21 Mehr 1405
Quatrain 50 of 75
“The Ball no Question makes of Ayes and Noes,
But Right or Left as strikes the Player goes;
And He that toss'd Thee down into the Field,
He knows about it all—HE knows—HE knows!”
Reflection · Autumn 1405
In autumn the ball's field is different — the ground is harder, the trajectory more uncertain. He knows — HE knows — HE knows! The triple repetition in autumn sounds like the question it really is: does HE know? Is this trajectory the one that was intended? The autumn ball, rolling into colder squares, asks the question with its movement.
Khayyam does not answer. The ball makes no question. The knowing is asserted without being demonstrated. In autumn this is where the verse leaves you: moving across the field, making no question, going right or left as struck.