Chapter II: Story on the Fruits of Well-doing
A man saw the Great Judgment Plain in a dreamThe Earth's face like sun-heated copper did seem.The cries of mankind rose to Heav'n's lofty seat;Their brains, too, were boiling, because of the heat.A man, midst the throng, in the shade was at rest ;A Paradise ornament showed on his breast."Oh assembly adorner !" the dreaming man said," In this mighty assembly, who granted you aid?"He answered, " A vine at my house door I kept ;A good man came under its shadow and slept.That pure, upright saint, in this time of despair,Asked my sins from the just-dealing God, in this prayer:' Deliver, oh God, this poor slave from his woes !For once by his means I enjoyed sweet repose."I was glad when I found out the mystery's cause,And told the good news to the lord of Shiraz;For the world, in the shade of his eminent mind,Secure at his table of bounty, you'll find.A liberal man is a fruit-bearing tree,And if you neglect it, Hell's firewood you'll be.If they lay the sharp axe to the wither'd tree's root,When will they attack the good tree, bearing fruit?Oh tree, full of merit, long, long. may you live!For you freely bear fruit and a shade you can give.
Words in this poem
- adorner n.
- He who, or that which, adorns; a beautifier.
- shiraz n.
- A kind of Persian wine; -- so called from the place whence it is brought.
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter II: Story on the Fruits of Well-doing 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 on the Fruits of Well-doing, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/2-32.html, id L29589.
Form and metre
Chapter II: Story on the Fruits of Well-doing is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLL dreamA · seemA · seatB · heatB · restC · breastC · saidD · aidD · keptE · sleptE · despairF · prayerF · woesG · reposeG · causeH · shirazH · mindI · findI · treeJ · beJ · rootK · fruitK · liveL · giveL
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 saw the Great Judgment Plain in a dream | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| The Earth's face like sun-heated copper did seem. | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| The cries of mankind rose to Heav'n's lofty seat; | 11 | ···//···/˘· |
| Their brains, too, were boiling, because of the heat. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| A man, midst the throng, in the shade was at rest ; | 11 | ··········· |
| A Paradise ornament showed on his breast. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘···· |
| "Oh assembly adorner !" the dreaming man said, | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| " In this mighty assembly, who granted you aid?" | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| He answered, " A vine at my house door I kept ; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| A good man came under its shadow and slept. | 11 | ·······/··· |
| That pure, upright saint, in this time of despair, | 11 | ··/······˘/ |
| Asked my sins from the just-dealing God, in this prayer: | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| ' Deliver, oh God, this poor slave from his woes ! | 11 | ˘/˘········ |
| For once by his means I enjoyed sweet repose." | 11 | ······˘/·˘/ |
| I was glad when I found out the mystery's cause, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| And told the good news to the lord of Shiraz; | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| For the world, in the shade of his eminent mind, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Secure at his table of bounty, you'll find. | 11 | ˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| A liberal man is a fruit-bearing tree, | 11 | ·/˘˘····/˘· |
| And if you neglect it, Hell's firewood you'll be. | 12 | ···˘/··/˘··· |
| If they lay the sharp axe to the wither'd tree's root, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| When will they attack the good tree, bearing fruit? | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
| Oh tree, full of merit, long, long. may you live! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| For you freely bear fruit and a shade you can give. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
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