Chapter III: Story of an Abstinent, Pious Man
One like me, with his heart in another one's hand,Was a captive and had much abasement to stand.He had, previously, wisdom and knowledge displayed;Yet, because of his madness, a butt he was made.From his intimate friends many thumpings he bore,Like a peg, with his forehead projecting before.On the head of misfortune, by fancy so put,That the roof of his brain was well kicked under foot.From the foe, for the friend, he submitted to wrong ;For poison from friends is an antidote strong.No knowledge had he of his friend's chiding strains ;For the man who is drowned does not know when it rains.The person whose heart has grown callous to blame,Does not care for the mirror of honour and shame.The devil appeared as a beauty, one night,In that holy man's bosom, and worried him, quite.In the morning he had not the pow'r to say pray'r;Of his secret not one of his friends was aware.He plunged into water as far as the chin,And like marble, was soon by the cold frozen in.A reprover began to upbraid him and scold :"You are killing yourself in this water, so cold."The judicious young man raised a clamour and said :"Beware! and be dumb on this infamous head!For a little, this youth so enraptured my heart,That my love for him made all my patience depart.In my good disposition no int'rest he showed ;See how far with my life I am bearing his load!Hence, He who created my body from dust,By His pow'r has consigned a pure soul to its trust.You're amazed that His load of commands I sustain !In His kindness and favour I always remain!"
Words in this poem
- abasement n.
- The act of abasing, humbling, or bringing low; the state of being abased or humbled; humiliation. [Cf. F. abaissement.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- reprover n.
- One who, or that which, reproves.
- upbraid n.
- The act of reproaching; contumely.
- judicious a.
- Of or relating to a court; judicial. [F. judicieux, fr. L. judicium judgment. See Judicial.]
- clamour n.
- A great outcry or vociferation; loud and continued shouting or exclamation. [OF. clamour, clamur, F. clameur, fr. L. clamor, fr. clamare to cry out. See Claim.]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter III: Story of an Abstinent, Pious Man 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 an Abstinent, Pious Man, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/3-25.html, id L29617.
Form and metre
Chapter III: Story of an Abstinent, Pious Man is 32 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPP handA · standA · displayedB · madeB · boreC · beforeC · putD · footD · wrongE · strongE · strainsF · rainsF · blameG · shameG · nightH · quiteH · pray'rI · awareI · chinJ · inJ · scoldK · coldK · saidL · headL · heartM · departM · showedN · loadN · dustO · trustO · sustainP · remainP
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 |
|---|---|---|
| One like me, with his heart in another one's hand, | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| Was a captive and had much abasement to stand. | 12 | ··/˘···˘/˘·· |
| He had, previously, wisdom and knowledge displayed; | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Yet, because of his madness, a butt he was made. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| From his intimate friends many thumpings he bore, | 12 | ··/˘··/˘/˘·· |
| Like a peg, with his forehead projecting before. | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘·· |
| On the head of misfortune, by fancy so put, | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| That the roof of his brain was well kicked under foot. | 12 | ············ |
| From the foe, for the friend, he submitted to wrong ; | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| For poison from friends is an antidote strong. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| No knowledge had he of his friend's chiding strains ; | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| For the man who is drowned does not know when it rains. | 12 | ············ |
| The person whose heart has grown callous to blame, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Does not care for the mirror of honour and shame. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| The devil appeared as a beauty, one night, | 12 | ·/˘˘/˘··/˘·· |
| In that holy man's bosom, and worried him, quite. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| In the morning he had not the pow'r to say pray'r; | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Of his secret not one of his friends was aware. | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| He plunged into water as far as the chin, | 12 | ··˘··/˘····· |
| And like marble, was soon by the cold frozen in. | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| A reprover began to upbraid him and scold : | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/·/···· |
| "You are killing yourself in this water, so cold." | 12 | ··/˘/˘··/˘·· |
| The judicious young man raised a clamour and said : | 12 | ·˘/˘····/˘·· |
| "Beware! and be dumb on this infamous head! | 11 | ˘/·····/˘˘· |
| For a little, this youth so enraptured my heart, | 12 | ··/˘···˘/˘·· |
| That my love for him made all my patience depart. | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| In my good disposition no int'rest he showed ; | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| See how far with my life I am bearing his load! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Hence, He who created my body from dust, | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| By His pow'r has consigned a pure soul to its trust. | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| You're amazed that His load of commands I sustain ! | 12 | ·˘/····˘/·˘/ |
| In His kindness and favour I always remain!" | 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.