Chapter VII: Story of the Madman and Backbiting
How well did a madman of Marghaz ' reciteA truth, that should make one his under lip bite !"If I mention in enmity any one's nameWhen speaking, I only my mother defame ;For philosophers, cherishing wisdom, agreeThat a mother's devotion's the best that can be."Oh thou of good name ! should a friend pass from view,Two things all his friends are forbidden to do :One is, foolishly wasting his money, and then,Reviling his name in the presence of men.Whoever advances men's names with disgrace,On his speaking with fairness, no hope you need place.When you turn your own back, about you he relates,What in other men's absence, before you he states.In this world he, in my estimation, is wise,Who can mind his own business and earth's joys despise.
Words in this poem
- reviling n.
- Reproach; abuse; vilification.
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter VII: Story of the Madman and Backbiting 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 VII: Story of the Madman and Backbiting, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/7-20.html, id L29703.
Form and metre
Chapter VII: Story of the Madman and Backbiting is 16 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH reciteA · biteA · nameB · defameB · agreeC · beC · viewD · doD · thenE · menE · disgraceF · placeF · relatesG · statesG · wiseH · despiseH
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 well did a madman of Marghaz ' recite | 11 | ····/····˘/ |
| A truth, that should make one his under lip bite ! | 11 | ··········· |
| "If I mention in enmity any one's name | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| When speaking, I only my mother defame ; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| For philosophers, cherishing wisdom, agree | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| That a mother's devotion's the best that can be." | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
| Oh thou of good name ! should a friend pass from view, | 11 | ··········· |
| Two things all his friends are forbidden to do : | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| One is, foolishly wasting his money, and then, | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Reviling his name in the presence of men. | 11 | ˘/˘····/˘·· |
| Whoever advances men's names with disgrace, | 11 | ˘/˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| On his speaking with fairness, no hope you need place. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| When you turn your own back, about you he relates, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| What in other men's absence, before you he states. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| In this world he, in my estimation, is wise, | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| Who can mind his own business and earth's joys despise. | 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.