520 
uvenal, yet breathing the very tender- 
ness of Tibullus. ‘The poems of Sadi are 
in high veneration in the moit abfolute 
courts of the eaft: at Delhi and Ipahan, 
his name is pronounced with rapture; nor 
is he in much lefs eftimation even at Con- 
ftantinople itfelf. On this account, be- 
Oriextal Poetrys 
Jan. ft, 
Fore I take my leave of him, I fhall beg 
the liberty of qucting the following ftanzas 
from his Boftan, as not inapplicable to 
fome political discussions that have lately 
occurred among ourfelves; they comprize 
part of the fpeech of king Nufhirvan toe 
his fon Hormuz, just before his death. 
JId qlee Gays S Ol gr 
eee TO) gy alow 4 Comat gm. neg 
a 
Se emt gt)! AGL Sede ex CAs yd 
J 
. 
= fs a 
§Which may be thus rendered, almoft literally : 
Shield, O my fon! the lowly :-- ’tis from them 
The mightieft monarch draws his diadem 3 
The people are the root, the race of kings 
~ The tree, that thence in graceful foliage {prings: 
And mark this precept to thy Jateft hour, 
That from the root the tree derives its power. 
Rut the didaGic poetry of the Afiatics 
$s far better calculated for the conveyance 
of meral truth than either the fatire or 
elecy of Greece or Rome; and more nearly 
en hs attributed 
¢efembles the Xpvem Erry 
to Pythagoras, though conveyed in a dic- 
tion far more fafcinating than any other 
remnant of thefe claffical countries. The 
true and legitimate elegy, however, 1s 
not uncommon, and is denominated Kaf- 
Gide; but the fatire, ftriGily fo called, and 
which, even when compoied with all the 
pleafantry of Horace. is but too apt to 
wvound the feelings of individuals, to the 
credit of Afiatitcourtefy, is a {pecies of 
poetry hitherto unknowa to the bards of 
ran. 
This is a truly wonderful production, 
thoufand lines. It comprifes a hiftory of 
the Perfian empire, and was written at 
the inftigaticn of Mahmud, Sultan of 
sezny, about the year 374 of the hejira. 
This prince had ftipulated with the poet 
to give him a dinar (of the value of 
8s. Gd. fterling) for every verie; and on 
the conclufion of the work, in the feven- 
tieth year of the age of Ferdufi, he ordered 
this reward to be prefented to him. ‘The 
vizier, however, to whom Mahmud had 
delegated the office of enriching the ve- 
nerable bard, envious of his growing 
game, fent him indeed in fealed bags the 
number of {tipulated dinars, but in filver 
inftead of gold coin, which, appreheading 
it was by the exprefs order of Sultan 
Mahmud, fo enraged him, that he dif- 
tributed the whole to the crowd that was 
arcund him, and then fled away, firft to 
Bagdat, and afterwards to Tus, where 
in a fhort time he fell a victim to the 
mortification he had endured. It was 
at this moment the monarch of Gezny 
firft became apprifed of the deception: 
he inftantly rémitted the ftipulated fum 
of fixty thovfand dinars in gold: which, 
arriving too late for the enjoyment of 
the poet, were expended in erecting to 
his memory an elegant and moft fump- 
tuous monument. ; 
The Shahnamah is the mafter-piece of 
the Perfian mufes. It has been compared 
to the Iliad, and with refpec&t to the 
general polifh and animation of its dic- 
tion, and the truth and fpirit of its 
-fimiles, thofe particularly deduced from 
the majefty of the lion, the ferecious cou- 
rage of the tiger, the procumbent rock, 
and the mild ferenity of a moon-light 
night, the comparifon is not inapplicable, 
But it is certainly deficient in that ex- 
quifite unity of defign, that harmonious 
bearing of every part to every part which 
the Iliad boafts, in fuperiority, perhaps, to 
all the epics that ever were written in 
human language. There are many peems 
of more medern date to which this ad- 
mirable production of Ferdufi bears a 
nearer refemblance than the epic of Ho- 
mer. In its machinery, which confifts of 
demons and enchanters, with a cafual 
intermixture of giants, it exhibits a con- 
fiderable fimilarity to the Jerufalem Des 
livered of Torquato Taffe; yet it oc 
cupies 
