Acceptance

Quatrain 09

“But come with old Khayyam, and leave the Lot

Of Kaikobad and Kaikhosru forgot:

Let Rustum lay about him as he will,

Or Hatim Tai cry Supper—heed them not.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 10

“With me along some Strip of Herbage strown

That just divides the desert from the sown,

Where name of Slave and Sultan scarce is known,

And pity Sultan Mahmud on his Throne.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 12

“"How sweet is mortal Sovranty!"—think some:

Others—"How blest the Paradise to come!"

Ah, take the Cash in hand and waive the Rest;

Oh, the brave Music of a distant Drum!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 14

“The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon

Turns Ashes—or it prospers; and anon,

Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face

Lighting a little Hour or two—is gone.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 15

“And those who husbanded the Golden Grain,

And those who flung it to the Winds like Rain,

Alike to no such aureate Earth are turn'd

As, buried once, Men want dug up again.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 20

“Ah! my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears

TO-DAY of past Regrets and future Fears—

To-morrow?—Why, To-morrow I may be

Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 21

“Lo! some we loved, the loveliest and the best

That Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest,

Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,

And one by one crept silently to Rest.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 23

“Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,

Before we too into the Dust Descend;

Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,

Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer and—sans End!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 26

“Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise

To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies;

One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies;

The Flower that once has blown for ever dies.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 27

“Myself when young did eagerly frequent

Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument

About it and about: but evermore

Came out by the same Door as in I went.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 28

“With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow,

And with my own hand labour'd it to grow:

And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd—

"I came like Water, and like Wind I go."”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 29

“Into this Universe, and why not knowing,

Nor whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing:

And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,

I know not whither, willy-nilly blowing.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 34

“Then to this earthen Bowl did I adjourn

My Lip the secret Well of Life to learn:

And Lip to Lip it murmur'd—"While you live,

Drink!—for once dead you never shall return."”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 37

“Ah, fill the Cup:—what boots it to repeat

How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:

Unborn TO-MORROW and dead YESTERDAY,

Why fret about them if TO-DAY be sweet!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 38

“One Moment in Annihilation's Waste,

One moment, of the Well of Life to taste—

The Stars are setting, and the Caravan

Starts for the dawn of Nothing—Oh, make haste!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 39

“How long, how long, in infinite Pursuit

Of This and That endeavour and dispute?

Better be merry with the fruitful Grape

Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 44

“The mighty Mahmud, the victorious Lord,

That all the misbelieving and black Horde

Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the Soul

Scatters and slays with his enchanted Sword.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 45

“But leave the Wise to wrangle, and with me

The Quarrel of the Universe let be:

And, in some corner of the Hubbub coucht,

Make Game of that which makes as much of Thee.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 47

“And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,

End in the Nothing all Things end in—Yes—

Then fancy while Thou art, Thou art but what

Thou shalt be—Nothing—Thou shalt not be less.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 48

“While the Rose blows along the River Brink,

With old Khayyam the Ruby Vintage drink:

And when the Angel with his darker Draught

Draws up to thee—take that, and do not shrink.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 49

“'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days

Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:

Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,

And one by one back in the Closet lays.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 50

“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!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 51

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,

Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,

Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 52

“And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky,

Whereunder crawling coop't we live and die,

Lift not thy hands to IT for help—for It

Rolls impotently on as Thou or I.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 54

“I tell Thee this—When, starting from the Goal,

Over the shoulders of the flaming Foal

Of Heav'n Parwin and Mushtari they flung,

In my predestin'd Plot of Dust and Soul”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 58

“Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make,

And who with Eden didst devise the Snake;

For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man

Is blacken'd, Man's Forgiveness give—and take!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 63

“None answer'd this; but after Silence spake

A Vessel of a more ungainly Make:

"They sneer at me for leaning all awry;

What? did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 64

“Said one—"Folks of a surly Tapster tell,

And daub his Visage with the Smoke of Hell;

They talk of some strict Testing of us—Pish!

He's a Good Fellow, and 'twill all be well."”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 65

“Then said another with a long-drawn Sigh,

"My Clay with long oblivion is gone dry:

But, fill me with the old familiar Juice,

Methinks I might recover by-and-bye!"”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 66

“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!"”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 67

“Then to the Lip of this poor earthen Urn

I lean'd, the Secret of my Life to learn:

And Lip to Lip it murmur'd—"While you live

Drink!—for, once dead, you never shall return."”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 71

“And when Thyself with shining Foot shall pass

Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass,

And in thy joyous Errand reach the Spot

Where I made one—turn down an empty Glass!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 74

“I sent my Soul through the Invisible,

Some letter of that After-life to spell:

And after many days my Soul return'd,

And said, "Behold, Myself am Heav'n and Hell."”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 75

“Heav'n but the Vision of fulfill'd Desire,

And Hell the Shadow of a Soul on fire;

And that is what I saw, and what I heard,

And all beside is Emptiness—or Ire!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859