Chapter I: On Cherishing the Army
Two persons, oh conquering king, patronize !The man who has strength and the man who is wise.Those bear Fortune's ball off, from persons renowned,Who cherishing sages and warriors are found.If a man has not handled the pen or the sword,Over him, should he die, say no sorrowing word!Look after the writer and swordsman, with care;Not the minstrel ! for bravery in woman is rare !"Tis unmanly that you, with the enemy armed,Should with Bearers of wine and lute music be charmed.Many prosperous people who sat down to play,By gambling, have squandered their fortunes away.
Words in this poem
- patronize v. t.
- To act as patron toward; to support; to countenance; to favor; to aid.
- swordsman n.
- A soldier; a fighting man.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter I: On Cherishing the Army 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: On Cherishing the Army, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/1-48.html, id L29553.
Form and metre
Chapter I: On Cherishing the Army is 12 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFF patronizeA · wiseA · renownedB · foundB · swordC · wordC · careD · rareD · armedE · charmedE · playF · awayF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Two persons, oh conquering king, patronize ! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘·/˘· |
| The man who has strength and the man who is wise. | 11 | ··········· |
| Those bear Fortune's ball off, from persons renowned, | 12 | ··/˘···/˘˘/˘ |
| Who cherishing sages and warriors are found. | 12 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘˘·· |
| If a man has not handled the pen or the sword, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Over him, should he die, say no sorrowing word! | 12 | ········/˘˘· |
| Look after the writer and swordsman, with care; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Not the minstrel ! for bravery in woman is rare ! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| "Tis unmanly that you, with the enemy armed, | 12 | ········/˘˘· |
| Should with Bearers of wine and lute music be charmed. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Many prosperous people who sat down to play, | 12 | /˘/˘˘/˘····· |
| By gambling, have squandered their fortunes away. | 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.