Chapter V: Story of the Vulture and the Kite
In this manner a vulture conversed with a kite :"No bird has like me such a far-reaching sight.""We must settle this point !" said the kite, in reply."On the desert's expanse, tell me what you can spy ?"I have heard that a day's journey distant, or so,He looked from above on the desert below ;And said, "I can see, if you credit the feat,That on yonder vast plain there is one grain of wheat!"The kite was of patience bereft, from surprise;They directed their heads to the plains from the skies.When the vulture arrived at the grain on the ground,In a long, stretching snare he was twisted and bound.From eating that grain he was little aware,That Fate would entangle his neck in a snare.Not always in pearl shells are pearls found to lie ;An archer can't always transfix the bull's eye.Said the kite, "What acquire you from seeing that grain,When no sight of the snare of your foe you obtain?"I have heard that he said, with his neck in the noose,"Against Fate's decrees, caution proves of no use."When Death caused his hand for his murder to rise,Fate instantly darkened his clear seeing eyes.In a sea where the opposite coast is concealed,The swimmer's proud boast will no benefit yield.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- transfix v. t.
- To pierce through, as with a pointed weapon; to impale; as, to transfix one with a dart. [L. transfixus, p. p. of transfigure to transfix; trans across, through + figere to fix, fasten. See Fix.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter V: Story of the Vulture and the Kite 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 V: Story of the Vulture and the Kite, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/5-11.html, id L29662.
Form and metre
Chapter V: Story of the Vulture and the Kite 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 93%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGBBHHIIEEJJ kiteA · sightA · replyB · spyB · soC · belowC · featD · wheatD · surpriseE · skiesE · groundF · boundF · awareG · snareG · lieB · eyeB · grainH · obtainH · nooseI · useI · riseE · eyesE · concealedJ · yieldJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In this manner a vulture conversed with a kite : | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/··· |
| "No bird has like me such a far-reaching sight." | 11 | ········/˘· |
| "We must settle this point !" said the kite, in reply. | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| "On the desert's expanse, tell me what you can spy ?" | 12 | ··˘/˘/······ |
| I have heard that a day's journey distant, or so, | 12 | ······/˘/˘·· |
| He looked from above on the desert below ; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And said, "I can see, if you credit the feat, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| That on yonder vast plain there is one grain of wheat!" | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| The kite was of patience bereft, from surprise; | 11 | ····/˘˘/·˘/ |
| They directed their heads to the plains from the skies. | 12 | ·˘/˘········ |
| When the vulture arrived at the grain on the ground, | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| In a long, stretching snare he was twisted and bound. | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| From eating that grain he was little aware, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
| That Fate would entangle his neck in a snare. | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| Not always in pearl shells are pearls found to lie ; | 11 | ·/········· |
| An archer can't always transfix the bull's eye. | 11 | ·/˘·/·˘/··· |
| Said the kite, "What acquire you from seeing that grain, | 11 | ····˘/··/·· |
| When no sight of the snare of your foe you obtain?" | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| I have heard that he said, with his neck in the noose, | 12 | ············ |
| "Against Fate's decrees, caution proves of no use." | 11 | ···˘//˘···· |
| When Death caused his hand for his murder to rise, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Fate instantly darkened his clear seeing eyes. | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| In a sea where the opposite coast is concealed, | 11 | ·····/˘··˘/ |
| The swimmer's proud boast will no benefit yield. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘· |
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