Chapter I: Discourse on Oppression
Of the Persian Khusraus do you knowledge possess?For all 'neath their sway, they did sorely oppress.Their splendour and royalty suffered decay ;Their oppression of villagers vanished away.Observe the mistake which the tyrant's hand sped :The world lives and he, with his foul deeds, is dead.Oh blessed is the king on the great Judgment Day,Who within the throne's shade is permitted to stay !To the tribe who appreciate goodness, the LordGives a king who with justice and wisdom is stored.When He wishes to change to a desert the land,He delivers the State to the tyrant's harsh hand.Pious men, full of cautiousness, therefore, supposeThat the anger of God, through the tyrant's hand shows.From Him know that greatness and gratitude spring ;If ungrateful for favours, they'll quickly take wing.In the glorious book, you yourself must have read,That in thankfulness bounty continues to spread.If you've tendered your thanks for your riches and state,You'll get wealth and a kingdom that will not abate.And should you be tyrannous during your reign,A beggar's estate, after empire, you'll gain.It becomes not a king, in soft slumber, to rest,While the weak by the strong are unjustly oppressed.On the people one grain of distress do not bring !For they are the flock and the shepherd's the king.When war and injustice through him they sustain,He's a wolf, not a shepherd; of him they complain.The king who, on subjects, Oppression's hand laid,Departed unhappy and malice displayed.If you wish not that men should behind you revile,Be good, so that none can declare you have guile !
Words in this poem
- sorely adv.
- In a sore manner; grievously; painfully; as, to be sorely afflicted.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- appreciate v. t.
- To set a price or value on; to estimate justly; to value. [L. appretiatus, p. p. of appretiare to value at a price, appraise; ad + pretiare to prize, pretium price. Cf. Appraise.]
- cautiousness n.
- The quality of being cautious.
- ungrateful a.
- Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- tyrannous a.
- Tyrannical; arbitrary; unjustly severe; despotic. Sir P.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: Discourse on Oppression 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: Discourse on Oppression, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-23.html, id L29528.
Form and metre
Chapter I: Discourse on Oppression is 32 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 AABBCCBBDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOO possessA · oppressA · decayB · awayB · spedC · deadC · dayB · stayB · lordD · storedD · landE · handE · supposeF · showsF · springG · wingG · readH · spreadH · stateI · abateI · reignJ · gainJ · restK · oppressedK · bringL · kingL · sustainM · complainM · laidN · displayedN · revileO · guileO
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Of the Persian Khusraus do you knowledge possess? | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| For all 'neath their sway, they did sorely oppress. | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| Their splendour and royalty suffered decay ; | 12 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Their oppression of villagers vanished away. | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Observe the mistake which the tyrant's hand sped : | 11 | ˘/·˘/··/˘·· |
| The world lives and he, with his foul deeds, is dead. | 11 | ··········· |
| Oh blessed is the king on the great Judgment Day, | 12 | ··˘······/˘· |
| Who within the throne's shade is permitted to stay ! | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| To the tribe who appreciate goodness, the Lord | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Gives a king who with justice and wisdom is stored. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| When He wishes to change to a desert the land, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| He delivers the State to the tyrant's harsh hand. | 12 | ·˘/˘····/˘·· |
| Pious men, full of cautiousness, therefore, suppose | 12 | /˘···/˘˘··˘/ |
| That the anger of God, through the tyrant's hand shows. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| From Him know that greatness and gratitude spring ; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| If ungrateful for favours, they'll quickly take wing. | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| In the glorious book, you yourself must have read, | 12 | ··/˘˘··˘/··· |
| That in thankfulness bounty continues to spread. | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘·· |
| If you've tendered your thanks for your riches and state, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| You'll get wealth and a kingdom that will not abate. | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| And should you be tyrannous during your reign, | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘·· |
| A beggar's estate, after empire, you'll gain. | 12 | ·/˘˘/··/˘˘·· |
| It becomes not a king, in soft slumber, to rest, | 12 | ·˘/·····/˘·· |
| While the weak by the strong are unjustly oppressed. | 12 | ·······˘/˘˘/ |
| On the people one grain of distress do not bring ! | 12 | ··/˘···˘/··· |
| For they are the flock and the shepherd's the king. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| When war and injustice through him they sustain, | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| He's a wolf, not a shepherd; of him they complain. | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| The king who, on subjects, Oppression's hand laid, | 11 | ····˘/˘/˘·· |
| Departed unhappy and malice displayed. | 12 | ˘/˘˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| If you wish not that men should behind you revile, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Be good, so that none can declare you have guile ! | 11 | ······˘/··· |
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.