Chapter VII: On the Comfort of Silence and the Misfortune of Garrulity
Thus spoke an old man of agreeable mind:(To the ear the remarks of the aged come kind)" To a corner of India I went from the throng ;What saw I? A black like a wintry night, long.A moon-visaged maiden was in his embrace ;In her lips he had buried his teeth to their base.He hugged to his bosom the damsel so tight,You'd have said that the day was concealed by the night.My 'evident duty' took hold of my skirt ;His excess became fire and forthwith me begirt.I searched all around for a stick or a stone,Saying, 'Godless, base wretch, to whom shame is unknown!'With shouts and reproaches, with threats and abuse,The "light from the ' dark,' like the dawn, I produce.From over the garden that demon cloud flew ;From under the raven the egg came in view.By my saying 'la-houla' that ogre-shape fled ;The fairy-faced maid clung to me, in his stead'Oh canter !' she said, 'in hypocrisy clad !You world-buying, faith-selling sinner, so bad!For ages, my heart has escaped from my clutchTo this man, and my soul is in love with him much.And now that my raw morsel, cooked, by me lay,Steaming hot, from my palate you drove it awayShe complained of oppression and harshness and said:Compassion has fallen and mercy has fled.Among the young men no protectors remain,Who might my revenge from this dotard obtain ;For in his old age, shame has failed to appear,Since he pulls off one's veil, whom he should not go near.'With my skirt in her grasp she her grievance proclaimed;My head hanging down on my bosom, ashamed.From my garment, at once, like a garlic I sprung ;For I dreaded the threats of the old and the young.Away from the woman, quite naked, I fly—For better my skirt in her fingers, than I.When a time had elapsed, to my dwelling she came,And said, 'Do you know me?' I answered, 'For shame!On account of your conduct repentant I've grown,And in future will leave foolish meddling alone.'To no one will such an adventure appear,Who sits wisely at work in his own proper sphere.On account of this baseness the lesson I glean,That, henceforth, what I see I shall reckon unseen."Have you wisdom and reason and judgment and sense?Like Sadi instruct, or maintain silence, hence !
Words in this poem 18
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
- begirt v. t.
- To encompass; to begird.
- clung a.
- Wasted away; shrunken. [Prop. p. p. fr. OE. clingen to wither. See Cling, v. i.]
- canter n.
- A moderate and easy gallop adapted to pleasure riding. [An abbreviation of Caner bury. See Canterbury gallop, under Canterbury.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- grievance n.
- A cause of uneasiness and complaint; a wrong done and suffered; that which gives ground for remonstrance or resistance, as arising from injustice, tyranny, etc.; injury. [OF. grcvance. See Grieve, v. t.]
- repentant a.
- Penitent; sorry for sin. [F. repentant.]
- glean n.
- Cleaning; afterbirth. Holland.
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- instruct a.
- Arranged; furnished; provided. [L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, struere. See Structure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter VII: On the Comfort of Silence and the Misfortune of Garrulity 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: On the Comfort of Silence and the Misfortune of Garrulity, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/7-9.html, id L29692.
Form and metre
Chapter VII: On the Comfort of Silence and the Misfortune of Garrulity is 46 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWW mindA · kindA · throngB · longB · embraceC · baseC · tightD · nightD · skirtE · begirtE · stoneF · unknownF · abuseG · produceG · flewH · viewH · fledI · steadI · cladJ · badJ · clutchK · muchK · layL · awayL · saidM · fledM · remainN · obtainN · appearO · nearO · proclaimedP · ashamedP · sprungQ · youngQ · flyR · iR · cameS · shameS · grownT · aloneT · appearU · sphereU · gleanV · unseenV · senseW · henceW
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thus spoke an old man of agreeable mind: | 11 | ······˘/˘˘· |
| (To the ear the remarks of the aged come kind) | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| " To a corner of India I went from the throng ; | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| What saw I? A black like a wintry night, long. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| A moon-visaged maiden was in his embrace ; | 11 | ··/˘/˘···˘/ |
| In her lips he had buried his teeth to their base. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| He hugged to his bosom the damsel so tight, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| You'd have said that the day was concealed by the night. | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| My 'evident duty' took hold of my skirt ; | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| His excess became fire and forthwith me begirt. | 12 | ·/·˘//·//·˘/ |
| I searched all around for a stick or a stone, | 11 | ··········· |
| Saying, 'Godless, base wretch, to whom shame is unknown!' | 12 | /˘/˘······˘/ |
| With shouts and reproaches, with threats and abuse, | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| The "light from the ' dark,' like the dawn, I produce. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| From over the garden that demon cloud flew ; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| From under the raven the egg came in view. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| By my saying 'la-houla' that ogre-shape fled ; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| The fairy-faced maid clung to me, in his stead | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| 'Oh canter !' she said, 'in hypocrisy clad ! | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘· |
| You world-buying, faith-selling sinner, so bad! | 11 | ··/˘·/˘/˘·· |
| For ages, my heart has escaped from my clutch | 11 | ·/˘···˘/··· |
| To this man, and my soul is in love with him much. | 12 | ············ |
| And now that my raw morsel, cooked, by me lay, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Steaming hot, from my palate you drove it away | 12 | /˘···/˘···˘/ |
| She complained of oppression and harshness and said: | 12 | ·˘/·˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Compassion has fallen and mercy has fled. | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Among the young men no protectors remain, | 11 | ······˘/˘˘/ |
| Who might my revenge from this dotard obtain ; | 11 | ···˘/··/˘˘/ |
| For in his old age, shame has failed to appear, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Since he pulls off one's veil, whom he should not go near.' | 12 | ············ |
| With my skirt in her grasp she her grievance proclaimed; | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| My head hanging down on my bosom, ashamed. | 11 | ··/˘···/˘˘/ |
| From my garment, at once, like a garlic I sprung ; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| For I dreaded the threats of the old and the young. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Away from the woman, quite naked, I fly— | 11 | ˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| For better my skirt in her fingers, than I. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| When a time had elapsed, to my dwelling she came, | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
| And said, 'Do you know me?' I answered, 'For shame! | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| On account of your conduct repentant I've grown, | 12 | ·˘/··˘/˘/˘·· |
| And in future will leave foolish meddling alone.' | 12 | ··/˘··/˘/˘˘/ |
| To no one will such an adventure appear, | 11 | ······˘/˘˘/ |
| Who sits wisely at work in his own proper sphere. | 12 | ··/˘·····/˘· |
| On account of this baseness the lesson I glean, | 12 | ·˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| That, henceforth, what I see I shall reckon unseen." | 12 | ·//·····/˘˘/ |
| Have you wisdom and reason and judgment and sense? | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Like Sadi instruct, or maintain silence, hence ! | 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.