Chapter IV: Story of Junaid of Baghdad, and the Humility of his Nature
I have heard that Junaid, in the plain of Sana,Saw a dog that had lost ev'ry tooth in his jaw.His claws, lion-seizing, of strength were bereft ;Like a feeble, decrepit, old fox he was left.After catching the deer and wild ram, in the chase,He was butted and spurned by the sheep of the place.When he saw the poor brute weak and wounded and sad,He gave him the half of the viands he had.I have heard he was saying, while shedding red tears:"Who knows which of us two the better appears?I am better to look at than this one, to-day,But how long on my head will this good fortune stay?If my foot of belief does not slip from its place,With the crown of God's pardon my head I will grace.If the robe of God's knowledge I do not possess,Than this brute I am certainly very much less.For the dog with a name vile as any can tell,They will never convey, like a man, unto Hell."The way is this, Sadi:—The men of the roadNever have on themselves a sublime look bestowed.Than the angels a higher position they held,For they did not conceive that the dog they excelled.
Words in this poem
- decrepit a.
- Broken down with age; wasted and enfeebled by the infirmities of old age; feeble; worn out. [L. decrepitus, perhaps orig., noised out, noiseless, applied to old people, who creep about quietly; de- + crepare to make a noise, rattle: cf. F. décrépit. See]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IV: Story of Junaid of Baghdad, and the Humility of his Nature 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 of Junaid of Baghdad, and the Humility of his Nature, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/4-24.html, id L29645.
Form and metre
Chapter IV: Story of Junaid of Baghdad, and the Humility of his Nature is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 --AABBCCDDEEBBFFGGHHII sana · jaw · bereftA · leftA · chaseB · placeB · sadC · hadC · tearsD · appearsD · dayE · stayE · placeB · graceB · possessF · lessF · tellG · hellG · roadH · bestowedH · heldI · excelledI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I have heard that Junaid, in the plain of Sana, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Saw a dog that had lost ev'ry tooth in his jaw. | 12 | ············ |
| His claws, lion-seizing, of strength were bereft ; | 11 | ··/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Like a feeble, decrepit, old fox he was left. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
| After catching the deer and wild ram, in the chase, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| He was butted and spurned by the sheep of the place. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| When he saw the poor brute weak and wounded and sad, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| He gave him the half of the viands he had. | 10 | ·········· |
| I have heard he was saying, while shedding red tears: | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| "Who knows which of us two the better appears? | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| I am better to look at than this one, to-day, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| But how long on my head will this good fortune stay? | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| If my foot of belief does not slip from its place, | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| With the crown of God's pardon my head I will grace. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| If the robe of God's knowledge I do not possess, | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| Than this brute I am certainly very much less. | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘·· |
| For the dog with a name vile as any can tell, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| They will never convey, like a man, unto Hell." | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| The way is this, Sadi:—The men of the road | 11 | ··········· |
| Never have on themselves a sublime look bestowed. | 12 | /˘··˘/·˘/·˘/ |
| Than the angels a higher position they held, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| For they did not conceive that the dog they excelled. | 12 | ····˘/····˘/ |
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