,,rubaiyat ,,of ,,omar ,,khayyam    ,by 
,omar ,khayyam    ,rendered into        
,english ,verse by ,edward ,fitzgerald  
,contents3      ,introduction4    ,first
 ,edition4    ,fifth ,edition4          
,notes4            ,introduction        
,omar ,khayyam1 ,the ,astronomer-,poet  
of ,persia4      ,omar ,khayyam was born
 at ,naishapur in ,khorassan in the     
latter half of  our ,eleventh1 and died 
within the ,first ,quarter of our       
,twelfth  ,century4  ,the ,slender      
,story of his ,life is curiously twined 
about that  of two other very           
considerable ,figures in their ,time and
 ,country3 one  of whom tells the ,story
 of all ,three4  ,this was ,nizam ul    
,mulk1 ,vizier  to ,alp ,arslan the     
,son1 and ,malik ,shah the ,grandson1 of
 ,toghrul ,beg the  ,tartar1 who had    
wrested ,persia from the feeble         
,successor of ,mahmud the  ,great1 and  
founded that ,seljukian ,dynasty which  
finally roused ,europe  into the        
,crusades4  ,this ,nizam ul ,mulk1 in   

his ,wasiyat--or  ,testament--which he  
wrote and left as a ,memorial for future
  ,statesmen--relates the following1 as 
quoted in the ,calcutta ,review1  ,no4  
#ei1 from ,mirkhond's ,history of the   
,assassins4    ',one of the greatest of 
the wise men of ,khorassan was the ,imam
  ,mowaffak of ,naishapur1 a man highly 
honored and reverenced1--may ,god       
rejoice his soul2 his illustrious years 
exceeded eighty-five1 and it  was the   
universal belief that every boy who read
 the ,koran or studied  the traditions  
in his presence1 would assuredly attain 
to honor and  happiness4  ,for this     
cause did my father send me from ,tus to
 ,naishapur  with ,abd-us-samad1 the    
doctor of law1 that ,i might employ     
myself in  study and learning under the 
guidance of that illustrious teacher4   
,towards me he ever turned an eye of    
favor and kindness1 and as his  pupil ,i
 felt for him extreme affection and     
devotion1 so that ,i passed  four years 
in his service4  ,when ,i first came    

there1 ,i found two other  pupils of    
mine own age newly arrived1 ,hakim ,omar
 ,khayyam1 and the ill-  fated ,ben     
,sabbah4  ,both were endowed with       
sharpness of wit and the  highest       
natural powers2 and we three formed a   
close friendship  together4  ,when the  
,imam rose from his lectures1 they used 
to join me1  and we repeated to each    
other the lessons we had heard4  ,now   
,omar was  a native of ,naishapur1 while
 ,hasan ,ben ,sabbah's father was one   
,ali1 a  man of austere life and        
practise1 but heretical in his creed and
  doctrine4  ,one day ,hasan said to me 
and to ,khayyam1 ,it is a universal     
belief that the pupils of the ,imam     
,mowaffak will attain to fortune4  ,now1
 even if we all do not attain thereto1  
without doubt one of us  will2 what then
 shall be our mutual pledge and bond8   
,we answered1  ,be it what you please4  
,well1 he said1 let us make a vow1 that 
to  whomsoever this fortune falls1 he   
shall share it equally with the  rest1  

and reserve no pre-eminence for himself4
  ,be it so1 we both  replied1 and on   
those terms we mutually pledged our     
words4  ,years  rolled on1 and ,i went  
from ,khorassan to ,transoxiana1 and    
wandered to  ,ghazni and ,cabul2 and    
when ,i returned1 ,i was invested with  
office1 and  rose to be administrator of
 affairs during the ,sultanate of       
,sultan ,alp  ,arslan4'    ,he goes on  
to state1 that years passed by1 and both
 his old school-  friends found him out1
 and came and claimed a share in his    
good  fortune1 according to the         
school-day vow4  ,the ,vizier was       
generous and  kept his word4  ,hasan    
demanded a place in the government1     
which the  ,sultan granted at the       
,vizier's request2 but discontented with
 a  gradual rise1 he plunged into the   
maze of intrigue of an oriental  court1 
and1 failing in a base attempt to       
supplant his benefactor1 he  was        
disgraced and fell4  ,after many mishaps
 and wanderings1 ,hasan  became the head

 of the ,persian sect of the            
,ismailians1--a party of  fanatics who  
had long murmured in obscurity1 but rose
 to an evil  eminence under the guidance
 of his strong and evil will4  ,in      
,a4,d4  #ajij1 he seized the castle of  
,alamut1 in the province of ,rudbar1    
which  lies in the mountainous tract    
south of the ,caspian ,sea2 and it was  
from this mountain home he obtained that
 evil celebrity among the  ,crusaders as
 the ,,old ,,man ,,of ,,the ,,mountains1
 and spread terror through  the         
,mohammedan world2 and it is yet        
disputed where the word ,assassin1      
which they have left in the language of 
modern ,europe as their dark  memorial1 
is derived from the hashish1 or opiate  
of hemp-leaves 7the  ,indian bhang71    
with which they maddened themselves to  
the sullen pitch  of oriental           
desperation1 or from the name of the    
founder of the  dynasty1 whom we have   
seen in his quiet collegiate days1 at   
,naishapur4  ,one of the countless      

victims of the ,assassin's dagger was   
,nizam ul  ,mulk himself1 the old       
school-boy friend4#a    ,omar ,khayyam  
also came to the ,vizier to claim his   
share2 but not to  ask for title or     
office4  ',the greatest boon you can    
confer on me1' he  said1 'is to let me  
live in a corner under the shadow of    
your fortune1  to spread wide the       
advantages of ,science1 and pray for    
your long life  and prosperity4'  ,the  
,vizier tells us1 that when he found    
,omar was  really sincere in his        
refusal1 he pressed him no further1 but 
granted  him a yearly pension of #abjj  
mithkals of gold from the treasury of   
,naishapur4    ,at ,naishapur thus lived
 and died ,omar ,khayyam1 'busied1' adds
 the  ,vizier1 'in winning knowledge of 
every kind1 and especially in           
,astronomy1 wherein he attained to a    
very high pre-eminence4  ,under the     
,sultanate of ,malik ,shah1 he came to  
,merv1 and obtained great praise  for   
his proficiency in science1 and the     

,sultan showered favors upon  him4'     
,when the ,malik ,shah determined to    
reform the calendar1 ,omar was one  of  
the eight learned men employed to do it2
 the result was the ,jalali  era 7so    
called from ,jalal-ud-din1 one of the   
king's names7--'a  computation of time1'
 says ,gibbon1 'which surpasses the     
,julian1 and  approaches the accuracy of
 the ,gregorian style4'  ,he is also the
  author of some astronomical tables1   
entitled ',ziji-,malikshahi1' and  the  
,french have lately republished and     
translated an ,arabic ,treatise  of his 
on ,algebra4    ,his ,takhallus or      
poetical name 7,khayyam7 signifies a    
,tent-maker1 and  he is said to have at 
one time exercised that trade1 perhaps  
before  ,nizam-ul-,mulk's generosity    
raised him to independence4  ,many      
,persian  poets similarly derive their  
names from their occupations2 thus we   
have ,attar1 'a druggist1' ,assar1 'an  
oil presser1' etc4#b  ,omar  himself    
alludes to his name in the following    

whimsical lines3--     ',khayyam1 who   
stitched the tents of science1     ,has 
fallen in grief's furnace and been      
suddenly burned2     ,the shears of     
,fate have cut the tent ropes of his    
life1     ,and the broker of ,hope has  
sold him for nothing6'    ,we have only 
one more anecdote to give of his ,life1 
and that relates  to the close2 it is   
told in the anonymous preface which is  
sometimes  prefixed to his poems2 it has
 been printed in the ,persian in the    
,appendix to ,hyde's ,veterum ,persarum 
,religio1 p4 #dii2 and ,d',herbelot     
alludes to it in his ,bibliotheque1     
under ,khiam4#c--    ',it is written in 
the chronicles of the ancients that this
 ,king of  the ,wise1 ,omar ,khayyam1   
died at ,naishapur in the year of the   
,hegira1  #eag 7,a4,d4 #aabc72 in       
science he was unrivaled1--the very     
paragon of his  age4  ,khwajah ,nizami  
of ,samarcand1 who was one of his       
pupils1 relates  the following story3 ,i
 often used to hold conversations with  

