Chapter III: Story of the Young Married Cousins
Between two young cousins a marriage took place—Two sun-like in aspect and noble in race—The union to one gave the greatest delight ;The other indulged in aversion and spite.One fairy-like neatness and nature possessed ;The other with face to the wall stood distressed.One decked out her fairy-like figure with care;The other sought death from the Lord in each pray'r.The youth was reproved by the village old men :" You love her not! give her her dower, again !"He, smiling, replied, "With an hundred sheep, see !The mischief between us will not be set free.With her nails, the fair beauty her soft skin would flay,Saying, ' When will this soothe, while my lover's away?He may friendship and faith and sweet union forsake ;If he spurn or accept it," what odds will it make?Come along ! I am willing to live in this style;I will harshness endure and reply with a smile.I'm not one hundred sheep! five score thousand by three,For not seeing my love would not recompense me!'"Whatever employs you away from "the Friend,"If you ask for the truth, it's your sweetheart, depend !
Words in this poem
- aversion n.
- A turning away. [L. aversio: cf. F. aversion. See Avert.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter III: Story of the Young Married Cousins 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 the Young Married Cousins, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/3-15.html, id L29607.
Form and metre
Chapter III: Story of the Young Married Cousins is 22 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK placeA · raceA · delightB · spiteB · possessedC · distressedC · careD · pray'rD · menE · againE · seeF · freeF · flayG · awayG · forsakeH · makeH · styleI · smileI · threeJ · meJ · friendK · dependK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Between two young cousins a marriage took place— | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Two sun-like in aspect and noble in race— | 11 | ····/··/˘·· |
| The union to one gave the greatest delight ; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
| The other indulged in aversion and spite. | 11 | ·/˘˘/·˘/˘·· |
| One fairy-like neatness and nature possessed ; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| The other with face to the wall stood distressed. | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| One decked out her fairy-like figure with care; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| The other sought death from the Lord in each pray'r. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| The youth was reproved by the village old men : | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| " You love her not! give her her dower, again !" | 10 | ········˘/ |
| He, smiling, replied, "With an hundred sheep, see ! | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| The mischief between us will not be set free. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| With her nails, the fair beauty her soft skin would flay, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Saying, ' When will this soothe, while my lover's away? | 12 | /˘······/˘˘/ |
| He may friendship and faith and sweet union forsake ; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| If he spurn or accept it," what odds will it make? | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| Come along ! I am willing to live in this style; | 12 | ·˘/··/˘····· |
| I will harshness endure and reply with a smile. | 12 | ··/˘˘/·˘/··· |
| I'm not one hundred sheep! five score thousand by three, | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| For not seeing my love would not recompense me!'" | 11 | ··/····/˘·· |
| Whatever employs you away from "the Friend," | 11 | ·/˘˘/·˘/··· |
| If you ask for the truth, it's your sweetheart, depend ! | 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.