Chapter X: Story of the Poor Dervish
How aptly the indigent Dervish thus spoke—Who did penance at night, which at daybreak he broke:"If repentance to us He vouchsafe, it is right!For unstable's our promise and wanting in might."By Thy Godhead! from lies sew my eyelids up well!By Thy light ! do not burn me to-morrow in Hell !My face from my poorness has gone to the ground ;The dust of my sins in the Heav'ns may be found.For a little, oh cloud of compassion, rain some!For in presence of rain, dust will, surely, not come.From my sins, in this country no honour have I;And yet, have no way to another to fly.Of the state of the hearts of the dumb, Thou'rt aware ;Thou anointest the hearts of the wounded with care.
Words in this poem
- aptly adv.
- In an apt or suitable manner; fitly; properly; pertinently; appropriately; readily.
- indigent a.
- Wanting; void; free; destitute; -- used with of. [L. indigent, L. indigens, p. p. of indigere to stand in need of, fr. OL. indu (fr. in- in) + L. egere to be needy, to need.]
- dervish n.
- A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life. [Per. derw, fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- poorness n.
- The quality or state of being poor (in any of the senses of the adjective).
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter X: Story of the Poor Dervish 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 X: Story of the Poor Dervish, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/10-4.html, id L29763.
Form and metre
Chapter X: Story of the Poor Dervish is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%).
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 spokeA · brokeA · rightB · mightB · wellC · hellC · groundD · foundD · someE · comeE · iF · flyF · awareG · careG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How aptly the indigent Dervish thus spoke— | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Who did penance at night, which at daybreak he broke: | 12 | ··/˘····/··· |
| "If repentance to us He vouchsafe, it is right! | 12 | ·˘/˘···˘/··· |
| For unstable's our promise and wanting in might." | 12 | ·˘/˘//˘·/˘·· |
| By Thy Godhead! from lies sew my eyelids up well! | 12 | ··/·····/··· |
| By Thy light ! do not burn me to-morrow in Hell ! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| My face from my poorness has gone to the ground ; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| The dust of my sins in the Heav'ns may be found. | 11 | ··········· |
| For a little, oh cloud of compassion, rain some! | 12 | ··/˘···˘/˘·· |
| For in presence of rain, dust will, surely, not come. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| From my sins, in this country no honour have I; | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| And yet, have no way to another to fly. | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| Of the state of the hearts of the dumb, Thou'rt aware ; | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Thou anointest the hearts of the wounded with care. | 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.