my  teacher1 ,omar ,khayyam1 in a       
garden2 and one day he said to me1  ',my
 tomb shall be in a spot where the north
 wind may scatter roses  over it4'  ,i  
wondered at the words he spake1 but ,i  
knew that his were  no idle words4#d    
,years after1 when ,i chanced to revisit
 ,naishapur1 ,i  went to his final      
resting-place1 and lo6 it was just      
outside a garden1  and trees laden with 
fruit stretched their boughs over the   
garden  wall1 and dropped their flowers 
upon his tomb1 so that the stone was    
hidden under them4'    ,thus            
far--without fear of ,trespass--from the
 ,calcutta ,review4  ,the  writer of it1
 on reading in ,india this story of     
,omar's ,grave1 was  reminded1 he says1 
of ,cicero's ,account of finding        
,archimedes' ,tomb at  ,syracuse1 buried
 in grass and weeds4  ,i think          
,thorwaldsen desired to  have roses grow
 over him2 a wish religiously fulfilled 
for him to the  present day1 ,i believe4
  ,however1 to return to ,omar4         

,though the ,sultan shower'd ,favors    
upon him1 ,omar's ,epicurean  ,audacity 
of ,thought and ,speech caused him to be
 regarded askance in  his own ,time and 
,country4  ,he is said to have been     
especially hated  and dreaded by the    
,sufis1 whose ,practise he ridiculed1   
and whose ,faith  amounts to little more
 than his own1 when stript of the       
,mysticism and  formal recognition of   
,islamism under which ,omar would not   
hide4  ,their  ,poets1 including ,hafiz1
 who are 7with the exception of         
,firdausi7 the  most considerable in    
,persia1 borrowed largely1 indeed1 of   
,omar's  material1 but turning it to a  
mystical ,use more convenient to        
,themselves and the ,people they        
addressed2 a ,people quite as quick of  
,doubt as of ,belief2 as keen of ,bodily
 sense as of ,intellectual2 and         
delighting in a cloudy composition of   
both1 in which they could float         
luxuriously between ,heaven and ,earth1 
and this ,world and the ,next1 on  the  

wings of a poetical expression1 that    
might serve indifferently for  either4  
,omar was too honest of ,heart as well  
of ,head for this4  ,having failed      
7however mistakenly7 of finding any     
,providence but  ,destiny1 and any      
,world but ,this1 he set about making   
the most of it2  preferring rather to   
soothe the ,soul through the ,senses    
into  ,acquiescence with ,things as he  
saw them1 than to perplex it with vain  
disquietude after what they might be4   
,it has been seen1 however1 that  his   
,worldly ,ambition was not exorbitant2  
and he very likely takes a  humorous or 
perverse pleasure in exalting the       
gratification of ,sense  above that of  
the ,intellect1 in which he must have   
taken great  delight1 although it failed
 to answer the ,questions in which he1  
in  common with all men1 was most       
vitally interested4    ,for whatever    
,reason1 however1 ,omar as before said1 
has never been  popular in his own      
,country1 and therefore has been but    

scantily  transmitted abroad4  ,the     
,,mss4 of his ,poems1 mutilated beyond  
the  average ,casualties of ,oriental   
,transcription1 are so rare in the ,east
  as scarce to have reacht ,westward at 
all1 in spite of all the  acquisitions  
of ,arms and ,science4  ,there is no    
copy at the ,india  ,house1 none at the 
,bibliotheque ,nationale of ,paris4  ,we
 know but of  one in ,england3 ,no4 #adj
 of the ,ouseley ,,mss4 at the          
,bodleian1 written  at ,shiraz1 ,a4,d4  
#adfj4  ,this contains but #aeh         
,rubaiyat4  ,one in the  ,asiatic       
,society's ,library at ,calcutta 7of    
which we have a ,copy71  contains 7and  
yet incomplete7 #eaf1 though swelled to 
that by all kinds  of ,repetition and   
,corruption4  ,so ,von ,hammer speaks of
 his ,copy as  containing about #bjj1   
while ,dr4 ,sprenger catalogues the     
,lucknow ,,ms4 at  double that number4#e
  ,the ,scribes1 too1 of the ,oxford and
 ,calcutta  ,,mss4 seem to do their     
,work under a sort of ,protest2 each    

beginning  with a ,tetrastich 7whether  
genuine or not71 taken out of its       
alphabetical order2 the ,oxford with one
 of ,apology2 the ,calcutta with  one of
 ,expostulation1 supposed 7says a       
,notice prefixed to the ,,ms47  to have 
arisen from a ,dream1 in which ,omar's  
mother asked about his  future fate4    
,it may be rendered thus3--     ,o ,thou
 who burn'st in ,heart for those who    
burn    ,in ,hell1 whose fires thyself  
shall feed in turn1      ,how long be   
crying1 ',mercy on them1 ,god6'    ,why1
 who art ,thou to teach1 and ,he to     
learn8    ,the ,bodleian ,quatrain      
pleads ,pantheism by way of             
,justification4     ,if ,i myself upon a
 looser ,creed    ,have loosely strung  
the ,jewel of ,good deed1    ,let this  
one thing for my ,atonement plead3      
,that ,one for ,two ,i never did        
misread4    ,the ,reviewer1#f to whom ,i
 owe the ,particulars of ,omar's ,life1 
concludes his ,review by comparing him  
with ,lucretius1 both as to  natural    

,temper and ,genius1 and as acted upon  
by the ,circumstances in  which he      
lived4  ,both indeed were men of subtle1
 strong1 and  cultivated ,intellect1    
fine ,imagination1 and ,hearts          
passionate for  ,truth and ,justice2 who
 justly revolted from their ,country's  
false  ,religion1 and false1 or foolish1
 ,devotion to it2 but who fell short of 
replacing what they subverted by such   
better ,hope as others1 with no  better 
,revelation to guide them1 had yet made 
a ,law to themselves4  ,lucretius       
indeed1 with such material as ,epicurus 
furnished1 satisfied  himself with the  
theory of a vast machine fortuitously   
constructed1  and acting by a ,law that 
implied no ,legislator2 and so composing
  himself into a ,stoical rather than   
,epicurean severity of ,attitude1 sat   
down to contemplate the mechanical drama
 of the ,universe which he was  part    
,actor in2 himself and all about him 7as
 in his own sublime  description of the 
,roman ,theater7 discolored with the    

lurid reflex of  the ,curtain suspended 
between the ,spectator and the ,sun4    
,omar1 more  desperate1 or more careless
 of any so complicated ,system as       
resulted  in nothing but hopeless       
,necessity1 flung his own ,genius and   
,learning  with a bitter or humorous    
jest into the general ,ruin which their 
insufficient glimpses only served to    
reveal2 and1 pretending sensual         
pleasure1 as the serious purpose of     
,life1 only diverted himself with       
speculative problems of ,deity1         
,destiny1 ,matter and ,spirit1 ,good and
  ,evil1 and other such questions1      
easier to start than to run down1 and   
the pursuit of which becomes a very     
weary sport at last6    ,with regard to 
the present ,translation4  ,the original
 ,rubaiyat 7as1  missing an ,arabic     
,guttural1 these ,tetrastichs are more  
musically  called7 are independent      
,stanzas1 consisting each of four ,lines
 of  equal1 though varied1 ,prosody2    
sometimes all rhyming1 but oftener 7as  

