Section VIII
That day on which she pensive strayedAmidst the Grove of Palms—that dayHow sweetly bloomed the Arab maid,Girt by her train in fair array!Her moist red lips, her teeth of pearl,Her hair in many a witching curl;Haply, on that devoted day,A gallant youth, with followers gay,In splendid fashion passed that way;Who saw that lamp of beauty gleaming,Her luscious eye with softness beaming;And in his bosom rose the fireOf still-increasing fond desire.Resolved at once her hand to claim(Ibn Salám his honoured name),He from her parents seeks success,Offering the nuptial-knot to tie;And, to promote that happiness,Scatters his gold abundantly,As if it were but common earth,Or sand, or water, little worth—But he was of illustrious birth.The parents scarce believed the word,The marriage-union thus preferred;And, though consenting, still they prayedThe nuptial morn might be delayed:In her no ripened bloom was seen,The sweet pomegranate still was green;But a future day should surely deckWith a bridal yoke her spotless neck;'We will then surrender the maiden to thee,The maiden, till now, unaffianced and free!'The promise soothes his eager heart,He and his followers, pleased, depart.
Words in this poem
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- 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.]
- witching a.
- That witches or enchants; suited to enchantment or witchcraft; bewitching.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- luscious a.
- Sweet; delicious; very grateful to the taste; toothsome; excessively sweet or rich. [Prob. for lustious, fr. lusty, or perh. a corruption of luxurious. Cf. Lush, Lusty.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- 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.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Section VIII is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Loves of Laili and Majnun: A Poem from the Original Persian of Nizami, by James Atkinson, edited by the Rev. J. A. Atkinson (London: David Nutt, 1894), reprinting the Oriental Translation Fund edition of 1836, Internet Archive, the James Atkinson 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: Nizami Ganjavi, Section VIII, in The Loves of Laili and Majnun (1836), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/nizami-laili-and-majnun/section-viii.html, id L29215.
Form and metre
Section VIII is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 53% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 ABABCCBBBDDEEFFG-G-HHHIIJJKKLLMMNN strayedA · dayB · maidA · arrayB · pearlC · curlC · dayB · gayB · wayB · gleamingD · beamingD · fireE · desireE · claimF · nameF · successG · tie · happinessG · abundantly · earthH · worthH · birthH · wordI · preferredI · prayedJ · delayedJ · seenK · greenK · deckL · neckL · theeM · freeM · heartN · departN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| That day on which she pensive strayed | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Amidst the Grove of Palms—that day | 8 | ˘/······ |
| How sweetly bloomed the Arab maid, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Girt by her train in fair array! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Her moist red lips, her teeth of pearl, | 8 | ········ |
| Her hair in many a witching curl; | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Haply, on that devoted day, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| A gallant youth, with followers gay, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In splendid fashion passed that way; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Who saw that lamp of beauty gleaming, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Her luscious eye with softness beaming; | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And in his bosom rose the fire | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Of still-increasing fond desire. | 9 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Resolved at once her hand to claim | 8 | ˘/······ |
| (Ibn Salám his honoured name), | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| He from her parents seeks success, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Offering the nuptial-knot to tie; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And, to promote that happiness, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| Scatters his gold abundantly, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘˘ |
| As if it were but common earth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or sand, or water, little worth— | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But he was of illustrious birth. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The parents scarce believed the word, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The marriage-union thus preferred; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And, though consenting, still they prayed | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The nuptial morn might be delayed: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| In her no ripened bloom was seen, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sweet pomegranate still was green; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But a future day should surely deck | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| With a bridal yoke her spotless neck; | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| 'We will then surrender the maiden to thee, | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| The maiden, till now, unaffianced and free!' | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The promise soothes his eager heart, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He and his followers, pleased, depart. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
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.