Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other Papers | Page 6

of its spring. What benefit will you derive from a basket of flowers? Carry a leaf from my garden: a rose may continue in bloom five or six days, but this Rose-Garden will flourish for ever.' As soon as I had uttered these words, he flung the flowers from his lap, and, laying hold of the skirt of my garment, exclaimed: 'When the beneficent promise, they faithfully discharge their engagements.' In the course of a few days two chapters were written in my note-book, in a style that may be useful to orators and improve the skill of letter-writers. In short, while the rose was still in bloom, the book called the Rose-Garden was finished."
Dr. Johnson has remarked that "there is scarcely any poet of eminence who has not left some testimony of his fondness for the flowers, the zephyrs, and the warblers of the spring." This is pre-eminently the case of Oriental poets, from Solomon downwards: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away," exclaims the Hebrew poet in his Book of Canticles: "for lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and gone: the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig-tree putteth forth her green fruits, and the vines with the tender grapes give forth a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."
In a Persian poem written in the 14th century the delights of the vernal season are thus described: "On every bush roses were blowing; on every branch the nightingale was plaintively warbling. The tall cypress was dancing in the garden; and the poplar never ceased clapping its hands with joy. With a loud voice from the top of every bough the turtle-dove was proclaiming the glad advent of spring. The diadem of the narcissus shone with such splendour that you would have said it was the crown of the Emperor of China. On this side the north wind, on that, the west wind, were, in token of affection, scattering dirhams at the feet of the rose.[3] The earth was musk-scented, the air musk-laden."
[3] Referring to the custom of throwing small coins among crowds in the street on the occasion of a wedding. A dirham is a coin nearly equal in value to sixpence of our money.
But it would be difficult to adduce from the writings of any poet, European or Asiatic, anything to excel the charming ode on spring, by the Turkish poet Mes��h��, who flourished in the 15th century, which has been rendered into graceful English verse, and in the measure of the original, by my friend Mr. E. J. W. Gibb, in his dainty volume of Ottoman Poems, published in London a few years ago. These are some of the verses from that fine ode:
Hark! the bulbul's[4] lay so joyous: "Now have come the days of spring!" Merry shows and crowds on every mead they spread, a maze of spring; There the almond-tree its silvery blossoms scatters, sprays of spring: _Gaily live! for soon will vanish, biding not, the days of spring!_[5]
Once again, with flow'rets decked themselves have mead and plain; Tents for pleasure have the blossoms raised in every rosy lane; Who can tell, when spring hath ended, who and what may whole remain? _Gaily live! for soon will vanish, biding not, the days of spring!_
* * * * *
Sparkling dew-drops stud the lily's leaf like sabre broad and keen; Bent on merry gipsy party, crowd they all the flow'ry green! List to me, if thou desirest, these beholding, joy to glean: _Gaily live! for soon will vanish, biding not, the days of spring!_
Rose and tulip, like to maidens' cheeks, all beauteous show, Whilst the dew-drops, like the jewels in their ears, resplendent glow; Do not think, thyself beguiling, things will aye continue so: _Gaily live! for soon will vanish, biding not, the days of spring!_
* * * * *
Whilst each dawn the clouds are shedding jewels o'er the rosy land, And the breath of morning zephyr, fraught with T��t��r musk, is bland; Whilst the world's fair time is present, do not thou unheeding stand: _Gaily live! for soon will vanish, biding not, the days of spring!_
With the fragrance of the garden, so imbued the musky air, Every dew-drop, ere it reaches earth, is turned to attar rare; O'er the parterre spread the incense-clouds a canopy right fair: _Gaily live! for soon will vanish, Biding not, the days of spring!_
[4] The nightingale.
[5] In the original Turkish:
_Dinleh bulbul kissa sen kim gildi eiyami beh��r! Kurdi her bir baghda hengamei hengami beh��r; Oldi sim afshan ana ezhari badami beh��r: Ysh u nush it kim gicher kalmaz bu eiyami beh��r._
Here we have an example of the _red��f_, which is