here imitated7 the third line a blank4  
,somewhat as in the ,greek  ,alcaic1    
where the penultimate line seems to lift
 and suspend the ,wave  that falls over 
in the last4  ,as usual with such kind  
of ,oriental  ,verse1 the ,rubaiyat     
follow one another according to         
,alphabetic  ,rhyme--a strange          
succession of ,grave and ,gay4  ,those  
here selected are  strung into something
 of an ,eclogue1 with perhaps a less    
than equal  proportion of the ,drink and
 make-merry1 which 7genuine or not7     
recurs over-frequently in the ,original4
  ,either way1 the ,result is sad       
enough3 saddest perhaps when most       
ostentatiously merry3 more apt to  move 
,sorrow than ,anger toward the old      
,tentmaker1 who1 after vainly           
endeavoring to unshackle his ,steps from
 ,destiny1 and to catch some  authentic 
,glimpse of ,,to-,,morrow1 fell back    
upon ,,to-,,day 7which has  outlasted so
 many ,to-morrows67 as the only ,ground 
he had got to stand  upon1 however      

momentarily slipping from under his     
,feet4        ,from the ,third ,edition4
    ,while the second ,edition of this  
version of ,omar was preparing1         
,monsieur ,nicolas1 ,french ,consul at  
,resht1 published a very careful and    
very good ,edition of the ,text1 from a 
lithograph copy at ,teheran1  comprising
 #dfd ,rubaiyat1 with translation and   
notes of his own4    ,mons4 ,nicolas1   
whose ,edition has reminded me of       
several things1 and  instructed me in   
others1 does not consider ,omar to be   
the material  ,epicurean that ,i have   
literally taken him for1 but a ,mystic1 
shadowing  the ,deity under the figure  
of ,wine1 ,wine-bearer1 c41 as ,hafiz is
  supposed to do2 in short1 a ,sufi     
,poet like ,hafiz and the rest4    ,i   
cannot see reason to alter my opinion1  
formed as it was more than a  dozen     
years ago when ,omar was first shown me 
by one to whom ,i am  indebted for all  
,i know of ,oriental1 and very much of  
other1  literature4  ,he admired ,omar's

 ,genius so much1 that he would gladly  
have adopted any such ,interpretation of
 his meaning as ,mons4 ,nicolas'  if he 
could4#g  ,that he could not1 appears by
 his ,paper in the  ,calcutta ,review   
already so largely quoted2 in which he  
argues from the  ,poems themselves1 as  
well as from what records remain of the 
,poet's  ,life4    ,and if more were    
needed to disprove ,mons4 ,nicolas'     
,theory1 there is  the ,biographical    
,notice which he himself has drawn up in
 direct  contradiction to the           
,interpretation of the ,poems given in  
his ,notes4  7,see pp4 #ac-ad of his    
,preface47  ,indeed ,i hardly knew poor 
,omar was so  far gone till his         
,apologist informed me4  ,for here we   
see that1  whatever were the ,wine that 
,hafiz drank and sang1 the veritable    
,juice  of the ,grape it was which ,omar
 used1 not only when carousing with his 
friends1 but 7says ,mons4 ,nicolas7 in  
order to excite himself to that  pitch  
of ,devotion which others reached by    

cries and hurlemens4  ,and  yet1        
whenever ,wine1 ,wine-bearer1 c41 occur 
in the ,text--which is  often           
enough--,mons4 ,nicolas carefully       
annotates ,dieu1 ,la ,divinite1  c43 so 
carefully indeed that one is tempted to 
think that he was  indoctrinated by the 
,sufi with whom he read the ,poems4     
7,note to ,rub4  ii4 p4 #h47  ,a        
,persian would naturally wish to        
vindicate a  distinguished ,countryman2 
and a ,sufi to enroll him in his own    
sect1  which already comprises all the  
chief ,poets of ,persia4    ,what       
historical ,authority has ,mons4        
,nicolas to show that ,omar gave        
himself up avec passion a l'etude de la 
philosophie des ,soufis8  7,preface1 p4 
xiii47  ,the ,doctrines of ,pantheism1  
,materialism1  ,necessity1 c41 were not 
peculiar to the ,sufi2 nor to ,lucretius
 before  them2 nor to ,epicurus before  
him2 probably the very original         
,irreligion of ,thinking men from the   
first2 and very likely to be the        

spontaneous growth of a ,philosopher    
living in an ,age of social and         
political barbarism1 under shadow of one
 of the ,two and ,seventy  ,religions   
supposed to divide the world4  ,von     
,hammer 7according to  ,sprenger's      
,oriental ,catalogue7 speaks of ,omar as
 a ,free-thinker1 and  a great opponent 
of ,sufism2 perhaps because1 while      
holding much of  their ,doctrine1 he    
would not pretend to any inconsistent   
severity of  morals4  ,sir ,w4 ,ouseley 
has written a note to something of the  
same  effect on the fly-leaf of the     
,bodleian ,,ms4  ,and in two ,rubaiyat  
of  ,mons4 ,nicolas' own ,edition ,suf  
and ,sufi are both disparagingly named4 
,no doubt many of these ,quatrains seem 
unaccountable unless mystically         
interpreted2 but many more as           
unaccountable unless literally4  ,were  
the ,wine spiritual1 for instance1 how  
wash the ,body with it when dead8  ,why 
make cups of the dead clay to be filled 
with--,la ,divinite1 by  some succeeding

 ,mystic8  ,mons4 ,nicolas himself is   
puzzled by some  bizarres and trop      
,orientales allusions and images--d'une 
sensualite quelquefois revoltante       
indeed--which les convenances do  not   
permit him to translate2 but still which
 the reader cannot but  refer to ,la    
,divinite4#h  ,no doubt also many of the
 ,quatrains in the  ,teheran1 as in the 
,calcutta1 ,copies1 are spurious2 such  
,rubaiyat being  the common form of     
,epigram in ,persia4  ,but this1 at     
best1 tells as  much one way as another2
 nay1 the ,sufi1 who may be considered  
the  ,scholar and ,man of ,letters in   
,persia1 would be far more likely than  
the careless ,epicure to interpolate    
what favours his own view of the  ,poet4
  ,i observed that very few of the more 
mystical ,quatrains are in  the         
,bodleian ,,ms41 which must be one of   
the oldest1 as dated at ,shiraz1  ,a4,h4
 #hfe1 ,a4,d4 #adfj4  ,and this1 ,i     
think1 especially distinguishes ,omar   
7,i cannot help calling him by his--no1 

not ,christian--familiar name7  from all
 other ,persian ,poets3 ,that1 whereas  
with them the ,poet is lost  in his     
,song1 the ,man in ,allegory and        
,abstraction2 we seem to have the       
,man--the ,bon-homme--,omar himself1    
with all his ,humours and ,passions1  as
 frankly before us as if we were really 
at ,table with him1 after the  ,wine had
 gone round4    ,i must say that ,i1 for
 one1 never wholly believed in the      
,mysticism of  ,hafiz4  ,it does not    
appear there was any danger in holding  
and singing  ,sufi ,pantheism1 so long  
as the ,poet made his ,salaam to        
,mohammed at the  beginning and end of  
his ,song4  ,under such conditions      
,jelaluddin1  ,jami1 ,attar1 and others 
sang2 using ,wine and ,beauty indeed as 
,images  to illustrate1 not as a ,mask  
to hide1 the ,divinity they were        
celebrating4  ,perhaps some ,allegory   
less liable to mistake or abuse  had    
been better among so inflammable a      
,people3 much more so when1 as  some    

think with ,hafiz and ,omar1 the        
abstract is not only likened to1  but   
identified with1 the sensual ,image2    
hazardous1 if not to the  ,devotee      
himself1 yet to his weaker ,brethren2   
and worse for the ,profane  in          
proportion as the ,devotion of the      
,initiated grew warmer4  ,and all  for  
what8  ,to be tantalized with ,images of
 sensual enjoyment which  must be       
renounced if one would approximate a    
,god1 who according to the  ,doctrine1  
is ,sensual ,matter as well as ,spirit1 
and into whose ,universe  one expects   
unconsciously to merge after ,death1    
without hope of any  posthumous         
,beatitude in another world to          
compensate for all one's self-  denial  
in this4  ,lucretius' blind ,divinity   
certainly merited1 and  probably got1 as
 much self-sacrifice as this of the     
,sufi2 and the  burden of ,omar's       
,song--if not ,let us eat--is           
assuredly--,let us  drink1 for          
,to-morrow we die6  ,and if ,hafiz meant

