Chapter II: Remarks on Foresight and Providence
How well spoke Bihram, of the desert renowned,When thrown by an obstinate horse to the ground :"From the pasture another horse must be obtained ;For when one is rebellious he must be restrained."You may stop, with a bodkin, the fountain's weak source;When flooded, an elephant can't stem its course.Dam the Tigris, oh son ! when the water is scant;For when it increases in volume, you can't!When the wicked old wolf puts his head in the noose,Take his life! or your heart from your flocks you may loose.Adoration from Satan's a thing quite unknown;Good actions have never by villains been shown.Of a fit place and time, let no foe be possessed!A foe in a well, and fiend bottled, are best.Do not say that this snake, with a stick, you must slay;When you have its head under a stone, pound away!When a writer has injured his poor fellow men,A sword for his hands is more fit than a pen.The vizier who imposes the bad laws he frames,Will carry you on till he gives you to flames.Do not say, "This vizier is befitting the state."Do not call him vizier; he's the people's bad fate.To the sayings of Sadi the fortunate list ;For in them growth of state, sense and wisdom exist.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
- bottled a.
- Put into bottles; inclosed in bottles; pent up in, or as in, a bottle.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter II: Remarks on Foresight and Providence 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: Remarks on Foresight and Providence, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/2-35.html, id L29592.
Form and metre
Chapter II: Remarks on Foresight and Providence 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 91%).
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 renownedA · groundA · obtainedB · restrainedB · sourceC · courseC · scantD · can'tD · nooseE · looseE · unknownF · shownF · possessedG · bestG · slayH · awayH · menI · penI · framesJ · flamesJ · stateK · fateK · listL · existL
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 well spoke Bihram, of the desert renowned, | 12 | ·······˘/˘/˘ |
| When thrown by an obstinate horse to the ground : | 11 | ····/˘˘···· |
| "From the pasture another horse must be obtained ; | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| For when one is rebellious he must be restrained." | 12 | ····˘/˘···˘/ |
| You may stop, with a bodkin, the fountain's weak source; | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| When flooded, an elephant can't stem its course. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘···· |
| Dam the Tigris, oh son ! when the water is scant; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| For when it increases in volume, you can't! | 11 | ···/˘˘·/˘·· |
| When the wicked old wolf puts his head in the noose, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Take his life! or your heart from your flocks you may loose. | 12 | ············ |
| Adoration from Satan's a thing quite unknown; | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| Good actions have never by villains been shown. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Of a fit place and time, let no foe be possessed! | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| A foe in a well, and fiend bottled, are best. | 12 | ·······/˘˘·· |
| Do not say that this snake, with a stick, you must slay; | 12 | ············ |
| When you have its head under a stone, pound away! | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| When a writer has injured his poor fellow men, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘· |
| A sword for his hands is more fit than a pen. | 11 | ··········· |
| The vizier who imposes the bad laws he frames, | 12 | ·/˘·˘/˘····· |
| Will carry you on till he gives you to flames. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Do not say, "This vizier is befitting the state." | 12 | ····/˘·˘/˘·· |
| Do not call him vizier; he's the people's bad fate. | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| To the sayings of Sadi the fortunate list ; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘· |
| For in them growth of state, sense and wisdom exist. | 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.