Chapter I: Khusrau's Advice to Sheroya
I have heard that Khusrau, ere his eyes closed in death,Thus Sheroya addressed with his last parting breath :—"So live, that whatever may be your intent,Your glance on the good of your subjects is bent !True wisdom and knowledge, oh son, do not spurn !That men from your orders their feet may not turn."From oppressors the subjects take refuge in flight,And revile them abroad in their stories at night.But a very short time sees the structure effacedOf him who an evil foundation has placed.The tiger and swordsman can't make such a wild,As that from the heart-sighs of woman and child.The lamp which the poor widow woman illumed,You may often have seen, has a city consumed.In the regions of Earth, who more favour has gainedThan he, who in justice has lived and has reigned?When his time for departing this life comes about,"On his tomb vouchsafe mercy !" the people will shout.Since the good and the wicked must pass as they came,It is well when with goodness they mention your name.A God-fearing man for your subjects select ;For a continent man is the realm's architect.He who in men's harm seeks to furnish your purse,Is your own wicked foe and the people's worst curse.It is wrong to bestow upon persons command,From whose tyrannous acts men to God stretch their hand.The patron of acts that are good sees no guile ;You're the foe of your life when you cherish the vile.In revenging a foe confiscation won't suit ;It behoves you to tear up his stem from the root.With a tyrannous agent you should not delay !For because of his fatness, his skin you must flay !It is requisite first to cut off the wolf's head,Not after he has in the flock havoc spread.
Words in this poem
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- swordsman n.
- A soldier; a fighting man.
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- tyrannous a.
- Tyrannical; arbitrary; unjustly severe; despotic. Sir P.
- revenging a.
- Executing revenge; revengeful.
- confiscation n.
- The act or process of taking property or condemning it to be taken, as forfeited to the public use. [L. confiscatio.]
- havoc n.
- Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste. [W. hafog devastation, havoc; or, if this be itself fr. E. havoc, cf. OE. havot, or AS. hafoc hawk, which is a cruel or rapacious bird, or F. hai, voux! a cry to]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: Khusrau's Advice to Sheroya 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: Khusrau's Advice to Sheroya, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-4.html, id L29509.
Form and metre
Chapter I: Khusrau's Advice to Sheroya is 34 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQ deathA · breathA · intentB · bentB · spurnC · turnC · flightD · nightD · effacedE · placedE · wildF · childF · illumedG · consumedG · gainedH · reignedH · aboutI · shoutI · cameJ · nameJ · selectK · architectK · purseL · curseL · commandM · handM · guileN · vileN · suitO · rootO · delayP · flayP · headQ · spreadQ
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 Khusrau, ere his eyes closed in death, | 12 | ············ |
| Thus Sheroya addressed with his last parting breath :— | 12 | ···˘/˘···/˘· |
| "So live, that whatever may be your intent, | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Your glance on the good of your subjects is bent ! | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| True wisdom and knowledge, oh son, do not spurn ! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| That men from your orders their feet may not turn." | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| From oppressors the subjects take refuge in flight, | 12 | ·˘/˘·˘/·/˘·· |
| And revile them abroad in their stories at night. | 12 | ·˘/·˘/··/˘·· |
| But a very short time sees the structure effaced | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| Of him who an evil foundation has placed. | 12 | ····/˘˘/˘··˘ |
| The tiger and swordsman can't make such a wild, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| As that from the heart-sighs of woman and child. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| The lamp which the poor widow woman illumed, | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··˘ |
| You may often have seen, has a city consumed. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| In the regions of Earth, who more favour has gained | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Than he, who in justice has lived and has reigned? | 12 | ····/˘··˘··· |
| When his time for departing this life comes about, | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| "On his tomb vouchsafe mercy !" the people will shout. | 12 | ···˘//˘·/˘·· |
| Since the good and the wicked must pass as they came, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| It is well when with goodness they mention your name. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| A God-fearing man for your subjects select ; | 11 | ··/˘···˘/˘/ |
| For a continent man is the realm's architect. | 12 | ··/˘˘····/˘· |
| He who in men's harm seeks to furnish your purse, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Is your own wicked foe and the people's worst curse. | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| It is wrong to bestow upon persons command, | 12 | ····˘/··/˘˘/ |
| From whose tyrannous acts men to God stretch their hand. | 12 | ··/˘˘······· |
| The patron of acts that are good sees no guile ; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| You're the foe of your life when you cherish the vile. | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| In revenging a foe confiscation won't suit ; | 12 | ·˘/˘···˘/˘·· |
| It behoves you to tear up his stem from the root. | 12 | ············ |
| With a tyrannous agent you should not delay ! | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| For because of his fatness, his skin you must flay ! | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| It is requisite first to cut off the wolf's head, | 12 | ··/˘˘······· |
| Not after he has in the flock havoc spread. | 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.