 quite otherwise by a  similar language1
 he surely miscalculated when he devoted
 his ,life and  ,genius to so equivocal 
a ,psalmody as1 from his ,day to this1  
has been  said and sung by any rather   
than spiritual ,worshippers4            
,however1 as there is some traditional  
presumption1 and certainly the  opinion 
of some learned men1 in favour of       
,omar's being a ,sufi--and  even        
something of a ,saint--those who please 
may so interpret his ,wine  and         
,cup-bearer4  ,on the other hand1 as    
there is far more historical  certainty 
of his being a ,philosopher1 of         
scientific ,insight and  ,ability far   
beyond that of the ,age and ,country he 
lived in2 of such  moderate worldly     
,ambition as becomes a ,philosopher1 and
 such moderate  wants as rarely satisfy 
a ,debauchee2 other readers may be      
content to  believe with me that1 while 
the ,wine ,omar celebrates is simply the
  ,juice of the ,grape1 he bragg'd more 
than he drank of it1 in very  defiance  

perhaps of that ,spiritual ,wine which  
left its ,votaries sunk  in ,hypocrisy  
or ,disgust4    ,edward ,j4 ,fitzgerald 
,footnotes3    ,footnote #a3 ,some of   
,omar's ,rubaiyat warn us of the danger 
of ,greatness1 the  instability of      
,fortune1 and while advocating ,charity 
to all ,men1  recommending us to be too 
intimate with none4  ,attar makes       
,nizam-ul-,mulk  use the very words of  
his friend ,omar ,rub4 xxviii41 ,when   
,nizam-ul-  ,mulk was in the ,agony 7of 
,death7 he said1 ',oh ,god6  ,i am      
passing away in  the hand of the wind4' 
,footnote #b3 ,though all these1 like   
our ,smiths1 ,archers1 ,millers1        
,fletchers1 etc41  may simply retain the
 ,surname of an hereditary calling4     
,footnote #c3 ,philosophe ,musulman qui 
a vecu en ,odeur de ,saintete dans sa   
,religion1 vers la ,fin du premier et le
 ,commencement du second ,siecle1  no   
part of which1 except the ,philosophe1  
can apply to our ,khayyam4    ,footnote 
#d3 ,the ,rashness of the ,words1       

according to ,d',herbelot1 consisted in 
being so opposed to those in the ,koran3
 ,no ,man knows where he shall          
die4--,this story of ,omar reminds me of
 another so naturally--and when  one    
remembers how wide of his humble mark   
the noble sailor aimed--so  pathetically
 told by ,captain ,cook--not by ,doctor 
,hawkworth--in his  ,second ,voyage 7i4 
#cgd74  ,when leaving ,ulietea1 ,oreo's 
last request was  for me to return4     
,when he saw he could not obtain that   
promise1 he  asked the name of my ,marai
 7burying-place74 ,as strange a question
 as  this was1 ,i hesitated not a moment
 to tell him ',stepney'2 the parish in  
which ,i live when in ,london4  ,i was  
made to repeat it several times over    
till they could pronounce it2 and then  
',stepney ,marai no ,toote' was  echoed 
through an hundred mouths at once4  ,i  
afterwards found the same  question had 
been put to ,mr4 ,forster by a man on   
shore2 but he gave a  different1 and    
indeed more proper answer1 by saying1   

',no man who used  the sea could say    
where he should be buried4'    ,footnote
 #e3 ,since this paper was written 7adds
 the ,reviewer in a note71 we  have met 
with a ,copy of a very rare ,edition1   
printed at ,calcutta in  #ahcf4  ,this  
contains #dch ,tetrastichs1 with an     
,appendix containing #ed  others not    
found in some ,,mss4    ,footnote #f3   
,professor ,cowell4    ,footnote #g3    
,perhaps would have edited the ,poems   
himself some years ago4  ,he may  now as
 little approve of my ,version on one   
side1 as of ,mons4 ,nicolas'  ,theory on
 the other4    ,footnote #h3 ,a note to 
,quatrain #bcd admits that1 however     
clear the mystical  meaning of such     
,images must be to ,europeans1 they are 
not quoted without  rougissant even by  
laymen in ,persia--,quant aux termes de 
tendresse  qui commencent ce quatrain1  
comme tant d'autres dans ce recueil1 nos
  lecteurs1 habitues maintenant a       
#a';etrangete des expressions si souvent
  employees par ,kheyam pour rendre ses 

pensees sur l'amour divin1 et a la      
singularite des images trop orientales1 
d'une sensualite quelquefois            
revoltante1 n'auront pas de peine a se  
persuader qu'il s'agit de la  ,divinite1
 bien que cette conviction soit vivement
 discutee par les  moullahs musulmans1  
et meme par beaucoup de laiques1 qui    
rougissent  veritablement d'une pareille
 licence de leur compatriote a #a';egard
 des  choses spirituelles4              
,first ,edition      ,i4     ,awake6 for
 ,morning in the ,bowl of ,night   ,has 
flung the ,stone that puts the ,stars to
 ,flight3     ,and ,lo6 the ,hunter of  
the ,east has caught   ,the ,sultan's   
,turret in a ,noose of ,light4          
,,ii4     ,dreaming when ,dawn's ,left  
,hand was in the ,sky   ,i heard a      
,voice within the ,tavern cry1          
,awake1 my ,little ones1 and fill the   
,cup   ,before ,life's ,liquor in its   
,cup be dry4      ,,iii4     ,and1 as   
the ,cock crew1 those who stood before  
,the ,tavern shouted--,open then the    

,door4     ,you know how little while we
 have to stay1   ,and1 once departed1   
may return no more4      ,,iv4     ,now 
the ,new ,year reviving old ,desires1   
,the thoughtful ,soul to ,solitude      
retires1     ,where the ,,white ,,hand  
,,of ,,moses on the ,bough   ,puts out1 
and ,jesus from the ,ground suspires4   
,v4     ,iram indeed is gone with all   
its ,rose1   ,and ,jamshyd's            
,sev'n-ring'd ,cup where no one knows2  
,but still the ,vine her ancient ,ruby  
yields1   ,and still a ,garden by the   
,water blows4      ,,vi4     ,and       
,david's ,lips are lock't2 but in divine
   ,high piping ,pelevi1 with ,wine6    
,wine6  ,wine6     ,red ,wine6--the     
,nightingale cries to the ,rose   ,that 
yellow ,cheek of hers to'incarnadine4   
,,vii4     ,come1 fill the ,cup1 and in 
the ,fire of ,spring   ,the ,winter     
,garment of ,repentance fling3     ,the 
,bird of ,time has but a little way     
,to fly--and ,lo6 the ,bird is on the   
,wing4      ,,viii4     ,and look--a    

thousand ,blossoms with the ,day        
,woke--and a thousand scatter'd into    
,clay3     ,and this first ,summer      
,month that brings the ,rose   ,shall   
take ,jamshyd and ,kaikobad away4       
,,ix4     ,but come with old ,khayyam1  
and leave the ,lot   ,of ,kaikobad and  
,kaikhosru forgot3     ,let ,rustum lay 
about him as he will1   ,or ,hatim ,tai 
cry ,supper--heed them not4      ,x4    
,with me along some ,strip of ,herbage  
strown   ,that just divides the desert  
from the sown1     ,where name of ,slave
 and ,sultan scarce is known1   ,and    
pity ,sultan ,mahmud on his ,throne4    
,,xi4     ,here with a ,loaf of ,bread  
beneath the ,bough1   ,a ,flask of      
,wine1 a ,book of ,verse--and ,thou     
,beside me singing in the ,wilderness-- 
,and ,wilderness is ,paradise enow4     
,,xii4     ,how sweet is mortal         
,sovranty6--think some3   ,others--,how 
blest the ,paradise to come6     ,ah1   
take the ,cash in hand and waive the    
,rest2   ,oh1 the brave ,music of a     

distant ,drum6      ,,xiii4     ,look to
 the ,rose that blows about us--,lo1    
,laughing1 she says1 into the ,world ,i 
blow3     ,at once the silken ,tassel of
 my ,purse   ,tear1 and its ,treasure on
 the ,garden throw4      ,,xiv4     ,the
 ,worldly ,hope men set their ,hearts   
upon   ,turns ,ashes--or it prospers2   
and anon1     ,like ,snow upon the      
,desert's dusty ,face   ,lighting a     
little ,hour or two--is gone4      ,,xv4
     ,and those who husbanded the       
,golden ,grain1   ,and those who flung  
it to the ,winds like ,rain1     ,alike 
to no such aureate ,earth are turn'd    
,as1 buried once1 ,men want dug up      
again4      ,,xvi4     ,think1 in this  
batter'd ,caravanserai   ,whose         
,doorways are alternate ,night and ,day1
     ,how ,sultan after ,sultan with his
 ,pomp   ,abode his ,hour or two1 and   
went his way4      ,,xvii4     ,they say
 the ,lion and the ,lizard keep   ,the  
,courts where ,jamshyd gloried and drank
 deep3     ,and ,bahram1 that great     

