Chapter II: Continuation of the Story of the Miser's Son
When this story, discouraging good, he had told,Chagrin made the blood in the youth's veins run cold.By these callous remarks, his kind heart was unstrung,He was vexed and exclaimed, "Incoherent of tongue !My father once said that the wealth I've obtained,As a heritage from my forefathers remained ;Did they not, before that, protect it with care?They died, with regret, and left all to their heir.The wealth of my father has fallen to me,So that, after my exit, my son's it should be.It is better that men should consume it to-day,For, to-morrow, they'll bear it as plunder away."Eat and dress and bestow, and remove others' care !And know that your wealth is for others to share!From the world it is borne by possessors of mind ;Mean wretches regretfully leave it behind.Give gold and life's joys, while you have them in hand,For after you die, they're beyond your command!With the world, you can surely Futurity get,Then purchase, my soul! or you'll suffer regret.
Words in this poem
- discouraging a.
- Causing or indicating discouragement.
- chagrin n.
- Vexation; mortification. [F., fr. chagrin shagreen, a particular kind of rough and grained leather; also a rough fishskin used for graters and files; hence (Fig.), a gnawing, corroding g]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- heritage a.
- That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
- futurity n.
- State of being that is yet to come; future state.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter II: Continuation of the Story of the Miser's Son 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: Continuation of the Story of the Miser's Son, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/2-9.html, id L29566.
Form and metre
Chapter II: Continuation of the Story of the Miser's Son is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFDDGGHHII toldA · coldA · unstrungB · tongueB · obtainedC · remainedC · careD · heirD · meE · beE · dayF · awayF · careD · shareD · mindG · behindG · handH · commandH · getI · regretI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When this story, discouraging good, he had told, | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘˘···· |
| Chagrin made the blood in the youth's veins run cold. | 11 | ˘/········· |
| By these callous remarks, his kind heart was unstrung, | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| He was vexed and exclaimed, "Incoherent of tongue ! | 12 | ····˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| My father once said that the wealth I've obtained, | 12 | ·/˘······˘/˘ |
| As a heritage from my forefathers remained ; | 12 | ··/˘˘··/·˘˘/ |
| Did they not, before that, protect it with care? | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| They died, with regret, and left all to their heir. | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| The wealth of my father has fallen to me, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| So that, after my exit, my son's it should be. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| It is better that men should consume it to-day, | 12 | ··/˘···˘/··· |
| For, to-morrow, they'll bear it as plunder away." | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| Eat and dress and bestow, and remove others' care ! | 12 | ····˘/·˘//˘· |
| And know that your wealth is for others to share! | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| From the world it is borne by possessors of mind ; | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| Mean wretches regretfully leave it behind. | 11 | ···˘/˘˘···· |
| Give gold and life's joys, while you have them in hand, | 11 | ··········· |
| For after you die, they're beyond your command! | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| With the world, you can surely Futurity get, | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Then purchase, my soul! or you'll suffer regret. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
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.