Chapter VII: Story of Persons you may Backbite
Three persons, I've heard, you may justly backbite;When these you've exceeded, the fourth is not right.The first is a king, to oppression inclined,Through whom you see ruin on ev'ry one's mind;It is lawful to mention the news ev'rywhere,That respecting him, people may exercise care.Next; a veil on a wretch, void of shame, do not weave !For with his own fingers his screen he will reave !In reviling him, brother, you sin not one whit!For headlong he tumbles, down into a pit !Third; the teller of falsehoods who deals in false weight ;Whatever you know of his wrong doings, state !
Words in this poem
- backbite v. i.
- To wound by clandestine detraction; to censure meanly or spitefully (as absent person); to slander or speak evil of (one absent). [2nd back, n., + bite]
- reave v. t.
- To take away by violence or by stealth; to snatch away; to rob; to despoil; to bereave. . [AS. reáfian, from reáf spoil, plunder, clothing, reófan to break (cf. bireófan to deprive of); akin to G. rauben to rob, Icel. raufa to rob, rjufa to break, vio]
- reviling n.
- Reproach; abuse; vilification.
- whit n.
- The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; -- generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence. [OE. wight, wiht, AS. wiht a creature, a thing. See Wight, and cf. Aught, Naught.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter VII: Story of Persons you may Backbite 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 Persons you may Backbite, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/7-21.html, id L29704.
Form and metre
Chapter VII: Story of Persons you may Backbite is 12 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 AABBCCDDEEFF backbiteA · rightA · inclinedB · mindB · ev'rywhereC · careC · weaveD · reaveD · whitE · pitE · weightF · stateF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Three persons, I've heard, you may justly backbite; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/· |
| When these you've exceeded, the fourth is not right. | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| The first is a king, to oppression inclined, | 11 | ······˘/˘˘/ |
| Through whom you see ruin on ev'ry one's mind; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| It is lawful to mention the news ev'rywhere, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| That respecting him, people may exercise care. | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Next; a veil on a wretch, void of shame, do not weave ! | 12 | ············ |
| For with his own fingers his screen he will reave ! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| In reviling him, brother, you sin not one whit! | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘····· |
| For headlong he tumbles, down into a pit ! | 11 | ·/··/˘····· |
| Third; the teller of falsehoods who deals in false weight ; | 12 | ··/˘·/······ |
| Whatever you know of his wrong doings, state ! | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
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.