Chapter I: Story of the Sultan of Rum
I have heard that Rum's Sultan with tears in his eyes,Said in presence of one who was pious and wise:—"By the hand of my foe of all strength I'm bereft,There is nought, save this city and fort, with me left.I have worked very hard that my child in my stead,Should be chief of the Council as soon as I'm dead.Now the foe of base breeding has put me to rout,And my fingers of manhood are twisted about.What course shall I follow? what remedy prove,That from body and soul I may sorrow remove?"The sage became vexed, saying, " Why do you cry?At such wisdom and pluck, it becomes one to sigh !Your country ! What is it? Subdue your own fears !For'tis sure to be better and greater by years.This much is sufficient for you, to live on ;The world is another's as soon as you're gone.Your son may be wise or he may be a muff—Do not bother ! he'll bear his own grief well enough!It repays not the trouble to be the Earth's head—To seize with the sword and let go when you're dead.Take care of yourself! that as sapience shows ;And he who succeeds you will bear his own woes.With the 'five days' of grace that are left, do not play !By reflection, arrange to depart on your way.Of the monarchs of Persia, whom now do you know?For they practised oppression on high and on low.Whose kingdom and throne will not suffer decay?No kingdom, except the Almighty's, will stay.No person need hope to remain here secure,For even the earth will not always endure.If a person has silver and gold and supplies,Under foot they'll be trodden, soon after he dies.Hence, mercy incessantly reaches the soulOf the person, whose goodness continues to roll.The man of distinction, who left a good name,Since he died not, could unto the pious exclaim :—' That you nurse Liberality's tree, have a care !And Felicity's fruit you will certainly share.Bestow! that, to-morrow, when justice they mete,Becoming your kindness, they give you a seat.'The man who, in running, has striven the most,At the Court of the Lord gets the loftiest post.If a man be a traitor and conscious of shame,He conceals it as though he possessed a good name.Till his teeth bite the back of his hand, let him sin !An oven so hot and no bread shut within !At the time of removing the grain, you will readThat it argues neglect, not to sow any seed."
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- muff n.
- A soft cover of cylindrical form, usually of fur, worn by women to shield the hands from cold. [Cf. LG. muff, D. mof, G., Dan., & Sw. muff, F. moufle mitten, LL. muffula, MHG. mouwe sleeve, D. mouw, and E. muffle, v.]
- sapience n.
- The quality of being sapient; wisdom; sageness; knowledge. [L. sapientia: cf. F. sapience. See Sapient..]
- 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,]
- incessantly adv.
- Unceasingly; continually.
- mete v. i.
- To dream; also impersonally; as, me mette, I dreamed. [AS. m.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: Story of the Sultan of Rum is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Garden of Fragrance: being a complete translation of the Bostan of Sadi from the original Persian into English verse, by G. S. Davie (London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Co., 1882), Internet Archive, the G. S. Davie 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: Saadi, Chapter I: Story of the Sultan of Rum, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-18.html, id L29523.
Form and metre
Chapter I: Story of the Sultan of Rum is 48 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXX eyesA · wiseA · bereftB · leftB · steadC · deadC · routD · aboutD · proveE · removeE · cryF · sighF · fearsG · yearsG · onH · goneH · muffI · enoughI · headJ · deadJ · showsK · woesK · playL · wayL · knowM · lowM · decayN · stayN · secureO · endureO · suppliesP · diesP · soulQ · rollQ · nameR · exclaimR · careS · shareS · meteT · seatT · mostU · postU · shameV · nameV · sinW · withinW · readX · seedX
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I have heard that Rum's Sultan with tears in his eyes, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Said in presence of one who was pious and wise:— | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| "By the hand of my foe of all strength I'm bereft, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| There is nought, save this city and fort, with me left. | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| I have worked very hard that my child in my stead, | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Should be chief of the Council as soon as I'm dead. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Now the foe of base breeding has put me to rout, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| And my fingers of manhood are twisted about. | 12 | ··/˘·/··/˘·· |
| What course shall I follow? what remedy prove, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘· |
| That from body and soul I may sorrow remove?" | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| The sage became vexed, saying, " Why do you cry? | 12 | ··˘/·˘/˘···· |
| At such wisdom and pluck, it becomes one to sigh ! | 12 | ··/˘···˘/··· |
| Your country ! What is it? Subdue your own fears ! | 11 | ·/˘···˘/··· |
| For'tis sure to be better and greater by years. | 12 | /˘···/˘·/˘·· |
| This much is sufficient for you, to live on ; | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| The world is another's as soon as you're gone. | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| Your son may be wise or he may be a muff— | 11 | ··········· |
| Do not bother ! he'll bear his own grief well enough! | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| It repays not the trouble to be the Earth's head— | 12 | ··/··/˘····· |
| To seize with the sword and let go when you're dead. | 11 | ··········· |
| Take care of yourself! that as sapience shows ; | 11 | ···/˘··/˘˘· |
| And he who succeeds you will bear his own woes. | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| With the 'five days' of grace that are left, do not play ! | 12 | ············ |
| By reflection, arrange to depart on your way. | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/·˘/··· |
| Of the monarchs of Persia, whom now do you know? | 12 | ··/··/˘····· |
| For they practised oppression on high and on low. | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| Whose kingdom and throne will not suffer decay? | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
| No kingdom, except the Almighty's, will stay. | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘·· |
| No person need hope to remain here secure, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/·˘/ |
| For even the earth will not always endure. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
| If a person has silver and gold and supplies, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| Under foot they'll be trodden, soon after he dies. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Hence, mercy incessantly reaches the soul | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| Of the person, whose goodness continues to roll. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| The man of distinction, who left a good name, | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| Since he died not, could unto the pious exclaim :— | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| ' That you nurse Liberality's tree, have a care ! | 12 | ····˘/˘˘···· |
| And Felicity's fruit you will certainly share. | 12 | ·˘/˘˘···/˘˘· |
| Bestow! that, to-morrow, when justice they mete, | 11 | ˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| Becoming your kindness, they give you a seat.' | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘····· |
| The man who, in running, has striven the most, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| At the Court of the Lord gets the loftiest post. | 11 | ··········· |
| If a man be a traitor and conscious of shame, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| He conceals it as though he possessed a good name. | 12 | ·˘/····˘/··· |
| Till his teeth bite the back of his hand, let him sin ! | 12 | ············ |
| An oven so hot and no bread shut within ! | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| At the time of removing the grain, you will read | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| That it argues neglect, not to sow any seed." | 12 | ··/˘˘/···/˘· |
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.