Chapter I: Story of Kizil-Arsalan's Father
When the spirit of Alp-Arsalan to God fled,His son placed th' Imperial Crown on his head.Alp was borne from the throne to the tomb and there shut;He had no sitting-place and no archery-butt.A madman sagacious, was heard, thus, to say,When he saw the son riding a charger next day—"Well done ! State and Reign of the head the tomb mews;The father has gone and the son's in his shoes."The revolving of Time has but one tale to tell—It is fleeting, unstable and lying, as well.When the man, full of days, brought his life to a close,The promising youth from his cradle arose.Put no trust in the world! for a stranger it roams,Like the minstrel, who, daily, resides in fresh homes.Unfit is the pleasure a sweetheart supplies,With whom, ev'ry morning, a fresh husband lies.Show kindness this year, while the village is thine ;To another, the village, next year, you resign.
Words in this poem
- charger n.
- One who, or that which charges.
- mews n.
- An alley where there are stables; a narrow passage; a confined place. [Eng.] [Prop. pl. of mew. See Mew a cage.]
- promising a.
- Making a promise or promises; affording hope or assurance; as, promising person; a promising day.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: Story of Kizil-Arsalan's Father 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 Kizil-Arsalan's Father, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-38.html, id L29543.
Form and metre
Chapter I: Story of Kizil-Arsalan's Father is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII fledA · headA · shutB · buttB · sayC · dayC · mewsD · shoesD · tellE · wellE · closeF · aroseF · roamsG · homesG · suppliesH · liesH · thineI · resignI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When the spirit of Alp-Arsalan to God fled, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| His son placed th' Imperial Crown on his head. | 12 | ···˘˘/˘˘···· |
| Alp was borne from the throne to the tomb and there shut; | 12 | ············ |
| He had no sitting-place and no archery-butt. | 12 | ···/˘···/˘˘· |
| A madman sagacious, was heard, thus, to say, | 11 | ·/·˘/˘····· |
| When he saw the son riding a charger next day— | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| "Well done ! State and Reign of the head the tomb mews; | 11 | ··········· |
| The father has gone and the son's in his shoes." | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| The revolving of Time has but one tale to tell— | 12 | ·˘/˘········ |
| It is fleeting, unstable and lying, as well. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| When the man, full of days, brought his life to a close, | 12 | ············ |
| The promising youth from his cradle arose. | 11 | ·/˘˘···/˘˘/ |
| Put no trust in the world! for a stranger it roams, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Like the minstrel, who, daily, resides in fresh homes. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/··· |
| Unfit is the pleasure a sweetheart supplies, | 11 | ˘/··/˘·/·˘/ |
| With whom, ev'ry morning, a fresh husband lies. | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| Show kindness this year, while the village is thine ; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| To another, the village, next year, you resign. | 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.