Chapter VIII: On the Pious Looking to God, not to Reasons
The Lord has created in plants means of cure,Should life in the person afflicted endure.The health of the living by honey's made sound;For the torture of dying no cure can be found.In the mouth of the person is honey of worth,Who has reached his last gasp and whose soul has gone forth ?Some one's brain felt the weight of a steel-headed mace,Said another, " Rub sandal-wood oil on the place !"When in presence of danger, endeavour to run !And the thought of contending with Fate you should shun !While the stomach is fit to digest drink and food,The face remains fresh and the figure keeps good.The house in a ruinous pickle will be,When the system and food don't together agree.Moist and dry, hot and cold, are your nature's rich store,And man's constitution consists of these four.When one of them over another prevails,The scale of your nature's equality fails.If you do not inspire the cool air at each breath,By the heat of the chest life is harassed to death.If the food by the pot of the stomach's not boiled,The delicate body is speedily spoiled.The hearts of the knowing to these are not bound,For in harmony always, they may not be found.Do not think that the food gives the body its pow'r!For God by His favour supports you each hour.By His truth! if your eyes you on sword and knife lay,The thanks to Him due, you're unable to pay!When your face in devotion you rest on the dust,Give praise to the Lord! on yourself do not trust !With beggary, duty to God is allied;It becomes not the beggar to show any pride !I admit that you've rendered some service to God ;Have you not always eaten the part He bestowed?
Words in this poem
- gasp v. i.
- To open the mouth wide in catching the breath, or in laborious respiration; to labor for breath; to respire convulsively; to pant violently. [OE. gaspen, gaispen, to yawn, gasp, Icel. geispa to yawn; akin to Sw. gäspa, Dan. gispe to gasp.]
- endeavour v. t.
- To exert physical or intellectual strength for the attainment of; to use efforts to effect; to strive to achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. [OE. endevor; pref. en- + dever, devoir, duty, F. devoir: cf. F. se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose to try to do a thing, to go about it. See Devoir, Deb]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter VIII: On the Pious Looking to God, not to Reasons 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 VIII: On the Pious Looking to God, not to Reasons, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/8-14.html, id L29732.
Form and metre
Chapter VIII: On the Pious Looking to God, not to Reasons is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQ cureA · endureA · soundB · foundB · worthC · forthC · maceD · placeD · runE · shunE · foodF · goodF · beG · agreeG · storeH · fourH · prevailsI · failsI · breathJ · deathJ · boiledK · spoiledK · boundL · foundL · pow'rM · hourM · layN · payN · dustO · trustO · alliedP · prideP · godQ · bestowedQ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Lord has created in plants means of cure, | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| Should life in the person afflicted endure. | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| The health of the living by honey's made sound; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| For the torture of dying no cure can be found. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| In the mouth of the person is honey of worth, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Who has reached his last gasp and whose soul has gone forth ? | 12 | ············ |
| Some one's brain felt the weight of a steel-headed mace, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Said another, " Rub sandal-wood oil on the place !" | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘····· |
| When in presence of danger, endeavour to run ! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| And the thought of contending with Fate you should shun ! | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| While the stomach is fit to digest drink and food, | 12 | ··/˘···˘/··· |
| The face remains fresh and the figure keeps good. | 11 | ··˘/···/˘·· |
| The house in a ruinous pickle will be, | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘·· |
| When the system and food don't together agree. | 12 | ··/˘···˘/˘˘/ |
| Moist and dry, hot and cold, are your nature's rich store, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| And man's constitution consists of these four. | 11 | ···˘/˘˘/··· |
| When one of them over another prevails, | 11 | ······˘/˘˘/ |
| The scale of your nature's equality fails. | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘˘· |
| If you do not inspire the cool air at each breath, | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| By the heat of the chest life is harassed to death. | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| If the food by the pot of the stomach's not boiled, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| The delicate body is speedily spoiled. | 12 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘˘·˘ |
| The hearts of the knowing to these are not bound, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| For in harmony always, they may not be found. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
| Do not think that the food gives the body its pow'r! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| For God by His favour supports you each hour. | 12 | ····/˘˘/··/˘ |
| By His truth! if your eyes you on sword and knife lay, | 12 | ············ |
| The thanks to Him due, you're unable to pay! | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| When your face in devotion you rest on the dust, | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| Give praise to the Lord! on yourself do not trust ! | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| With beggary, duty to God is allied; | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| It becomes not the beggar to show any pride ! | 12 | ·˘/··/˘··/˘· |
| I admit that you've rendered some service to God ; | 12 | ·˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| Have you not always eaten the part He bestowed? | 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.