5 Khordad 1405
Quatrain 61 of 75
“Then said another—"Surely not in vain
My substance from the common Earth was ta'en,
That He who subtly wrought me into Shape
Should stamp me back to common Earth again."”
Reflection · Spring 1405
Surely not in vain — the pot's most optimistic argument, stated in the season most likely to believe it. Not in vain: the forming had purpose, the substance taken from common earth was taken for a reason. This is the spring prayer: that the taking-up of this particular clay, the working of it into this particular form, was not merely mechanical but somehow purposeful.
In spring the surely carries full weight. The whole season is organized around the premise that the forming was not in vain. The blossom is not in vain. The seed is not in vain.