قصر | palace, castle |
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آن قصر که | That palace that/where, /ān qasr ke/: We usually see the construct /har x-i ke/ with the suffix -i appended to the noun, however, it is not uncommon for this -i suffix to be dropped in poetry or even high-brow prose. Here, meter aside, it would sound less poetic with the -i as /har qasr-i ke/. |
آن قصر که بهرام درو ... | that palace that Bahrām in
it..., that palace in which Bahrām... |
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جام | cup, goblet |
جام گرفت < جام گرفتن | he raised [his] wine cup < to
raise [one's] wine cup, as in a celebration or festive occasion. Notice the
effective use of the simple past used as we often see in English: 'He once
raised his cup', i.e., he used to raise his cup (on multiple occasions.) |
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گرفتن | to take, to grab, to catch, to hold. Notice that /gereftan/ is used in each line of this quatrain.) |
روبه = روباه | fox |
بچّه کرد < بچّه کردن | it made, i.e., had a child < to have children, to give birth |
شیر | lion, pronunciation: shir |
آرام گرفت < آرام گرفتن | it rested < to settle down, to rest, to repose |
دایم = دائم | constant, continuously, constantly, continuously |
میگرفتی = میگرفت< گرفتن | he used to catch onagers, he would hunt onagers < to hunt onagers, the imperfect tense followed by the classical -i suffix emphasizes continuousness, habitual action and repetition which are already conveyed by the imperfect tense. This -i suffix is often used simply to add an extra syllable for the poetic meter. |
امروز | today |
نگر < نگریستن | (you) look! Observe! (imperative) < to look |
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گور | onager, wild ass. The English word "onager" comes from Greek onagros : onos, 'ass' + agrios, 'wild', 'living in the fields or woods'. (The key in this quatrain is the pun on “gur” which means both “onager” and “grave”.) |
بهرامِ گور | The Sassanid king Bahrām V was famous for his life-long passion to hunt/capture onagers, so much so that he is known by the moniker "Bahrām-e gur" meaning "Bahrām the onager [hunter]." Note that he is often called "Bahrām Gur" in English but in Persian, you do need the ezāfe: "Bahrām-e Gur." (The key in this quatrain is the pun on “gur” which means both “onager” and “grave”.) |
روبه = روباه | fox |