7 Aban 1404
Quatrain 66 of 75
“So, while the Vessels one by one were speaking,
One spied the little Crescent all were seeking:
And then they jogg'd each other, "Brother! Brother!
Hark to the Porter's Shoulder-knot a-creaking!"”
Reflection · Autumn 1404
The vessels were speaking — this entire section of the Rubaiyat has been a parliament of pots, each making its argument. And now, at the end of the speaking, one pot spies what all of them have been looking for: the crescent. The crescent in autumn is the moon that rides above the ripening and the reckoning. The Porter's Shoulder-knot is creaking — the wine of the year is being brought home.
Brother! Brother! — the autumn version of this cry is more tender than the spring version. The vessels have been through a year together.