Chapter IX: On the Strength of Youth and the Weakness of Old Age
To-day, oh young man, in devotion engage !For to-morrow, fresh youth will not come from old age.You have leisure of mind and your body has force;Hit straight at the ball when you have a wide course!I did not perceive the great worth of to-day ;I'm aware of it now, for I've played it away.Fate deprived me of time, in a sorrowful hour,Of which ev'ry day was the great " night of Pow'r."What toil has an ass, become old, 'neath his load?Astride a good steed, you continue your road.Though a cup that is smashed you may neatly restore;Not again will it bring the same price as before.As it fell from your hand out of negligence, then,No course can you follow but patch it again.Yourself in the Oxus, who told you to cast?If you do, with your hands and your feet strike out fast !The water of cleansing you gave from your hand;What resource have you left, but to utilize sand?When you took not the prize from the swift in the race,Even stumbling and rising, continue your pace !If those of swift foot are remarkably fleet;Get up! you are palsied in hands and in feet.
Words in this poem
- astride adv.
- With one leg on each side, as a man when on horseback; with the legs stretched wide apart; astraddle. [Pref. a- + stride.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- resource n.
- That to which one resorts orr on which one depends for supply or support; means of overcoming a difficulty; resort; expedient. [F. ressource, fr. OF. ressourdre, resourdre, to spring forth or up again; pref. re- re- + sourdre to spring forth. See Source.]
- utilize v. t.
- To make useful; to turn to profitable account or use; to make use of; as, to utilize the whole power of a machine; to utilize one's opportunities. [Cf. F. utiliser.]
- palsied a.
- Affected with palsy; paralyzed.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IX: On the Strength of Youth and the Weakness of Old 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: On the Strength of Youth and the Weakness of Old Age, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/9-4.html, id L29738.
Form and metre
Chapter IX: On the Strength of Youth and the Weakness of Old Age is 22 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK engageA · ageA · forceB · courseB · dayC · awayC · hourD · pow'rD · loadE · roadE · restoreF · beforeF · thenG · againG · castH · fastH · handI · sandI · raceJ · paceJ · fleetK · feetK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To-day, oh young man, in devotion engage ! | 11 | ······˘/˘˘/ |
| For to-morrow, fresh youth will not come from old age. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| You have leisure of mind and your body has force; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Hit straight at the ball when you have a wide course! | 11 | ··········· |
| I did not perceive the great worth of to-day ; | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| I'm aware of it now, for I've played it away. | 12 | ·˘/·······˘/ |
| Fate deprived me of time, in a sorrowful hour, | 11 | ·˘/·····/˘/ |
| Of which ev'ry day was the great " night of Pow'r." | 11 | ··········· |
| What toil has an ass, become old, 'neath his load? | 11 | ·····˘/···· |
| Astride a good steed, you continue your road. | 11 | ˘/····˘/˘·· |
| Though a cup that is smashed you may neatly restore; | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| Not again will it bring the same price as before. | 12 | ·˘/········· |
| As it fell from your hand out of negligence, then, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| No course can you follow but patch it again. | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Yourself in the Oxus, who told you to cast? | 11 | ˘/········· |
| If you do, with your hands and your feet strike out fast ! | 12 | ············ |
| The water of cleansing you gave from your hand; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| What resource have you left, but to utilize sand? | 12 | ·/˘·····/˘·· |
| When you took not the prize from the swift in the race, | 12 | ············ |
| Even stumbling and rising, continue your pace ! | 11 | //˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| If those of swift foot are remarkably fleet; | 11 | ······˘/˘˘· |
| Get up! you are palsied in hands and in feet. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
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.