Chapter I: Remarks on the Selection of Troops and Leaders
Send men who are brave to encounter the foe !And lions, to fight against tigers, should go!The wisdom of persons experienced, apply !For the wolf that is aged, in hunting is sly.Of youths who can handle the sword, have no fear!Of veterans grounded in science, keep clear !Young men, who can tigers and elephants hold,Do not know all the tricks of the fox become old.The man who has travelled has knowledge in store,For abundance of heat and exposure he bore.Young men who are worthy, whom Fortune has sped,From the words of the aged avert not their head.If you wish to arrange the affairs of a realm,Appoint not a novice to manage the helm.Let no one as chief of your army be seen,Who shall not in many a battle have been.The sporting-dog shrinks from the fierce leopard's sight;The fox cows the tiger who never saw fight.When a boy has been tutored to follow the chase,He does not feel frightened when war shows its face.By boating and hunting and polo and butts,The war-seeking man, like a dare-devil struts.One in warm-baths and pleasure and blandishments trained,When the portal of battle is opened, is pained.To support him in saddle, two men must be found ;And a boy, with a spindle, could beat him to ground.If in battle a run-away's back meets your gaze,Take his life, if the foe should not finish his days!A paederast surpasses the swordsman by far,Who, woman-like, runs in the season of war.
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,]
- boating n.
- The act or practice of rowing or sailing, esp. as an amusement; carriage in boats.
- polo n.
- A game of ball of Eastern origin, resembling hockey, with the players on horseback. [Of Eastern origin; -- properly, the ball used in the game.]
- swordsman n.
- A soldier; a fighting man.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: Remarks on the Selection of Troops and Leaders 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: Remarks on the Selection of Troops and Leaders, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-46.html, id L29551.
Form and metre
Chapter I: Remarks on the Selection of Troops and Leaders is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 87% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG--HHIIJJKKLLMM-E foeA · goA · applyB · slyB · fearC · clearC · holdD · oldD · storeE · boreE · spedF · headF · realmG · helmG · seen · been · sightH · fightH · chaseI · faceI · buttsJ · strutsJ · trainedK · painedK · foundL · groundL · gazeM · daysM · far · warE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Send men who are brave to encounter the foe ! | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| And lions, to fight against tigers, should go! | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| The wisdom of persons experienced, apply ! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| For the wolf that is aged, in hunting is sly. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Of youths who can handle the sword, have no fear! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Of veterans grounded in science, keep clear ! | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Young men, who can tigers and elephants hold, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘· |
| Do not know all the tricks of the fox become old. | 12 | ·········˘/· |
| The man who has travelled has knowledge in store, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| For abundance of heat and exposure he bore. | 12 | ·˘/˘···˘/˘·· |
| Young men who are worthy, whom Fortune has sped, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| From the words of the aged avert not their head. | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| If you wish to arrange the affairs of a realm, | 12 | ····˘/·˘/··· |
| Appoint not a novice to manage the helm. | 11 | ˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| Let no one as chief of your army be seen, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Who shall not in many a battle have been. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| The sporting-dog shrinks from the fierce leopard's sight; | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| The fox cows the tiger who never saw fight. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| When a boy has been tutored to follow the chase, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| He does not feel frightened when war shows its face. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| By boating and hunting and polo and butts, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| The war-seeking man, like a dare-devil struts. | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| One in warm-baths and pleasure and blandishments trained, | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| When the portal of battle is opened, is pained. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| To support him in saddle, two men must be found ; | 12 | ·˘/··/˘····· |
| And a boy, with a spindle, could beat him to ground. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| If in battle a run-away's back meets your gaze, | 12 | ··/˘··/····· |
| Take his life, if the foe should not finish his days! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| A paederast surpasses the swordsman by far, | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Who, woman-like, runs in the season of war. | 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.