Chapter IX: Story of Joseph and Zulaikha
When Zulaikha became by the wine of love crazed,Her hand to the skirt of poor Joseph she raised.The demon of lust had encouraged so well,That, wolf-like, on Joseph she wantonly fell.Egypt's lady an idol of marble possessed,Which to worship, both morning and night she professed;That moment, she covered its head and its face,To prevent it from seeing her act of disgrace !Joseph sat in a corner, afflicted and grave,With a hand raised, himself from her ardour to save.Zulaikha kissed, fondly, his hands and his feet,Saying, " Fickle, and proud one ! oh, come ! I entreat !With an anvil-like heart, be not frowning and coy!Do not think of distress, in the moment of joy!"From his eyes, like a stream, the tears flowed down his face,Saying, "Turn thou, and bid me not share thy disgrace !In front of a stone you exhibited shame ;In presence of God should not I do the same?"What good from repentance comes under your sway,When Life's stock-in-trade you have squandered away?There are some who drink wine as it makes them feel glad ;The after effect, is to make them feel sad!With excuses, make known your requirements to-dayFor, to-morrow, the power of speech will not stay.
Words in this poem
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- wantonly adv.
- In a wanton manner; without regularity or restraint; loosely; sportively; gayly; playfully; recklessly; lasciviously.
- idol n.
- An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
- ardour n.
- Heat, in a literal sense; as, the ardor of the sun's rays. [L. ardor, fr. ardere to burn: cf. OF. ardor, ardur, F. ardeur.]
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- entreat v. t.
- To treat, or conduct toward; to deal with; to use. [OE. entreten to treat, request, OF. entraiter to treat of; pref. en- (L. in) + traitier to treat. See Treat.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IX: Story of Joseph and Zulaikha 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 IX: Story of Joseph and Zulaikha, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/9-21.html, id L29755.
Form and metre
Chapter IX: Story of Joseph and Zulaikha is 24 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGDDHHIIJJII crazedA · raisedA · wellB · fellB · possessedC · professedC · faceD · disgraceD · graveE · saveE · feetF · entreatF · coyG · joyG · faceD · disgraceD · shameH · sameH · swayI · awayI · gladJ · sadJ · dayI · stayI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When Zulaikha became by the wine of love crazed, | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| Her hand to the skirt of poor Joseph she raised. | 12 | ·······/˘··˘ |
| The demon of lust had encouraged so well, | 12 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘·· |
| That, wolf-like, on Joseph she wantonly fell. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘· |
| Egypt's lady an idol of marble possessed, | 12 | /˘/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Which to worship, both morning and night she professed; | 12 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| That moment, she covered its head and its face, | 12 | ·/˘·/˘˘····· |
| To prevent it from seeing her act of disgrace ! | 12 | ·˘/··/˘···˘/ |
| Joseph sat in a corner, afflicted and grave, | 12 | /˘···/˘˘/˘·· |
| With a hand raised, himself from her ardour to save. | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
| Zulaikha kissed, fondly, his hands and his feet, | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| Saying, " Fickle, and proud one ! oh, come ! I entreat ! | 12 | /˘/˘······˘/ |
| With an anvil-like heart, be not frowning and coy! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Do not think of distress, in the moment of joy!" | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
| From his eyes, like a stream, the tears flowed down his face, | 12 | ············ |
| Saying, "Turn thou, and bid me not share thy disgrace ! | 12 | /˘········˘/ |
| In front of a stone you exhibited shame ; | 11 | ······˘/˘˘· |
| In presence of God should not I do the same?" | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| What good from repentance comes under your sway, | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| When Life's stock-in-trade you have squandered away? | 12 | ·······/˘˘˘/ |
| There are some who drink wine as it makes them feel glad ; | 12 | ············ |
| The after effect, is to make them feel sad! | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| With excuses, make known your requirements to-day | 12 | ·˘/˘···˘/˘·· |
| For, to-morrow, the power of speech will not stay. | 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.