Chapter I: Story on Oppressing the Weak
Oh tyrant ! from crushing the helpless refrain !For the world in one mode does not always remain.The fingers of one who is weak, do not twistFor should he prevail, you will cease to exist.Degrade not a man from his rank, I repeat!For weak you will be, if you fall from your seat.The hearts of friends, happy, are better than gold,And a treasury, empty, than men in Grief's hold.With another's affairs do not meddle at all !For it may be that, oft, at his feet you will fall.Oh weak one ! be patient with one who is strong !For you may be more powerful than he is ere long.Bring destruction by pray'r from the tyrannous wight !For pray'r's arm is better than hands that have might.Bid not smile, the dry lips of the people oppressed !For the tyrant's foul fangs from their sockets they'll wrest.At the sound of the drum the rich man woke, at last ;Does he know how the night of the watchman has passed?The traveller shows for his own load concern ;For his ass's galled back, his hard heart does not yearn.I admit you are none of the down-fallen band ;When you see one has fallen why impotent stand?On this topic I'll tell you a story I know ;For to pass from the subject would negligence show.
Words in this poem
- meddle v. i.
- To mix; to mingle. [OE. medlen to mix, OF. medler, mesler, F. mêler, LL. misculare, a dim. fr. L. miscere to mix. Mix, and cf. Medley, Mellay.]
- tyrannous a.
- Tyrannical; arbitrary; unjustly severe; despotic. Sir P.
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- watchman n.
- One set to watch; a person who keeps guard; a guard; a sentinel.
- yearn v. t.
- To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: Story on Oppressing the Weak 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 on Oppressing the Weak, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-20.html, id L29525.
Form and metre
Chapter I: Story on Oppressing the Weak is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLL refrainA · remainA · twistB · existB · repeatC · seatC · goldD · holdD · allE · fallE · strongF · longF · wightG · mightG · oppressedH · wrestH · lastI · passedI · concernJ · yearnJ · bandK · standK · knowL · showL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh tyrant ! from crushing the helpless refrain ! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| For the world in one mode does not always remain. | 12 | ········/·˘/ |
| The fingers of one who is weak, do not twist | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| For should he prevail, you will cease to exist. | 11 | ···˘/····˘/ |
| Degrade not a man from his rank, I repeat! | 11 | ˘/·······˘/ |
| For weak you will be, if you fall from your seat. | 11 | ··········· |
| The hearts of friends, happy, are better than gold, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| And a treasury, empty, than men in Grief's hold. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
| With another's affairs do not meddle at all ! | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| For it may be that, oft, at his feet you will fall. | 12 | ············ |
| Oh weak one ! be patient with one who is strong ! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| For you may be more powerful than he is ere long. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Bring destruction by pray'r from the tyrannous wight ! | 12 | ·˘/˘····/˘˘· |
| For pray'r's arm is better than hands that have might. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Bid not smile, the dry lips of the people oppressed ! | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| For the tyrant's foul fangs from their sockets they'll wrest. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| At the sound of the drum the rich man woke, at last ; | 12 | ············ |
| Does he know how the night of the watchman has passed? | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| The traveller shows for his own load concern ; | 11 | ·/˘˘·····˘/ |
| For his ass's galled back, his hard heart does not yearn. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| I admit you are none of the down-fallen band ; | 12 | ·˘/······/˘· |
| When you see one has fallen why impotent stand? | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘· |
| On this topic I'll tell you a story I know ; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| For to pass from the subject would negligence show. | 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.