Chapter V: Story of the Gold-Cloth Weaver's Apprentice
How nicely a weaver's apprentice did state—While sketching giraffes, birds and elephants great—"A single design does not come from my hand,That the "Teacher above has not previously planned."If your outward appearance be hideous, or fine,Has. it not been portrayed by the Artist Divine?In this person some hid infidelity see,Who declares, " Zaid afflicted and Omar smote me."If the Lord of command will vouchsafe to you eyes,Not again will you see Zaid and Omar arise.If a man remain silent, I do not supposeThat his means of subsistence the Maker will close.May the Maker of Earth keep it open for thee !If He closes food's portal it cannot ope'd be.
Words in this poem
- artist n.
- One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan. [F. artiste, LL. artista, fr. L. ars. See Art, n., and cf. Artiste.]
- infidelity n.
- Want of faith or belief in some religious system; especially, a want of faith in, or disbelief of, the inspiration of the Scriptures, of the divine origin of Christianity. [L. infidelitas: cf. F. infidélité.]
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter V: Story of the Gold-Cloth Weaver's Apprentice 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 Gold-Cloth Weaver's Apprentice, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/5-12.html, id L29663.
Form and metre
Chapter V: Story of the Gold-Cloth Weaver's Apprentice is 14 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 AABBCCDDEEFFDD stateA · greatA · handB · plannedB · fineC · divineC · seeD · meD · eyesE · ariseE · supposeF · closeF · theeD · beD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How nicely a weaver's apprentice did state— | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| While sketching giraffes, birds and elephants great— | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘˘· |
| "A single design does not come from my hand, | 11 | ·/˘˘/······ |
| That the "Teacher above has not previously planned." | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘· |
| If your outward appearance be hideous, or fine, | 12 | ··/˘/˘·/˘˘·· |
| Has. it not been portrayed by the Artist Divine? | 12 | ····˘/··/˘˘/ |
| In this person some hid infidelity see, | 12 | ··/˘···˘/˘˘· |
| Who declares, " Zaid afflicted and Omar smote me." | 12 | ·˘/·˘/˘·/˘·· |
| If the Lord of command will vouchsafe to you eyes, | 12 | ····˘/·˘/··· |
| Not again will you see Zaid and Omar arise. | 12 | ·˘/·····/˘˘/ |
| If a man remain silent, I do not suppose | 12 | ···˘//˘···˘/ |
| That his means of subsistence the Maker will close. | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| May the Maker of Earth keep it open for thee ! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| If He closes food's portal it cannot ope'd be. | 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.