Chapter II: Story of the Kind Poor Man and the Debtor
A man had no pow'r, but was gen'rous inclined ;His means did not equal his liberal mind.May a miser the owner of wealth never be !May a generous man never poverty see!The person whose spirit soars lofty and loose,Will find that his projects fall short of his noose.Like the wild, rushing flood, in a mountainous place,Which, while on high ground, cannot stop its mad pace.He was gen'rous beyond what his means would allow,And, thus, his resources were shallow enow.One poverty-stricken, a note to him sent :"Oh thou happy of end, and of nature content!Assist me with so many direms, I pray!For I've lain in a dungeon for many a day."He could not the value of anything see;And yet, in his hand not a copper had he.To the foes of the debtor a person he sent,Saying, " Men of good name who are free, oh, relent!Permit that he may for a short time be free !And if he runs off, I'll security be."From thence to the dungeon he went, and said, " Rise!And run from this city, while strength in you lies!"When. an open cage door met the poor sparrow's view,For a moment, thereafter, no patience he knew.Like the breeze of the morning, he fled from that place,Not a flight that the wind with his dust could keep pace.They instantly seized on the generous man,Saying, " Bring forth the debtor or coin, if you can !"Like the helpless, the road to the jail he was brought;For a bird that has flown from its cage can't be caught.For a time, I have heard, in confinement he lay ;He wrote not a line, nor for help did he pray.He was restless by day, from his nights slumber fled ;A holy man passed him, and thus to him said :—"You don't seem to have lived on the substance of men;"What has happened, that you are a prisoner, then ?""Oh spirit auspicious !" he said, " you are right!No one's wealth have I eaten by baseness or sleight.I saw a poor wretch who from fetters was sore ;But by taking his place, could I ope Freedom's door.It appeared to me loathsome to reason, that IShould be free, and another in fetters should lie."He died in the end, and he bore a good name;Oh happy's the life that has permanent fame !A living soul's body, with clay round it spread,Is better than bodies alive, with souls dead.To a living soul, Death will not dare to come near ;If a living soul's body should die, what's the fear?
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- enow
- A form of Enough.
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- relent v. i.
- To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [F. ralentir, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + lentus pliant, flexible, slow. See Lithe.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- thereafter adv.
- After that; afterward. [AS. th\'d6ræfter after that. See There, and After.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- sleight n.
- Cunning; craft; artful practice. [OE. sleighte, sleihte, sleithe, Icel. sl (for sl) slyness, cunning, fr. sl (for sl) sly, cunning. See Sly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter II: Story of the Kind Poor Man and the Debtor 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 Kind Poor Man and the Debtor, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/2-13.html, id L29570.
Form and metre
Chapter II: Story of the Kind Poor Man and the Debtor is 48 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXX inclinedA · mindA · beB · seeB · looseC · nooseC · placeD · paceD · allowE · enowE · sentF · contentF · prayG · dayG · seeH · heH · sentI · relentI · freeJ · beJ · riseK · liesK · viewL · knewL · placeM · paceM · manN · canN · broughtO · caughtO · layP · prayP · fledQ · saidQ · menR · thenR · rightS · sleightS · soreT · doorT · iU · lieU · nameV · fameV · spreadW · deadW · nearX · fearX
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A man had no pow'r, but was gen'rous inclined ; | 12 | ·········˘/˘ |
| His means did not equal his liberal mind. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘· |
| May a miser the owner of wealth never be ! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘· |
| May a generous man never poverty see! | 12 | ··/˘˘·/˘/˘˘· |
| The person whose spirit soars lofty and loose, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Will find that his projects fall short of his noose. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Like the wild, rushing flood, in a mountainous place, | 12 | ···/˘···/˘˘· |
| Which, while on high ground, cannot stop its mad pace. | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| He was gen'rous beyond what his means would allow, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| And, thus, his resources were shallow enow. | 11 | ···/˘˘·/˘˘/ |
| One poverty-stricken, a note to him sent : | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| "Oh thou happy of end, and of nature content! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Assist me with so many direms, I pray! | 11 | ˘/···/˘···· |
| For I've lain in a dungeon for many a day." | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| He could not the value of anything see; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| And yet, in his hand not a copper had he. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| To the foes of the debtor a person he sent, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Saying, " Men of good name who are free, oh, relent! | 12 | /˘········˘/ |
| Permit that he may for a short time be free ! | 11 | ˘/········· |
| And if he runs off, I'll security be." | 11 | ······˘/˘˘· |
| From thence to the dungeon he went, and said, " Rise! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And run from this city, while strength in you lies!" | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| When. an open cage door met the poor sparrow's view, | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| For a moment, thereafter, no patience he knew. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Like the breeze of the morning, he fled from that place, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Not a flight that the wind with his dust could keep pace. | 12 | ············ |
| They instantly seized on the generous man, | 12 | ·/˘˘·˘··/˘˘· |
| Saying, " Bring forth the debtor or coin, if you can !" | 12 | /˘···/˘····· |
| Like the helpless, the road to the jail he was brought; | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| For a bird that has flown from its cage can't be caught. | 12 | ············ |
| For a time, I have heard, in confinement he lay ; | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| He wrote not a line, nor for help did he pray. | 11 | ··········· |
| He was restless by day, from his nights slumber fled ; | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| A holy man passed him, and thus to him said :— | 12 | ·/˘··˘······ |
| "You don't seem to have lived on the substance of men; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| "What has happened, that you are a prisoner, then ?" | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘· |
| "Oh spirit auspicious !" he said, " you are right! | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| No one's wealth have I eaten by baseness or sleight. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| I saw a poor wretch who from fetters was sore ; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| But by taking his place, could I ope Freedom's door. | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| It appeared to me loathsome to reason, that I | 12 | ·˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| Should be free, and another in fetters should lie." | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| He died in the end, and he bore a good name; | 11 | ··········· |
| Oh happy's the life that has permanent fame ! | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘· |
| A living soul's body, with clay round it spread, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| Is better than bodies alive, with souls dead. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/··· |
| To a living soul, Death will not dare to come near ; | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| If a living soul's body should die, what's the fear? | 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.