Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other Papers | Page 7

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 behár! Kurdi her bir baghda
hengamei hengami behár; Oldi sim afshan ana ezhari badami behár:
Ysh u nush it kim gicher kalmaz bu eiyami behár._
Here we have an example of the _redíf_, which is common in Turkish
and Persian poetry, and "consists of one or more words, always the
same, added to the end of every rhyming line in a poem, which word or
words, though counting in the scansion, are not regarded as the true
rhyme, which must in every case be sought for immediately before
them. The lines--
There shone such truth about thee, I did not dare to doubt thee--
furnish an example of this in English poetry." In the opening verse of
Mesíhí's ode, as above transliterated in European characters, the _redíf_
is "behár," or spring, and the word which precedes it is the true
rhyme-ending. Sir William Jones has made an elegant paraphrase of
this charming ode, in which, however, he diverges considerably from
the original, as will be seen from his rendering of the first stanza:
Hear how the nightingale, on every spray, Hails in wild notes the sweet
return of May! The gale, that o'er yon waving almond blows, The
verdant bank with silver blossoms strows; The smiling season decks
each flowery glade-- Be gay; too soon the flowers of spring will fade.

This Turkish poet's maxim, it will be observed, was "enjoy the present
day"--the carpe diem of Horace, the genial old pagan. On the same
suggestive theme of Springtide a celebrated Turkish poetess, Fitnet
Khánim (for the Ottoman Turks have poetesses of considerable genius
as well as poets), has composed a pleasing ode, addressed to her lord,
of which the following stanzas are also from Mr. Gibb's collection:
The fresh spring-clouds across all earth their glistening pearls profuse
now sow; The flowers, too, all appearing, forth the radiance of their
beauty show; Of mirth and joy 'tis now the time, the hour, to wander to
and fro; The palm-tree o'er the fair ones' pic-nic gay its grateful shade
doth throw.
_O Liege, come forth! From end to end with verdure doth the whole
earth glow; 'Tis springtide once again, once more the tulips and the
roses blow!_
Behold the roses, how they shine, e'en like the cheeks of maids most
fair; The fresh-sprung hyacinth shows like to beauties' dark, sweet,
musky hair; The loved one's form behold, like cypress which the
streamlet's bank doth bear; In sooth, each side for soul and heart doth
some delightful joy prepare.
_O Liege, come forth! From end to end with verdure doth the whole
earth glow; 'Tis springtide once again, once more the tulips and the
roses blow!_
The parterre's flowers have all bloomed forth, the roses, sweetly
smiling, shine; On every side lorn nightingales, in plaintive notes
discerning, pine. How fair carnation and wallflower the borders of the
garden line! The long-haired hyacinth and jasmine both around the
cypress twine.
_O Liege, come forth! From end to end with verdure doth the whole
earth glow; 'Tis springtide once again, once more the tulips and the
roses blow!_
I cannot resist the temptation to cite, in concluding this introductory

paper, another fine eulogy of the delights of spring, by Amír Khusrú, of
Delhi (14th century), from his _Mihra-i-Iskandar_, which has been thus
rendered into rhythmical prose:
"A day in spring, when all the world a pleasing picture seemed; the sun
at early dawn with happy auspices arose. The earth was bathed in
balmy dew; the beauties of the garden their charms displayed, the face
of each with brilliancy adorned. The flowers in freshness bloomed; the
lamp of the rose acquired lustre from the breeze; the tulip brought a cup
from paradise; the rose-bower shed the sweets of Eden; beneath its
folds the musky buds remained, like a musky amulet on the neck of
Beauty. The violet bent its head; the fold of the bud was closer pressed;
the opened rose in splendour glowed, and attracted every eye; the
lovely flowers oppressed with dew in tremulous motion waved. The air
o'er all the garden a silvery radiance threw, and o'er the flowers the
breezes played; on every branch the birds attuned their notes, and every
bower with warblings sweet was filled, so sweet, they stole the senses.
The early nightingale poured forth its song, that gives a zest to those
who quaff the morning goblet. From the turtle's soft cooings love
seized each bird that skimmed the air."