Chapter IV: Story of the Humility of Bayazid
I have heard that one morning, the day being Eed,There came from a warm-bath the good Bayazid."Without knowing, a basin of ashes, 'tis said,Some one threw from a house on the top of his head.He was saying—disordered his turban and hairAnd rubbing his face with his palms, as in pray'r—"Oh spirit of mine, I am worthy of fire,Since for ashes, I wrinkle my features in ire !"The great do not look on themselves as select ;From a selfish man, piety, do not expect !True greatness, with fame and fine speech is not bound,With pretensions and fancies, high place is not found.At the Judgment in Paradise, him you will find,Who searched for the truth and put claims from his mind.Humility raises sublimity's crown,And arrogance, under the dust casts you down.The hot-tempered rebel falls headlong below;If you wish to be great, do not arrogance show !
Words in this poem
- expect v. t.
- To wait for; to await. [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IV: Story of the Humility of Bayazid 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 the Humility of Bayazid, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/4-4.html, id L29625.
Form and metre
Chapter IV: Story of the Humility of Bayazid is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII eedA · bayazidA · saidB · headB · hairC · pray'rC · fireD · ireD · selectE · expectE · boundF · foundF · findG · mindG · crownH · downH · belowI · showI
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 one morning, the day being Eed, | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| There came from a warm-bath the good Bayazid." | 10 | ·········· |
| Without knowing, a basin of ashes, 'tis said, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Some one threw from a house on the top of his head. | 12 | ············ |
| He was saying—disordered his turban and hair | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| And rubbing his face with his palms, as in pray'r— | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| "Oh spirit of mine, I am worthy of fire, | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Since for ashes, I wrinkle my features in ire !" | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| The great do not look on themselves as select ; | 11 | ······˘/·˘/ |
| From a selfish man, piety, do not expect ! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘··˘/ |
| True greatness, with fame and fine speech is not bound, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| With pretensions and fancies, high place is not found. | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘····· |
| At the Judgment in Paradise, him you will find, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| Who searched for the truth and put claims from his mind. | 12 | ··˘········· |
| Humility raises sublimity's crown, | 11 | ˘/˘˘/˘····· |
| And arrogance, under the dust casts you down. | 11 | ·/˘˘······· |
| The hot-tempered rebel falls headlong below; | 12 | ··/˘˘˘/·/··· |
| If you wish to be great, do not arrogance show ! | 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.