Chapter II: Story of the Pilgrim to Mecca
I have heard that a man did to Mecca repair,And made, at each step, two prostrations in pray'r.So zealous a walker in Gad's path, to boot,That he plucked not th' Acacia thorn from his foot.At last, by a conscience deluded inspired,His own foolish doings he greatly admired.By the Devil deceiving, he walked to a pit,For he could not discover a pathway more fit.If he had not been found by the mercy of God,His pride would have made his head swerve from the road.In this manner, a voice from above, him addressed :"Oh man of good fortune! whose nature is blessed!Do not think that because you have worshipped so fine,You have carried a gift to this Presence Divine!To soothe by a kindness one heart has more grace,Than a thousand prostrations at each halting place."
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- admired a.
- Regarded with wonder and delight; highly prized; as, an admired poem.
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter II: Story of the Pilgrim to Mecca 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 II: Story of the Pilgrim to Mecca, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/2-11.html, id L29568.
Form and metre
Chapter II: Story of the Pilgrim to Mecca is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH repairA · pray'rA · bootB · footB · inspiredC · admiredC · pitD · fitD · godE · roadE · addressedF · blessedF · fineG · divineG · graceH · placeH
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 a man did to Mecca repair, | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| And made, at each step, two prostrations in pray'r. | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| So zealous a walker in Gad's path, to boot, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| That he plucked not th' Acacia thorn from his foot. | 12 | ···˘·˘/˘···· |
| At last, by a conscience deluded inspired, | 12 | ····/˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| His own foolish doings he greatly admired. | 12 | ··/˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| By the Devil deceiving, he walked to a pit, | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
| For he could not discover a pathway more fit. | 12 | ····˘/˘·/··· |
| If he had not been found by the mercy of God, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| His pride would have made his head swerve from the road. | 11 | ··········· |
| In this manner, a voice from above, him addressed : | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| "Oh man of good fortune! whose nature is blessed! | 12 | ····/˘·/˘··˘ |
| Do not think that because you have worshipped so fine, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| You have carried a gift to this Presence Divine! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| To soothe by a kindness one heart has more grace, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Than a thousand prostrations at each halting place." | 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.