Defiance

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 24

“Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare,

And those that after a TO-MORROW stare,

A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries

"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There."”

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 30

“What, without asking, hither hurried Whence?

And, without asking, Whither hurried hence!

Another and another Cup to drown

The Memory of this Impertinence!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 33

“Then to the rolling Heav'n itself I cried,

Asking, "What Lamp had Destiny to guide

Her little Children stumbling in the Dark?"

And—"A blind understanding!" Heav'n replied.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 40

“You know, my Friends, with what a brave Carouse

I made a Second Marriage in my house:

Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,

And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 41

“For "IS" and "IS-NOT" though with Rule and Line,

And, "UP-AND-DOWN" without, I could define,

I yet in all I only cared to know,

Was never deep in anything but—Wine.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 43

“The Grape that can with Logic absolute

The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute:

The subtle Alchemist that in a Trice

Life's leaden Metal into Gold transmute.”

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 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 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 55

“The Vine had struck a Fibre; which about

If clings my Being—let the Sufi flout;

Of my Base Metal may be filed a Key,

That shall unlock the Door he howls without.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 56

“And this I know: whether the one True Light,

Kindle to Love, or Wrath consume me quite,

One Glimpse of It within the Tavern caught

Better than in the Temple lost outright.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 57

“Oh Thou who didst with Pitfall and with Gin

Beset the Road I was to wander in,

Thou wilt not with Predestination round

Enmesh me, and impute my Fall to Sin?”

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 60

“And strange to tell, among that Earthen Lot

Some could articulate, while others not:

And suddenly one more impatient cried—

"Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?"”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 61

“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."”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 62

“Another said—"Why, ne'er a peevish Boy

Would break the Bowl from which he drank in Joy;

Shall He that made the Vessel in pure Love

And Fansy, in an after Rage destroy!"”

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 72

“Why, if the Soul can fling the Dust aside,

And naked on the Air of Heaven ride,

Wer't not a Shame—wer't not a Shame for him

In this clay carcass crippled to abide?”

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