Chapter IX: Story on Advancing Age
A man, full of years, to a doctor came nigh,From his weeping he looked as if ready to die.He said, " Feel my pulse! oh intelligent man !For to step from this spot is much more than I can.My motionless body just looks, you would say,As if I had mingled again with the clay."He answered, " Your hands from the World you should tear,For your feet from the clay resurrection will bear."If you used hands and feet in your juvenile years,Be wise and discreet when your old age appears!When your life has exceeded two score years in length,Do not dance and clap hands! for impaired is your strength.When my hair black as night, first began to get grey,My enjoyment of pleasure departed away.It is proper that lust from your heart you should send,When the time to enjoy it has come to an end.When will greenness refresh my old heart, become sear,For verdure will soon from my ashes appear?Amusing ourselves with excesses and lust,We have passed over many a dead person's dust ;Those who still in the womb of Futurity lie,Will arrive and pass over our dust, when we die.Alas! that the season of youth slipped away !And that life has been squandered in amorous play !Alas ! that the soul-nursing time did not last !Like the lightning of Yemen it over us passed.In desire to eat "this" and in love " that" to wear,I so lived that the Faith did not give me a care.Alas! that with falsehood our life has been spent;From the Truth we stood far, and in negligence went!How well to a stripling the schoolmaster said :" Our work is not done and the season has fled."
Words in this poem
- resurrection n.
- A rising again; the resumption of vigor. [F. résurrection, L. resurrectio, fr. resurgere, resurrectum, to rise again; pref. re- re- + surgere to rise. See Source.]
- juvenile a.
- Young; youthful; as, a juvenile appearance. [L. juvenilis, from juvenis young; akin to E. young: cf. F. juvénile, juvénil. See Young.]
- discreet a.
- Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See Discern, and cf. Discrete.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- womb n.
- The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
- futurity n.
- State of being that is yet to come; future state.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- stripling n.
- A youth in the state of adolescence, or just passing from boyhood to manhood; a lad. [Dim. of strip; as if a small strip from the main stock or steam.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IX: Story on Advancing Age 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 Advancing Age, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/9-3.html, id L29737.
Form and metre
Chapter IX: Story on Advancing Age is 32 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPP nighA · dieA · manB · canB · sayC · clayC · tearD · bearD · yearsE · appearsE · lengthF · strengthF · greyG · awayG · sendH · endH · searI · appearI · lustJ · dustJ · lieK · dieK · awayL · playL · lastM · passedM · wearN · careN · spentO · wentO · saidP · fledP
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A man, full of years, to a doctor came nigh, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| From his weeping he looked as if ready to die. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| He said, " Feel my pulse! oh intelligent man ! | 11 | ······˘/˘˘· |
| For to step from this spot is much more than I can. | 12 | ············ |
| My motionless body just looks, you would say, | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| As if I had mingled again with the clay." | 12 | ····/˘˘˘/··· |
| He answered, " Your hands from the World you should tear, | 12 | ·/˘˘········ |
| For your feet from the clay resurrection will bear." | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| If you used hands and feet in your juvenile years, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Be wise and discreet when your old age appears! | 11 | ···˘/····˘/ |
| When your life has exceeded two score years in length, | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| Do not dance and clap hands! for impaired is your strength. | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| When my hair black as night, first began to get grey, | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| My enjoyment of pleasure departed away. | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| It is proper that lust from your heart you should send, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| When the time to enjoy it has come to an end. | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| When will greenness refresh my old heart, become sear, | 12 | ··/˘˘/···˘/· |
| For verdure will soon from my ashes appear? | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
| Amusing ourselves with excesses and lust, | 12 | ˘/˘˘˘/··/˘·· |
| We have passed over many a dead person's dust ; | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| Those who still in the womb of Futurity lie, | 12 | ·······˘/˘˘· |
| Will arrive and pass over our dust, when we die. | 12 | ·˘/···/˘···· |
| Alas! that the season of youth slipped away ! | 12 | ˘/··/˘···˘˘/ |
| And that life has been squandered in amorous play ! | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘· |
| Alas ! that the soul-nursing time did not last ! | 11 | ˘/···/˘···· |
| Like the lightning of Yemen it over us passed. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| In desire to eat "this" and in love " that" to wear, | 12 | ·˘/········· |
| I so lived that the Faith did not give me a care. | 12 | ············ |
| Alas! that with falsehood our life has been spent; | 12 | ˘/··/·/˘···· |
| From the Truth we stood far, and in negligence went! | 12 | ········/˘˘· |
| How well to a stripling the schoolmaster said : | 11 | ····/˘·/·˘· |
| " Our work is not done and the season has fled." | 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.