Chapter VIII: Remarks on Viewing the Works of God, the Most High
For your comfort, the night and the day were begun,The moon shining bright and the world-warming sun.Like a spreader of carpets, the sky over head,Commands Beauty's carpet for you to be spread.If you've clouds and the rain and the wind and the snowThe roaring of thunder and lightning's bright glow ;To be workers obedient to orders they're found,For they bring up the seed that you sow in the ground.At the hardship don't burn, should you thirsty remain !For the pluvial cloud on its shoulder brings rain.Food, perfume, and colour He brought from the Earth,—The palate, the brain, and the eye's source of mirth.From the bee you have honey, and manna from wind,Ripe dates from the palms, palms from seeds of their kind.All the gardeners gnaw at their hands in surprise,For a date-tree like this none has caused to arise.Sun and moon are for you, and the Pleiades, far,The lamps of the roof of your residence are.From thorns He brought roses and musk from the pod ;Pure gold from the mine, and moist leaves from a rod.Your eyebrows and eyes with His own hand He penned ;For to strangers he could not relinquish his friend.So powerful! he nurtures that delicate one ;With various bounties the work is thus done.From the soul ev'ry morning let praises be shown !For to render Him thanks is not tongue-work alone.Oh God! my heart bleeds, and my eyes become sore,For I find that Thy gifts than my praises are more.Not beasts, ants and fishes alone, I can tell,But the army of angels in Heaven, as well,As yet but a part of Thy praises have told ;But one, they have stated, in one hundredfold.Go ! oh Sadi, your hand and your record wash clean!Do not run on a road where no ending is seen !
Words in this poem
- spreader n.
- One who, or that which, spreads, expands, or propogates.
- pluvial a.
- Of or pertaining to rain; rainy. [L. pluvialis, fr. pluvia rain: cf. F. pluvial. See Plover.]
- pleiades n.
- The seven daughters of Atlas and the nymph Pleione, fabled to have been made by Jupiter a constellation in the sky.
- penned a.
- Winged; having plumes.
- hundredfold n.
- A hundred times as much or as many.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter VIII: Remarks on Viewing the Works of God, the Most High 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: Remarks on Viewing the Works of God, the Most High, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/8-5.html, id L29723.
Form and metre
Chapter VIII: Remarks on Viewing the Works of God, the Most High 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 92%).
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 begunA · sunA · headB · spreadB · snowC · glowC · foundD · groundD · remainE · rainE · earthF · mirthF · windG · kindG · surpriseH · ariseH · farI · areI · podJ · rodJ · pennedK · friendK · oneL · doneL · shownM · aloneM · soreN · moreN · tellO · wellO · toldP · hundredfoldP · cleanQ · seenQ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| For your comfort, the night and the day were begun, | 12 | ··/˘······/˘ |
| The moon shining bright and the world-warming sun. | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| Like a spreader of carpets, the sky over head, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| Commands Beauty's carpet for you to be spread. | 11 | ˘//˘/˘····· |
| If you've clouds and the rain and the wind and the snow | 12 | ············ |
| The roaring of thunder and lightning's bright glow ; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| To be workers obedient to orders they're found, | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| For they bring up the seed that you sow in the ground. | 12 | ············ |
| At the hardship don't burn, should you thirsty remain ! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| For the pluvial cloud on its shoulder brings rain. | 12 | ··/˘˘···/˘·· |
| Food, perfume, and colour He brought from the Earth,— | 11 | ·˘/·/˘····· |
| The palate, the brain, and the eye's source of mirth. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| From the bee you have honey, and manna from wind, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Ripe dates from the palms, palms from seeds of their kind. | 11 | ··········· |
| All the gardeners gnaw at their hands in surprise, | 12 | ··/˘˘·····˘/ |
| For a date-tree like this none has caused to arise. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Sun and moon are for you, and the Pleiades, far, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| The lamps of the roof of your residence are. | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| From thorns He brought roses and musk from the pod ; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Pure gold from the mine, and moist leaves from a rod. | 11 | ··········· |
| Your eyebrows and eyes with His own hand He penned ; | 12 | ·/·········˘ |
| For to strangers he could not relinquish his friend. | 12 | ··/˘···˘/˘·· |
| So powerful! he nurtures that delicate one ; | 12 | ·/˘˘·/˘·/˘˘· |
| With various bounties the work is thus done. | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| From the soul ev'ry morning let praises be shown ! | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| For to render Him thanks is not tongue-work alone. | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| Oh God! my heart bleeds, and my eyes become sore, | 11 | ········˘/· |
| For I find that Thy gifts than my praises are more. | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Not beasts, ants and fishes alone, I can tell, | 11 | ····/˘˘/··· |
| But the army of angels in Heaven, as well, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| As yet but a part of Thy praises have told ; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| But one, they have stated, in one hundredfold. | 11 | ····/˘··/˘˘ |
| Go ! oh Sadi, your hand and your record wash clean! | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| Do not run on a road where no ending is seen ! | 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.