Chapter IX: Story on the Death of Sadi's Son
At Sana, a young child of mine melted away;Of all that occurred to me, what shall I say?A Joseph-like picture the Fates never gave,But was, Jonah-like, gulped by the fish of the grave.In this garden, a cypress ne'er reached any height,But the tempests of fate pulled its roots from their site.No wonder that roses will blow on the ground,When, beneath it, so many rose-bodies sleep sound !To my heart, I said, " Die, thou disgrace to mankind!The child goes off pure, the old man, vile in mind!"Out of love and distress, for his stature alone,From his tomb I extracted a panel of stone.On account of my dread, in that dark, narrow place,My disconsolate state changed the hue of my face.When I came to myself, from that horrible fear,From my darling, loved child, this arrived at my ear:"If this region of darkness produced in you fright,Take care, when you enter, to carry a light !"If you wish that the night of the tomb should appearBright as day, light the lamp of your actions while here !Shakes the husbandman's body, from fever and care,Peradventure the palms should not luscious dates bear.Some covetous men the opinion maintain,That, without sowing wheat, they'll a harvest obtain!He who planted the root, Sadi, on the fruit feeds !He will gather the harvest, who scattered the seeds !
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- disconsolate n.
- Disconsolateness. Barrow.
- luscious a.
- Sweet; delicious; very grateful to the taste; toothsome; excessively sweet or rich. [Prob. for lustious, fr. lusty, or perh. a corruption of luxurious. Cf. Lush, Lusty.]
- covetous a.
- Very desirous; eager to obtain; -- used in a good sense. [OF. coveitos, F. convoiteux. See Covet, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IX: Story on the Death of Sadi's Son 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 on the Death of Sadi's Son, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/9-25.html, id L29759.
Form and metre
Chapter IX: Story on the Death of Sadi's Son is 26 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHCCHHIIJJKK awayA · sayA · gaveB · graveB · heightC · siteC · groundD · soundD · mankindE · mindE · aloneF · stoneF · placeG · faceG · fearH · earH · frightC · lightC · appearH · hereH · careI · bearI · maintainJ · obtainJ · feedsK · seedsK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| At Sana, a young child of mine melted away; | 12 | ·/˘·····/˘˘/ |
| Of all that occurred to me, what shall I say? | 12 | ···˘/˘······ |
| A Joseph-like picture the Fates never gave, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘· |
| But was, Jonah-like, gulped by the fish of the grave. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| In this garden, a cypress ne'er reached any height, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘· |
| But the tempests of fate pulled its roots from their site. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| No wonder that roses will blow on the ground, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| When, beneath it, so many rose-bodies sleep sound ! | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| To my heart, I said, " Die, thou disgrace to mankind! | 12 | ·······˘/·// |
| The child goes off pure, the old man, vile in mind!" | 11 | ··········· |
| Out of love and distress, for his stature alone, | 12 | ····˘/··/˘˘/ |
| From his tomb I extracted a panel of stone. | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| On account of my dread, in that dark, narrow place, | 12 | ·˘/······/˘· |
| My disconsolate state changed the hue of my face. | 12 | ·˘/˘˘······· |
| When I came to myself, from that horrible fear, | 12 | ·····/··/˘˘· |
| From my darling, loved child, this arrived at my ear: | 12 | ··/˘···˘/··· |
| "If this region of darkness produced in you fright, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘/··· |
| Take care, when you enter, to carry a light !" | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| If you wish that the night of the tomb should appear | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Bright as day, light the lamp of your actions while here ! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Shakes the husbandman's body, from fever and care, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| Peradventure the palms should not luscious dates bear. | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Some covetous men the opinion maintain, | 11 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘˘/ |
| That, without sowing wheat, they'll a harvest obtain! | 12 | ···/˘···/˘˘/ |
| He who planted the root, Sadi, on the fruit feeds ! | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| He will gather the harvest, who scattered the seeds ! | 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.