Mortality

Quatrain 02

“Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky

I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry,

"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup

Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry."”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 31

“Up from Earth's Centre through the seventh Gate

I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,

And many Knots unravel'd by the Road;

But not the Knot of Human Death and Fate.”

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 70

“Ah, Moon of my Delight who know'st no wane,

The Moon of Heav'n is rising once again:

How oft hereafter rising shall she look

Through this same Garden after me—in vain!”

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 73

“Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who

Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through,

Not one returns to tell us of the Road,

Which to discover we must travel too.”

tr. Edward FitzGerald, 1859