Chapter III: Story of the Wise Man and Atabak-Sad
A person gave Sad, son of Zangi, great praise.(On his tomb be abundance of mercy always.)He gave direms, a robe, and respect to him showed,And becoming his merit position bestowed.When " God is enough," in gold lines, met his view,He raved, and the robe from his bosom he threw.From the heat, such a flame in his conscience began,Up he jumped and away to the wilderness ran.A desert companion said, " Kindly relateWhat sight you have seen that has altered your state!The ground, to begin with, three times you did kiss;It did not become you to change after this!"He smiled, saying, " Firstly, from hope and from dread,Through my body a willow-like shivering spread;Thereafter, ' the Glory of God will suffice,Removed ev'ry person and thing from my eyes."
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- firstly adv.
- In the first place; before anything else; -- sometimes improperly used for first.
- thereafter adv.
- After that; afterward. [AS. th\'d6ræfter after that. See There, and After.]
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter III: Story of the Wise Man and Atabak-Sad 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 Wise Man and Atabak-Sad, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/3-23.html, id L29615.
Form and metre
Chapter III: Story of the Wise Man and Atabak-Sad 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 96%).
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 praiseA · alwaysA · showedB · bestowedB · viewC · threwC · beganD · ranD · relateE · stateE · kissF · thisF · dreadG · spreadG · sufficeH · eyesH
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 person gave Sad, son of Zangi, great praise. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| (On his tomb be abundance of mercy always.) | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| He gave direms, a robe, and respect to him showed, | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| And becoming his merit position bestowed. | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| When " God is enough," in gold lines, met his view, | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| He raved, and the robe from his bosom he threw. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| From the heat, such a flame in his conscience began, | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| Up he jumped and away to the wilderness ran. | 11 | ····˘/··/˘· |
| A desert companion said, " Kindly relate | 11 | ·˘/˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| What sight you have seen that has altered your state! | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| The ground, to begin with, three times you did kiss; | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| It did not become you to change after this!" | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| He smiled, saying, " Firstly, from hope and from dread, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| Through my body a willow-like shivering spread; | 11 | ··/˘·/··/˘· |
| Thereafter, ' the Glory of God will suffice, | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| Removed ev'ry person and thing from my eyes." | 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.