,hunter--the ,wild ,ass   ,stamps o'er  
his ,head1 and he lies fast asleep4     
,,xviii4     ,i sometimes think that    
never blows so red   ,the ,rose as where
 some buried ,caesar bled2     ,that    
every ,hyacinth the ,garden wears       
,dropt in its ,lap from some once lovely
 ,head4      ,,xix4     ,and this       
delightful ,herb whose tender ,green    
,fledges the ,river's ,lip on which we  
lean--     ,ah1 lean upon it lightly6   
for who knows   ,from what once lovely  
,lip it springs unseen6      ,,xx4      
,ah6 my ,beloved1 fill the ,cup that    
clears   ,,to-,,day of past ,regrets and
 future ,fears-     ,to-morrow8--,why1  
,to-morrow ,i may be   ,myself with     
,yesterday's ,sev'n ,thousand ,years4   
,,xxi4     ,lo6 some we loved1 the      
loveliest and the best   ,that ,time and
 ,fate of all their ,vintage prest1     
,have drunk their ,cup a ,round or two  
before1   ,and one by one crept silently
 to ,rest4      ,,xxii4     ,and we1    
that now make merry in the ,room   ,they

 left1 and ,summer dresses in new       
,bloom1     ,ourselves must we beneath  
the ,couch of ,earth   ,descend1        
ourselves to make a ,couch--for whom8   
,,xxiii4     ,ah1 make the most of what 
we yet may spend1   ,before we too into 
the ,dust ,descend2     ,dust into      
,dust1 and under ,dust1 to lie1   ,sans 
,wine1 sans ,song1 sans ,singer         
and--sans ,end6      ,,xxiv4     ,alike 
for those who for ,,to-,,day prepare1   
,and those that after a ,,to-,,morrow   
stare1     ,a ,muezzin from the ,tower  
of ,darkness cries   ,fools6 your       
,reward is neither ,here nor ,there4    
,,xxv4     ,why1 all the ,saints and    
,sages who discuss'd   ,of the ,two     
,worlds so learnedly1 are thrust        
,like foolish ,prophets forth2 their    
,words to ,scorn   ,are scatter'd1 and  
their ,mouths are stopt with ,dust4     
,,xxvi4     ,oh1 come with old ,khayyam1
 and leave the ,wise   ,to talk2 one    
thing is certain1 that ,life flies2     
,one thing is certain1 and the ,rest is 

,lies2   ,the ,flower that once has     
blown for ever dies4      ,,xxvii4      
,myself when young did eagerly frequent 
,doctor and ,saint1 and heard great     
,argument     ,about it and about3 but  
evermore   ,came out by the same ,door  
as in ,i went4      ,,xxviii4     ,with 
them the ,seed of ,wisdom did ,i sow1   
,and with my own hand labour'd it to    
grow3     ,and this was all the ,harvest
 that ,i reap'd--   ,i came like ,water1
 and like ,wind ,i go4      ,,xxix4     
,into this ,universe1 and why not       
knowing1   ,nor whence1 like ,water     
willy-nilly flowing3     ,and out of it1
 as ,wind along the ,waste1   ,i know   
not whither1 willy-nilly blowing4       
,,xxx4     ,what1 without asking1 hither
 hurried whence8   ,and1 without asking1
 whither hurried hence6     ,another and
 another ,cup to drown   ,the ,memory of
 this ,impertinence6      ,,xxxi4       
,up from ,earth's ,centre through the   
seventh ,gate   ,i rose1 and on the     
,throne of ,saturn sate1     ,and many  

,knots unravel'd by the ,road2   ,but   
not the ,knot of ,human ,death and      
,fate4      ,,xxxii4     ,there was a   
,door to which ,i found no ,key3        
,there was a ,veil past which ,i could  
not see3     ,some little ,talk awhile  
of ,,me and ,,thee   ,there seemed--and 
then no more of ,,thee and ,,me4        
,,xxxiii4     ,then to the rolling      
,heav'n itself ,i cried1   ,asking1     
,what ,lamp had ,destiny to guide       
,her little ,children stumbling in the  
,dark8   ,and--,a blind understanding6  
,heav'n replied4      ,,xxxiv4     ,then
 to this earthen ,bowl did ,i adjourn   
,my ,lip the secret ,well of ,life to   
learn3     ,and ,lip to ,lip it         
murmur'd--,while you live1              
,drink6--for once dead you never shall  
return4      ,,xxxv4     ,i think the   
,vessel1 that with fugitive             
,articulation answer'd1 once did live1  
,and merry-make2 and the cold ,lip ,i   
kiss'd   ,how many ,kisses might it     
take--and give4      ,,xxxvi4     ,for  

in the ,market-place1 one ,dusk of ,day1
   ,i watch'd the ,potter thumping his  
wet ,clay3     ,and with its all        
obliterated ,tongue   ,it               
murmur'd--,gently1 ,brother1 gently1    
pray6      ,,xxxvii4     ,ah1 fill the  
,cup3--what boots it to repeat   ,how   
,time is slipping underneath our ,feet3 
,unborn ,,to-,,morrow and dead          
,,yesterday1   ,why fret about them if  
,,to-,,day be sweet6      ,,xxxviii4    
,one ,moment in ,annihilation's ,waste1 
,one moment1 of the ,well of ,life to   
taste--     ,the ,stars are setting1 and
 the ,caravan   ,starts for the dawn of 
,nothing--,oh1 make haste6      ,,xxxix4
     ,how long1 how long1 in infinite   
,pursuit   ,of ,this and ,that endeavour
 and dispute8     ,better be merry with 
the fruitful ,grape   ,than sadden after
 none1 or bitter1 ,fruit4      ,,xl4    
,you know1 my ,friends1 how long since  
in my ,house   ,for a new ,marriage ,i  
did make ,carouse3     ,divorced old    
barren ,reason from my ,bed1   ,and took

 the ,daughter of the ,vine to ,spouse4 
,,xli4     ,for ,,is and ,,is-,,not     
though with ,rule and ,line1   ,and1    
,,up-,,and-,,down without1 ,i could     
define1     ,i yet in all ,i only cared 
to know1   ,was never deep in anything  
but--,wine4      ,,xlii4     ,and       
lately1 by the ,tavern ,door agape1     
,came stealing through the ,dusk an     
,angel ,shape1     ,bearing a vessel on 
his ,shoulder2 and   ,he bid me taste of
 it2 and 'twas--the ,grape6             
,,xliii4     ,the ,grape that can with  
,logic absolute   ,the ,two-and-,seventy
 jarring ,sects confute3     ,the subtle
 ,alchemist that in a ,trice   ,life's  
leaden ,metal into ,gold transmute4     
,,xliv4     ,the mighty ,mahmud1 the    
victorious ,lord1   ,that all the       
misbelieving and black ,horde     ,of   
,fears and ,sorrows that infest the     
,soul   ,scatters and slays with his    
enchanted ,sword4      ,,xlv4     ,but  
leave the ,wise to wrangle1 and with me 
,the ,quarrel of the ,universe let be3  

