Chapter II: Maxims and Remarks
To her daughter, how well spoke a village-chief's wife :—"Prepare for distress when provisions are rife !At all times, a pitcher and cup brimful show !For the stream in the village will not always flow."With the world, you can doubtless Futurity gain,And the claws of the Devil, with gold you can sprain.From a hand that is empty, no hope will arise ;With gold, you can gouge out the White Devil's eyes.Do not visit your Love, if you own not a thing!And if you have silver, oh come thou, and bring !Do not turn empty handed the door of the Fair !For a man without money is valueless there !If you place on your palm all the wealth you possess,Your palm will be bare, in the time of distress.By your efforts, weak beggars will never get strong,And I fear, you yourself will get weak before long.
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.]
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- brimful a.
- Full to the brim; completely full; ready to overflow.
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- futurity n.
- State of being that is yet to come; future state.
- gouge n.
- A chisel, with a hollow or semicylindrical blade, for scooping or cutting holes, channels, or grooves, in wood, stone, etc.; a similar instrument, with curved edge, for turning wood. [F. gouge. LL. gubia, guvia, gulbia, gulvia, gulvium; cf. Bisc. gubia bow, gubioa throat.]
- valueless a.
- Being of no value; having no worth.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter II: Maxims and Remarks 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: Maxims and Remarks, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/2-8.html, id L29565.
Form and metre
Chapter II: Maxims and Remarks 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 94%).
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 wifeA · rifeA · showB · flowB · gainC · sprainC · ariseD · eyesD · thingE · bringE · fairF · thereF · possessG · distressG · strongH · longH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To her daughter, how well spoke a village-chief's wife :— | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| "Prepare for distress when provisions are rife ! | 11 | ˘/·˘/·˘/˘·· |
| At all times, a pitcher and cup brimful show ! | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| For the stream in the village will not always flow." | 12 | ·····/˘··/·· |
| With the world, you can doubtless Futurity gain, | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘· |
| And the claws of the Devil, with gold you can sprain. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| From a hand that is empty, no hope will arise ; | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| With gold, you can gouge out the White Devil's eyes. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Do not visit your Love, if you own not a thing! | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| And if you have silver, oh come thou, and bring ! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Do not turn empty handed the door of the Fair ! | 12 | ···/˘/˘····· |
| For a man without money is valueless there ! | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘· |
| If you place on your palm all the wealth you possess, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Your palm will be bare, in the time of distress. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| By your efforts, weak beggars will never get strong, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| And I fear, you yourself will get weak before long. | 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.