass · foes · rakhshA · away · forlorn · out
- 4 AA wentA · discouragementA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I tell what rustic bard and archimage | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Told from the legends of a bygone age:— | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| One morn in dudgeon Rustam rose to hunt, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Girt him, filled up his quiver, mounted Rakhsh, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And hied him to the marches of Túrán, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A savage Lion prowling after prey. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| When he drew near the marches and beheld | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The plain well stocked with onager, he flushed | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Rose-like and smiled, then urging on his steed | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| He dropped much game with arrow, mace, and lasso. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| He lit a fire with sticks, dry grass, and thorns, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Chose out a tree to serve him for a spit, | 10 | ·········· |
| And set thereon a lusty onager— | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| A feather's weight to him! He tore the meat, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| When roasted, from the bones and sucked the marrow, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Drank of a neighbouring stream and wooed repose, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| While Rakhsh careered and grazed along the mead. | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Some Turkman horsemen chanced upon the plain | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And marked the tracks of Rakhsh. These they pursued | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Beside the stream, observed him in the pasture, | 11 | ˘/··˘/···/˘ |
| Surrounded him, and with their royal lassos | 11 | ˘/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Essayed to take him. Rakhsh perceiving this | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘· |
| Raged like a mighty lion. Lashing out | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| He laid two Turkmans low and with his teeth | 10 | ·········· |
| Tore off another's head. Thus three were slain, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And still the head of Rakhsh escaped the noose; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| At length the others threw from every side | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Their lassos, caught him round the neck and took him, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Then walked him to the city, all desirous | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| To have a share in him. | 6 | ······ |
| When Rustam woke | 4 | ···· |
| From pleasant sleep and needed docile Rakhsh | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| He looked about the mead but found him not, | 10 | ·········· |
| Whereat in dudgeon and astound he hurried | 11 | ˘/·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Toward Samangán. "Now whither shall I trudge," | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| He said, "to 'scape my dark soul's shame, or how, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus armed with quiver, mace, helm, scimitar, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And tiger-skin cuirass, shall I o'erpass | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| The waste or make a shift to deal with foes? | 10 | ·········· |
| How will the Turkmans say: 'Who stole his Rakhsh? | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus matchless Rustam slept his life away!' | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Now must I plod all helpless and forlorn; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Still let me arm, I yet may trace him out." | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus with a weary, aching heart he went | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| In evil case and much discouragement. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
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