,and1 in some corner of the ,hubbub     
coucht1   ,make ,game of that which     
makes as much of ,thee4      ,,xlvi4    
,for in and out1 above1 about1 below1   
',tis nothing but a ,magic ,shadow-show1
     ,play'd in a ,box whose ,candle is 
the ,sun1   ,round which we ,phantom    
,figures come and go4      ,,xlvii4     
,and if the ,wine you drink1 the ,lip   
you press1   ,end in the ,nothing all   
,things end in--,yes-     ,then fancy   
while ,thou art1 ,thou art but what     
,thou shalt be--,nothing--,thou shalt   
not be less4      ,,xlviii4     ,while  
the ,rose blows along the ,river ,brink1
   ,with old ,khayyam the ,ruby ,vintage
 drink3     ,and when the ,angel with   
his darker ,draught   ,draws up to      
thee--take that1 and do not shrink4     
,,xlvix4     ',tis all a ,chequer-board 
of ,nights and ,days   ,where ,destiny  
with ,men for ,pieces plays3     ,hither
 and thither moves1 and mates1 and      
slays1   ,and one by one back in the    
,closet lays4      ,l4     ,the ,ball no

 ,question makes of ,ayes and ,noes1    
,but ,right or ,left as strikes the     
,player goes2     ,and ,he that toss'd  
,thee down into the ,field1   ,he knows 
about it all--,,he knows--,,he knows6   
,,li4     ,the ,moving ,finger writes2  
and1 having writ1   ,moves on3 nor all  
thy ,piety nor ,wit     ,shall lure it  
back to cancel half a ,line1   ,nor all 
thy ,tears wash out a ,word of it4      
,,lii4     ,and that inverted ,bowl we  
call ,the ,sky1   ,whereunder crawling  
coop't we live and die1     ,lift not   
thy hands to ,,it for help--for ,it     
,rolls impotently on as ,thou or ,i4    
,,liii4     ,with ,earth's first ,clay  
,they did the ,last ,man's knead1   ,and
 then of the ,last ,harvest sow'd the   
,seed3     ,yea1 the first ,morning of  
,creation wrote   ,what the ,last ,dawn 
of ,reckoning shall read4      ,,liv4   
,i tell ,thee this--,when1 starting from
 the ,goal1   ,over the shoulders of the
 flaming ,foal     ,of ,heav'n ,parwin  
and ,mushtari they flung1   ,in my      

predestin'd ,plot of ,dust and ,soul    
,,lv4     ,the ,vine had struck a       
,fibre2 which about   ,if clings my     
,being--let the ,sufi flout2     ,of my 
,base ,metal may be filed a ,key1       
,that shall unlock the ,door he howls   
without4      ,,lvi4     ,and this ,i   
know3 whether the one ,true ,light1     
,kindle to ,love1 or ,wrath consume me  
quite1     ,one ,glimpse of ,it within  
the ,tavern caught   ,better than in the
 ,temple lost outright4      ,,lvii4    
,oh ,thou who didst with ,pitfall and   
with ,gin   ,beset the ,road ,i was to  
wander in1     ,thou wilt not with      
,predestination round   ,enmesh me1 and 
impute my ,fall to ,sin8      ,,lviii4  
,oh ,thou1 who ,man of baser ,earth     
didst make1   ,and who with ,eden didst 
devise the ,snake2     ,for all the ,sin
 wherewith the ,face of ,man   ,is      
blacken'd1 ,man's ,forgiveness give--and
 take6        ,,kuza--,,nama4 7,book of 
,pots7      ,,lix4     ,listen again4   
,one ,evening at the ,close   ,of       

,ramazan1 ere the better ,moon arose1   
,in that old ,potter's ,shop ,i stood   
alone   ,with the clay ,population round
 in ,rows4      ,,lx4     ,and strange  
to tell1 among that ,earthen ,lot       
,some could articulate1 while others    
not3     ,and suddenly one more         
impatient cried--   ,who is the ,potter1
 pray1 and who the ,pot8      ,,lxi4    
,then said another--,surely not in vain 
,my substance from the common ,earth was
 ta'en1     ,that ,he who subtly wrought
 me into ,shape   ,should stamp me back 
to common ,earth again4      ,,lxii4    
,another said--,why1 ne'er a peevish    
,boy   ,would break the ,bowl from which
 he drank in ,joy2     ,shall ,he that  
made the ,vessel in pure ,love   ,and   
,fansy1 in an after ,rage destroy6      
,,lxiii4     ,none answer'd this2 but   
after ,silence spake   ,a ,vessel of a  
more ungainly ,make3     ,they sneer at 
me for leaning all awry2   ,what8 did   
the ,hand then of the ,potter shake8    
,,lxiv4     ,said one--,folks of a surly

 ,tapster tell1   ,and daub his ,visage 
with the ,smoke of ,hell2     ,they talk
 of some strict ,testing of us--,pish6  
,he's a ,good ,fellow1 and 'twill all be
 well4      ,,lxv4     ,then said       
another with a long-drawn ,sigh1   ,my  
,clay with long oblivion is gone dry3   
,but1 fill me with the old familiar     
,juice1   ,methinks ,i might recover    
by-and-bye6      ,,lxvi4     ,so1 while 
the ,vessels one by one were speaking1  
,one spied the little ,crescent all were
 seeking3     ,and then they jogg'd each
 other1 ,brother6 ,brother6   ,hark to  
the ,porter's ,shoulder-knot a-creaking6
      9999999999      ,,lxvii4     ,ah1 
with the ,grape my fading ,life provide1
   ,and wash my ,body whence the life   
has died1     ,and in a ,windingsheet of
 ,vineleaf wrapt1   ,so bury me by some 
sweet ,gardenside4      ,,lxviii4       
,that ev'n my buried ,ashes such a      
,snare   ,of ,perfume shall fling up    
into the ,air1     ,as not a ,true      
,believer passing by   ,but shall be    

overtaken unaware4      ,,lxix4         
,indeed1 the ,idols ,i have loved so    
long   ,have done my ,credit in ,men's  
,eye much wrong3     ,have drown'd my   
,honour in a shallow ,cup1   ,and sold  
my ,reputation for a ,song4      ,,lxx4 
,indeed1 indeed1 ,repentance oft before 
,i swore--but was ,i sober when ,i      
swore8     ,and then and then came      
,spring1 and ,rose-in-hand   ,my        
thread-bare ,penitence a-pieces tore4   
,,lxxi4     ,and much as ,wine has      
play'd the ,infidel1   ,and robb'd me of
 my ,robe of ,honour--well1     ,i often
 wonder what the ,vintners buy   ,one   
half so precious as the ,goods they     
sell4      ,,lxxii4     ,alas1 that     
,spring should vanish with the ,rose6   
,that ,youth's sweet-scented ,manuscript
 should close6     ,the ,nightingale    
that in the ,branches sang1   ,ah1      
whence1 and whither flown again1 who    
knows6      ,,lxxiii4     ,ah1 ,love6   
could thou and ,i with ,fate conspire   
,to grasp this sorry ,scheme of ,things 

entire1     ,would not we shatter it to 
bits--and then   ,re-mould it nearer to 
the ,heart's ,desire6      ,,lxxiv4     
,ah1 ,moon of my ,delight who know'st no
 wane1   ,the ,moon of ,heav'n is rising
 once again3     ,how oft hereafter     
rising shall she look   ,through this   
same ,garden after me--in vain6         
,,lxxv4     ,and when ,thyself with     
shining ,foot shall pass   ,among the   
,guests ,star-scatter'd on ,the ,grass1 
,and in ,thy joyous ,errand reach the   
,spot   ,where ,i made one--turn down an
 empty ,glass6      ,,tamam ,,shud4     
,fifth ,edition        ,i4     ,,wake6  
,for the ,sun1 who scatter'd into flight
   ,the ,stars before him from the      
,field of ,night1     ,drives ,night    
along with them from ,heav'n1 and       
strikes   ,the ,sultan's ,turret with a 
,shaft of ,light4      ,,ii4     ,before
 the phantom of ,false morning died1    
,methought a ,voice within the ,tavern  
cried1     ,when all the ,temple is     
prepared within1   ,why nods the drowsy 

