Chapter IV: Story on the Humility and Supplication of Upright Men
From the hut of a saint, dressed in clothes patched and torn,To the ear of a man a dog's barking was borne.He said to himself, " What ! a dog barking here?"And to where the good Dervish was living, came near.He no sign of a dog saw, before or behind ;Except the recluse, no one else did he find.Quite taken aback, he began to retire;For about this strange case he felt shame to inquire.Within, the good man heard a footstep outside,And shouted, "Come in ! at the door, why abide?Oh light of my eyes! you must never supposeThat you heard a dog bark ; no! from me it arose.When I saw that by Him self-abasement was bought,I removed from my head pride and wisdom and thought.Like a dog I have barked very much at His gate,For I've seen naught to equal the dog's abject state."When a dignified rank you desire to obtain,At humility's foot you will excellence gain.The chief seat in this Presence those persons will get,Who lower than others their value have set.When a torrent bounds on, with a force that appals,From the top to the bottom it speedily falls.Since dew falls in atoms, most humble in size,Observe how the sun bears it up to the skies !
Words in this poem
- dervish n.
- A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life. [Per. derw, fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche.]
- aback n.
- An abacus. B. Jonson.
- abasement n.
- The act of abasing, humbling, or bringing low; the state of being abased or humbled; humiliation. [Cf. F. abaissement.]
- abject a.
- Cast down; low-lying. [L. abjectus, p. p. of abjicere to throw away; ab + jacere to throw. See Jet a shooting forth.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IV: Story on the Humility and Supplication of Upright Men 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 IV: Story on the Humility and Supplication of Upright Men, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/4-18.html, id L29639.
Form and metre
Chapter IV: Story on the Humility and Supplication of Upright Men is 24 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLL tornA · borneA · hereB · nearB · behindC · findC · retireD · inquireD · outsideE · abideE · supposeF · aroseF · boughtG · thoughtG · gateH · stateH · obtainI · gainI · getJ · setJ · appalsK · fallsK · sizeL · skiesL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From the hut of a saint, dressed in clothes patched and torn, | 12 | ············ |
| To the ear of a man a dog's barking was borne. | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| He said to himself, " What ! a dog barking here?" | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
| And to where the good Dervish was living, came near. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| He no sign of a dog saw, before or behind ; | 12 | ············ |
| Except the recluse, no one else did he find. | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| Quite taken aback, he began to retire; | 11 | ·/˘˘/·˘/·˘/ |
| For about this strange case he felt shame to inquire. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Within, the good man heard a footstep outside, | 11 | ·······/·// |
| And shouted, "Come in ! at the door, why abide? | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| Oh light of my eyes! you must never suppose | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| That you heard a dog bark ; no! from me it arose. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| When I saw that by Him self-abasement was bought, | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| I removed from my head pride and wisdom and thought. | 12 | ·˘/·····/˘·· |
| Like a dog I have barked very much at His gate, | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| For I've seen naught to equal the dog's abject state." | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| When a dignified rank you desire to obtain, | 12 | ··/˘···˘/·˘/ |
| At humility's foot you will excellence gain. | 12 | ·˘/˘˘···/˘˘· |
| The chief seat in this Presence those persons will get, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Who lower than others their value have set. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| When a torrent bounds on, with a force that appals, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| From the top to the bottom it speedily falls. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘· |
| Since dew falls in atoms, most humble in size, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Observe how the sun bears it up to the skies ! | 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.