Impermanence

Quatrain 03

“And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before

The Tavern shouted—"Open then the Door.

You know how little while we have to stay,

And, once departed, may return no more."”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 05

“Iram indeed is gone with all its Rose,

And Jamshyd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows;

But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields,

And still a Garden by the Water blows.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 07

“Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring

The Winter Garment of Repentance fling:

The Bird of Time has but a little way

To fly—and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 08

“And look—a thousand Blossoms with the Day

Woke—and a thousand scatter'd into Clay:

And this first Summer Month that brings the Rose

Shall take Jamshyd and Kaikobad away.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 13

“Look to the Rose that blows about us—"Lo,

Laughing," she says, "into the World I blow:

At once the silken Tassel of my Purse

Tear, and its Treasure on the Garden throw."”

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 16

“Think, in this batter'd Caravanserai

Whose Doorways are alternate Night and Day,

How Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp

Abode his Hour or two, and went his way.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 17

“They say the Lion and the Lizard keep

The Courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep:

And Bahram, that great Hunter—the Wild Ass

Stamps o'er his Head, and he lies fast asleep.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 18

“I sometimes think that never blows so red

The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled;

That every Hyacinth the Garden wears

Dropt in its Lap from some once lovely Head.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 19

“And this delightful Herb whose tender Green

Fledges the River's Lip on which we lean—

Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows

From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 22

“And we, that now make merry in the Room

They left, and Summer dresses in new Bloom,

Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth

Descend, ourselves to make a Couch—for whom?”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 25

“Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss'd

Of the Two Worlds so learnedly, are thrust

Like foolish Prophets forth; their Words to Scorn

Are scatter'd, and their Mouths are stopt with Dust.”

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 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 32

“There was a Door to which I found no Key:

There was a Veil past which I could not see:

Some little Talk awhile of ME and THEE

There seemed—and then no more of THEE and ME.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 35

“I think the Vessel, that with fugitive

Articulation answer'd, once did live,

And merry-make; and the cold Lip I kiss'd

How many Kisses might it take—and give.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 36

“For in the Market-place, one Dusk of Day,

I watch'd the Potter thumping his wet Clay:

And with its all obliterated Tongue

It murmur'd—"Gently, Brother, gently, pray!"”

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 46

“For in and out, above, about, below,

'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,

Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,

Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.”

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 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 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 53

“With Earth's first Clay They did the Last Man's knead,

And then of the Last Harvest sow'd the Seed:

Yea, the first Morning of Creation wrote

What the Last Dawn of Reckoning shall read.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 59

“Listen again. One Evening at the Close

Of Ramazan, ere the better Moon arose,

In that old Potter's Shop I stood alone

With the clay Population round in Rows.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

Quatrain 69

“Alas, that Spring should vanish with the Rose!

That Youth's sweet-scented Manuscript should close!

The Nightingale that in the Branches sang,

Ah, whence, and whither flown again, who knows!”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859