,worshiper outside8      ,,iii4         
,and1 as the ,cock crew1 those who stood
 before   ,the ,tavern shouted--,open   
then the ,door6     ,you know how little
 while we have to stay1   ,and1 once    
departed1 may return no more4      ,,iv4
     ,now the ,new ,year reviving old   
,desires1   ,the thoughtful ,soul to    
,solitude retires1     ,where the       
,,white ,,hand ,,of ,,moses on the      
,bough   ,puts out1 and ,jesus from the 
,ground suspires4      ,v4     ,iram    
indeed is gone with all his ,rose1      
,and ,jamshyd's ,sev'n-ring'd ,cup where
 no one knows2     ,but still a ,ruby   
kindles in the ,vine1   ,and many a     
,garden by the ,water blows4      ,,vi4 
,and ,david's lips are lockt2 but in    
divine   ,high-piping ,pehlevi1 with    
,wine6 ,wine6 ,wine6     ,red           
,wine6--the ,nightingale cries to the   
,rose   ,that sallow cheek of hers to'  
incarnadine4      ,,vii4     ,come1 fill
 the ,cup1 and in the fire of ,spring   
,your ,winter garment of ,repentance    

fling3     ,the ,bird of ,time has but a
 little way   ,to flutter--and the ,bird
 is on the ,wing4      ,,viii4          
,whether at ,naishapur or ,babylon1     
,whether the ,cup with sweet or bitter  
run1     ,the ,wine of ,life keeps      
oozing drop by drop1   ,the ,leaves of  
,life keep falling one by one4          
,,ix4     ,each ,morn a thousand ,roses 
brings1 you say3   ,yes1 but where      
leaves the ,rose of ,yesterday8     ,and
 this first ,summer month that brings   
the ,rose   ,shall take ,jamshyd and    
,kaikobad away4      ,x4     ,well1 let 
it take them6  ,what have we to do      
,with ,kaikobad the ,great1 or          
,kaikhosru8     ,let ,zal and ,rustum   
bluster as they will1   ,or ,hatim call 
to ,supper--heed not you4      ,,xi4    
,with me along the strip of ,herbage    
strown   ,that just divides the desert  
from the sown1     ,where name of ,slave
 and ,sultan is forgot--   ,and ,peace  
to ,mahmud on his golden ,throne6       
,,xii4     ,a ,book of ,verses          

underneath the ,bough1   ,a ,jug of     
,wine1 a ,loaf of ,bread--and ,thou     
,beside me singing in the ,wilderness-- 
,oh1 ,wilderness were ,paradise enow6   
,,xiii4     ,some for the ,glories of   
,this ,world2 and some   ,sigh for the  
,prophet's ,paradise to come2     ,ah1  
take the ,cash1 and let the ,credit go1 
,nor heed the rumble of a distant ,drum6
      ,,xiv4     ,look to the blowing   
,rose about us--,lo1   ,laughing1 she   
says1 into the world ,i blow1     ,at   
once the silken tassel of my ,purse     
,tear1 and its ,treasure on the ,garden 
throw4      ,,xv4     ,and those who    
husbanded the ,golden grain1   ,and     
those who flung it to the winds like    
,rain1     ,alike to no such aureate    
,earth are turn'd   ,as1 buried once1   
,men want dug up again4      ,,xvi4     
,the ,worldly ,hope men set their       
,hearts upon   ,turns ,ashes--or it     
prospers2 and anon1     ,like ,snow upon
 the ,desert's dusty ,face1   ,lighting 
a little hour or two--is gone4          

,,xvii4     ,think1 in this batter'd    
,caravanserai   ,whose ,portals are     
alternate ,night and ,day1     ,how     
,sultan after ,sultan with his ,pomp    
,abode his destined ,hour1 and went his 
way4      ,,xviii4     ,they say the    
,lion and the ,lizard keep   ,the courts
 where ,jamshyd gloried and drank deep3 
,and ,bahram1 that great ,hunter--the   
,wild ,ass   ,stamps o'er his ,head1 but
 cannot break his ,sleep4      ,,xix4   
,i sometimes think that never blows so  
red   ,the ,rose as where some buried   
,caesar bled2     ,that every ,hyacinth 
the ,garden wears   ,dropt in her ,lap  
from some once lovely ,head4      ,,xx4 
,and this reviving ,herb whose tender   
,green   ,fledges the ,river-,lip on    
which we lean--     ,ah1 lean upon it   
lightly6 for who knows   ,from what once
 lovely ,lip it springs unseen6         
,,xxi4     ,ah1 my ,beloved1 fill the   
,cup that clears   ,,to-,,day of past   
,regrets and future ,fears3             
,to-morrow--,why1 ,to-morrow ,i may be  

,myself with ,yesterday's ,sev'n        
thousand ,years4      ,,xxii4     ,for  
some we loved1 the loveliest and the    
best   ,that from his ,vintage rolling  
,time hath prest1     ,have drunk their 
,cup a ,round or two before1   ,and one 
by one crept silently to rest4          
,,xxiii4     ,and we1 that now make     
merry in the ,room   ,they left1 and    
,summer dresses in new bloom1           
,ourselves must we beneath the ,couch of
 ,earth   ,descend--ourselves to make a 
,couch--for whom8      ,,xxiv4     ,ah1 
make the most of what we yet may spend1 
,before we too into the ,dust descend2  
,dust into ,dust1 and under ,dust to    
lie1   ,sans ,wine1 sans ,song1 sans    
,singer1 and--sans ,end6      ,,xxv4    
,alike for those who for ,,to-,,day     
prepare1   ,and those that after some   
,,to-,,morrow stare1     ,a ,muezzin    
from the ,tower of ,darkness cries1     
,fools6 your ,reward is neither ,here   
nor ,there4      ,,xxvi4     ,why1 all  
the ,saints and ,sages who discuss'd    

,of the ,two ,worlds so wisely--they are
 thrust     ,like foolish ,prophets     
forth2 their ,words to ,scorn   ,are    
scatter'd1 and their ,mouths are stopt  
with ,dust4      ,,xxvii4     ,myself   
when young did eagerly frequent         
,doctor and ,saint1 and heard great     
argument     ,about it and about3 but   
evermore   ,came out by the same door   
where in ,i went4      ,,xxviii4        
,with them the seed of ,wisdom did ,i   
sow1   ,and with mine own hand wrought  
to make it grow2     ,and this was all  
the ,harvest that ,i reap'd--   ,i came 
like ,water1 and like ,wind ,i go4      
,,xxix4     ,into this ,universe1 and   
,why not knowing   ,nor ,whence1 like   
,water willy-nilly flowing2     ,and out
 of it1 as ,wind along the ,waste1   ,i 
know not ,whither1 willy-nilly blowing4 
,,xxx4     ,what1 without asking1 hither
 hurried ,whence8   ,and1 without       
asking1 ,whither hurried hence6     ,oh1
 many a ,cup of this forbidden ,wine    
,must drown the memory of that          

insolence6      ,,xxxi4     ,up from    
,earth's ,center through the ,seventh   
,gate   ,i rose1 and on the ,throne of  
,saturn sate1     ,and many a ,knot     
unravel'd by the ,road2   ,but not the  
,master-knot of ,human ,fate4           
,,xxxii4     ,there was the ,door to    
which ,i found no ,key2   ,there was the
 ,veil through which ,i might not see3  
,some little talk awhile of ,,me and    
,,thee   ,there was--and then no more of
 ,,thee and ,,me4      ,,xxxiii4        
,earth could not answer2 nor the ,seas  
that mourn   ,in flowing ,purple1 of    
their ,lord ,forlorn2     ,nor rolling  
,heaven1 with all his ,signs reveal'd   
,and hidden by the sleeve of ,night and 
,morn4      ,,xxxiv4     ,then of the   
,,thee ,,in ,,me who works behind   ,the
 ,veil1 ,i lifted up my hands to find   
,a lamp amid the ,darkness2 and ,i      
heard1   ,as from ,without--,,the ,,me  
,,within ,,thee ,,blind6      ,,xxxv4   
,then to the ,lip of this poor earthen  
,urn   ,i lean'd1 the ,secret of my     

