Chapter III: Story of Patience under Oppression
A young, recent bride to her old father ran,And to tell of his son-in-law's harshness, began :"The oppression is such, while this boy I obey,That my sweet life, in bitterness, passes away.The people who near me reside, in this part,I see not, like me, much afflicted in heart.Men and women, together, so loving are found,—Two brains in one skin, you would say, had been boundI've not seen that my husband has, during this space,For once, condescended to smile in my face."This oration was heard by the good omened sage—An eloquent man was the man of old age—How like an old man was his answer, so fair !"If he's handsome, endeavour his burden to bear !It is sad to avert from a person your face,For you mayn't get another as good, in his place.Why against him rebel? should he cease to love, thenHe will draw through your lines of existence, the pen.With the orders of God, slave-like, satisfied be !For a lord like to him, you will not again see."
Words in this poem
- endeavour v. t.
- To exert physical or intellectual strength for the attainment of; to use efforts to effect; to strive to achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. [OE. endevor; pref. en- + dever, devoir, duty, F. devoir: cf. F. se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose to try to do a thing, to go about it. See Devoir, Deb]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter III: Story of Patience under Oppression 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 III: Story of Patience under Oppression, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/3-11.html, id L29603.
Form and metre
Chapter III: Story of Patience under Oppression 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 92%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGEEHHII ranA · beganA · obeyB · awayB · partC · heartC · foundD · boundD · spaceE · faceE · sageF · ageF · fairG · bearG · faceE · placeE · thenH · penH · beI · seeI
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 young, recent bride to her old father ran, | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| And to tell of his son-in-law's harshness, began : | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| "The oppression is such, while this boy I obey, | 12 | ·˘/˘······˘/ |
| That my sweet life, in bitterness, passes away. | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| The people who near me reside, in this part, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/··· |
| I see not, like me, much afflicted in heart. | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| Men and women, together, so loving are found,— | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Two brains in one skin, you would say, had been bound | 11 | ··········· |
| I've not seen that my husband has, during this space, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| For once, condescended to smile in my face." | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| This oration was heard by the good omened sage— | 12 | ·˘/˘·····/˘· |
| An eloquent man was the man of old age— | 11 | ·/˘˘······· |
| How like an old man was his answer, so fair ! | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| "If he's handsome, endeavour his burden to bear ! | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| It is sad to avert from a person your face, | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
| For you mayn't get another as good, in his place. | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| Why against him rebel? should he cease to love, then | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| He will draw through your lines of existence, the pen. | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| With the orders of God, slave-like, satisfied be ! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| For a lord like to him, you will not again see." | 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.