1 Mehr 1405
Quatrain 30 of 75
“What, without asking, hither hurried Whence?
And, without asking, Whither hurried hence!
Another and another Cup to drown
The Memory of this Impertinence!”
Reflection · Autumn 1405
In autumn the impertinence of the universe is felt more honestly. You were hurried hither in spring and you will be hurried hence before you have finished everything you wanted to do. The autumn audit makes this undeniable. Another cup — in autumn the drowning is more necessary. Not to forget the autumn itself, which is beautiful, but to drown the Memory of the overall impertinence: that you were given this particular life, with these particular limitations, without being asked whether this was what you wanted.
Khayyam's response is still laughter. Still the cup. The humor is darker in autumn, more knowing, but it is still humor.