[173-1] The Oxus, 1300 miles long, is the chief river of Central Asia,
and one of the boundaries of Persia.
[173-2] Peran-Wisa was the commander of King Afrasiab's troops, a
Turanian chief who ruled over the many wild Tartar tribes whose men
composed his army.
[173-3] Pamir or Pamere is a high tableland called by the natives "the
roof of the world." In it lies the source of the Oxus. Arnold has named
many places for the purpose of giving an air of reality to the poem. It
is not necessary to locate them accurately in order to understand the
poem, and so the notes will refer to them only as the story is made
clearer by the explanation.
[174-4] Samarcand is a city of Turkistan, now a center of learning and
of commerce.
[175-5] _Common_ here means _general_. The idea is that little fame
comes to him who fights in a general combat in which numbers take part.
What is the real reason for Sohrab's desire to fight in single combat?
Arnold gives a different reason from that in the _Shah Nameh_. In the
latter case it is that by defeating their champion Sohrab may frighten
the Persians into submission.
[176-6] Seistan was the province in which Rustum and his father Zal had
ruled for many years, subjects of the King of Persia.
[176-7] _Whether that_ and _Or in_ beginning the second line below may
be understood to read _Either because_ and _Or because of_.
[177-8] _Frore_ means _frozen_.
[177-9] From mares' milk is made koumiss, a favorite fermented drink of
Tartar tribes.
[178-10] _Fix'd_ means _halted_. He caused his army to remain stationary
while he rode forward.
[178-11] The _corn_ is grain of some kind, not our maize or Indian corn.
[181-12] Kai Khosroo was one of the Persian kings who lived in the sixth
century B. C., and is now understood to be Cyrus. He was the grandson of
Kai Kaoos, in whose reign the _Shah Nameh_ places the episode of Sohrab
and Rustum. Here as elsewhere Arnold alters the legend to suit his
convenience and to make the poem more effective. For instance, he
compresses the combat into a single day, while in the Persian epic, the
battle lasts three days. This change gives greater vitality and more
rapid action to the poem.
[181-13] Zal was born with snowy hair, a most unusual thing among the
black-haired Persians. His father was so angered by the appearance of
his son that he abandoned the innocent babe in the Elburz mountains,
where, however, a great bird or griffin miraculously preserved the
infant and in time returned it to its father, who had repented of his
hasty action.
[183-14] _Ruksh_, also spelled _Raksh_.
[183-15] _Tale_ means _count_ or _reckoning_. The diver had gathered all
the pearls required from him for the day.
[184-16] This description by Arnold scarcely tallies with the idea we
have obtained of the powerful Sohrab from reading the accounts taken
from the _Shah Nameh_. Arnold's is the more poetic idea, and increases
the reader's sympathy for Sohrab.
[185-17] _Be governed_, that is, _take my advice_.
[189-18] It is not natural for father and son to fight thus.
[191-19] In the _Shah Nameh_ Rustum overpowers Sohrab and slays him by
his superior power and skill. Arnold takes the more poetic view that
Sohrab's arm is powerless when he hears his father's name.
[193-20] _Sole_ means _solitary, alone_.
[193-21] _Glass her_ means _reflect her_ as in a mirror.
[195-22] He sees that this young men, as far as age and appearance are
concerned, might be a son of his.
[196-23] Again Arnold departs from the Persian tale, in which Sohrab
wears a bracelet or amulet on his arm. Arnold's work gives a more
certain identification.
[196-24] The griffin spoken of in note 13.
[200-25] The Persian tradition is that over the spot where Sohrab was
buried a huge mound, shaped like the hoof of a horse, was erected.
[201-26] It is said that shortly after the death of Sohrab the king
himself died while on a visit to a famous spring far in the north, and
as the nobles were returning with his corpse all were lost in a great
tempest. Unfortunately for Sohrab's prophecy, Persian traditions do not
include Rustum among the lost.
[204-27] This beautiful stanza makes a peculiarly artistic termination
to the poem. After the storm and stress of the combat and the
heart-breaking pathos of Sohrab's death, the reader willingly rests his
thought on the majestic Oxus that still flows on, unchangeable, but ever
changing. The suggestion is that after all nature is triumphant, that
our pains and losses, our most grievous disappointments and greatest
griefs are but incidents in the great drama of life, and that, though
like the river Oxus, we for a time become "foiled, circuitous
wanderers," we at last see before us the luminous home, bright and
tranquil under the shining stars.