Chapter VI: Story of the Holy Man who became King
There once was a monarch of pomp and renown,Whose " sun" to the mountain desired to go down.He abandoned his realm to a saint of that place,For no living successor was left of his race.When the holy recluse heard the big drum of state,He cared not again in retirement to wait.He began to manouvre his troops left and right ;The hearts of brave men were alarmed at the sight.So strong grew his arm and so brave had he got,That with war-seeking people encounter he sought.Of the foe, disunited, a number he killed ;The remainder assembled, with one spirit filled.They circled him round in a fortress so tight,That the raining of arrows and stones cowed him quite.To an eminent saint he made some one repair ;Saying, "I am distressed! oh reliever of care,With your prayers assist! for the arrow and sword,Do not always, in battle, assistance afford."When the worshipper heard this, he smiled, and then said :"Why did he not sleep on a half loaf of bread?Karun, the wealth-worshipper, was not aware,That the treasure of peace hugs the corner of pray'r."
Words in this poem
- circled a.
- Having the form of a circle; round.
- reliever n.
- One who, or that which, relieves.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter VI: Story of the Holy Man who became King 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 VI: Story of the Holy Man who became King, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/6-14.html, id L29681.
Form and metre
Chapter VI: Story of the Holy Man who became King is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABBCCDD--EEDDFFGGHHF- renownA · downA · placeB · raceB · stateC · waitC · rightD · sightD · got · sought · killedE · filledE · tightD · quiteD · repairF · careF · swordG · affordG · saidH · breadH · awareF · pray'r
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There once was a monarch of pomp and renown, | 11 | ····/····˘/ |
| Whose " sun" to the mountain desired to go down. | 12 | ····/˘˘/˘··· |
| He abandoned his realm to a saint of that place, | 12 | ·˘/˘········ |
| For no living successor was left of his race. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
| When the holy recluse heard the big drum of state, | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| He cared not again in retirement to wait. | 12 | ···˘/·˘/˘˘·· |
| He began to manouvre his troops left and right ; | 11 | ·˘/········ |
| The hearts of brave men were alarmed at the sight. | 12 | ······˘/˘··· |
| So strong grew his arm and so brave had he got, | 11 | ··········· |
| That with war-seeking people encounter he sought. | 12 | ···/˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| Of the foe, disunited, a number he killed ; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| The remainder assembled, with one spirit filled. | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| They circled him round in a fortress so tight, | 12 | ·/˘˘····/˘·· |
| That the raining of arrows and stones cowed him quite. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| To an eminent saint he made some one repair ; | 12 | ··/˘˘·····˘/ |
| Saying, "I am distressed! oh reliever of care, | 12 | /˘··˘/·˘/˘·· |
| With your prayers assist! for the arrow and sword, | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| Do not always, in battle, assistance afford." | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| When the worshipper heard this, he smiled, and then said : | 12 | ············ |
| "Why did he not sleep on a half loaf of bread? | 11 | ··········· |
| Karun, the wealth-worshipper, was not aware, | 11 | ˘/·······˘/ |
| That the treasure of peace hugs the corner of pray'r." | 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.