,life to learn3     ,and ,lip to ,lip it
 murmur'd--,while you live1             
,drink6--for1 once dead1 you never shall
 return4      ,,xxxvi4     ,i think the 
,vessel1 that with fugitive             
,articulation answer'd1 once did live1  
,and drink2 and ,ah6 the passive ,lip ,i
 kiss'd1   ,how many ,kisses might it   
take--and give6      ,,xxxvii4     ,for 
,i remember stopping by the way   ,to   
watch a ,potter thumping his wet ,clay3 
,and with its all-obliterated ,tongue   
,it murmur'd--,gently1 ,brother1 gently1
 pray6      ,,xxxviii4     ,and has not 
such a ,story from of ,old   ,down      
,man's successive generations roll'd    
,of such a clod of saturated ,earth     
,cast by the ,maker into ,human mold8   
,,xxxix4     ,and not a drop that from  
our ,cups we throw   ,for ,earth to     
drink of1 but may steal below     ,to   
quench the fire of ,anguish in some ,eye
   ,there hidden--far beneath1 and long 
ago4      ,,xl4     ,as then the ,tulip 
for her morning sup   ,of ,heav'nly     

,vintage from the soil looks up1     ,do
 you devoutly do the like1 till ,heav'n 
,to ,earth invert you--like an empty    
,cup4      ,,xli4     ,perplext no more 
with ,human or ,divine1   ,to-morrow's  
tangle to the winds resign1     ,and    
lose your fingers in the tresses of     
,the ,cypress-slender ,minister of      
,wine4      ,,xlii4     ,and if the     
,wine you drink1 the ,lip you press1    
,end in what ,all begins and ends       
in--,yes2     ,think then you are       
,,to-,,day what ,,yesterday   ,you      
were--,,to-,,morrow you shall not be    
less4      ,,xliii4     ,so when that   
,angel of the darker ,drink   ,at last  
shall find you by the river-brink1      
,and1 offering his ,cup1 invite your    
,soul   ,forth to your ,lips to         
quaff--you shall not shrink4            
,,xliv4     ,why1 if the ,soul can fling
 the ,dust aside1   ,and naked on the   
,air of ,heaven ride1     ,were't not a 
,shame--were't not a ,shame for him     
,in this clay carcass crippled to abide8

      ,,xlv4     ',tis but a ,tent where
 takes his one day's rest   ,a ,sultan  
to the realm of ,death addrest2     ,the
 ,sultan rises1 and the dark ,ferrash   
,strikes1 and prepares it for another   
,guest4      ,,xlvi4     ,and fear not  
lest ,existence closing your   ,account1
 and mine1 should know the like no more2
     ,the ,eternal ,saki from that ,bowl
 has pour'd   ,millions of ,bubbles like
 us1 and will pour4      ,,xlvii4       
,when ,you and ,i behind the ,veil are  
past1   ,oh1 but the long1 long while   
the ,world shall last1     ,which of our
 ,coming and ,departure heeds   ,as the 
,sea's self should heed a pebble-cast4  
,,xlviii4     ,a ,moment's ,halt--a     
momentary taste   ,of ,,being from the  
,well amid the ,waste--     ,and        
,lo6--the phantom ,caravan has reach'd  
,the ,,nothing it set out from--,oh1    
make haste6      ,,xlix4     ,would you 
that spangle of ,existence spend        
,about ,,the ,,secret--quick about it1  
,friend6     ,a ,hair perhaps divides   

the ,false from ,true--   ,and upon     
what1 prithee1 may life depend8      ,l4
     ,a ,hair perhaps divides the ,false
 and ,true2   ,yes2 and a single ,alif  
were the clue--     ,could you but find 
it--to the ,treasure-house1   ,and      
peradventure to ,,the ,,master too2     
,,li4     ,whose secret ,presence       
through ,creation's veins   ,running    
,quicksilver-like eludes your pains2    
,taking all shapes from ,mah to ,mahi   
and   ,they change and perish all--but  
,he remains2      ,,lii4     ,a moment  
guessed--then back behind the ,fold     
,immerst of ,darkness round the ,drama  
roll'd     ,which1 for the ,pastime of  
,eternity1   ,he doth ,himself contrive1
 enact1 behold4      ,,liii4     ,but if
 in vain1 down on the stubborn floor    
,of ,earth1 and up to ,heav'n's         
unopening ,door1     ,you gaze          
,,to-,,day1 while ,you are ,you--how    
then   ,,to-,,morrow1 when ,you shall be
 ,you no more8      ,,liv4     ,waste   
not your ,hour1 nor in the vain pursuit 

,of ,this and ,that endeavor and        
dispute2     ,better be jocund with the 
fruitful ,grape   ,than sadden after    
none1 or bitter1 ,fruit4      ,,lv4     
,you know1 my ,friends1 with what a     
brave ,carouse   ,i made a ,second      
,marriage in my house2     ,divorced old
 barren ,reason from my ,bed1   ,and    
took the ,daughter of the ,vine to      
,spouse4      ,,lvi4     ,for ,is and   
,is-not though with ,rule and ,line     
,and ,,up-,,and-,,down by ,logic ,i     
define1     ,of all that one should care
 to fathom1 ,i   was never deep in      
anything but--,wine4      ,,lvii4       
,ah1 by my ,computations1 ,people say1  
,reduce the ,year to better             
reckoning8--,nay1     ',twas only       
striking from the ,calendar   ,unborn   
,to-morrow and dead ,yesterday4         
,,lviii4     ,and lately1 by the ,tavern
 ,door agape1   ,came shining through   
the ,dusk an ,angel ,shape     ,bearing 
a ,vessel on his ,shoulder2 and   ,he   
bid me taste of it2 and 'twas--the      

,grape6      ,,lix4     ,the ,grape that
 can with ,logic absolute   ,the        
,two-and-,seventy jarring ,sects        
confute3     ,the sovereign ,alchemist  
that in a trice   ,life's leaden metal  
into ,gold transmute2      ,,lx4        
,the mighty ,mahmud1 ,allah-breathing   
,lord1   ,that all the misbelieving and 
black ,horde     ,of ,fears and ,sorrows
 that infest the ,soul   ,scatters      
before him with his whirlwind ,sword4   
,,lxi4     ,why1 be this ,juice the     
growth of ,god1 who dare   ,blaspheme   
the twisted tendril as a ,snare8     ,a 
,blessing1 we should use it1 should we  
not8   ,and if a ,curse--why1 then1 ,who
 set it there8      ,,lxii4     ,i must 
abjure the ,balm of ,life1 ,i must1     
,scared by some ,after-reckoning ta'en  
on trust1     ,or lured with ,hope of   
some ,diviner ,drink1   ,to fill the    
,cup--when crumbled into ,dust6         
,,lxiii4     ,of threats of ,hell and   
,hopes of ,paradise6   ,one thing at    
least is certain--,this ,life flies2    

,one thing is certain and the rest is   
,lies2   ,the ,flower that once has     
blown for ever dies4      ,,lxiv4       
,strange1 is it not8 that of the myriads
 who   ,before us pass'd the door of    
,darkness through1     ,not one returns 
to tell us of the ,road1   ,which to    
discover we must travel too4      ,,lxv4
     ,the ,revelations of ,devout and   
,learn'd   ,who rose before us1 and as  
,prophets burn'd1     ,are all but      
,stories1 which1 awoke from ,sleep      
,they told their comrades1 and to ,sleep
 return'd4      ,,lxvi4     ,i sent my  
,soul through the ,invisible1   ,some   
letter of that ,after-life to spell3    
,and by and by my ,soul return'd to me1 
,and answer'd ,i ,myself am ,heav'n and 
,hell3      ,,lxvii4     ,heav'n but the
 ,vision of fulfill'd ,desire1   ,and   
,hell the ,shadow from a ,soul on fire1 
,cast on the ,darkness into which       
,ourselves1   ,so late emerged from1    
shall so soon expire4      ,,lxviii4    
,we are no other than a moving row   ,of

 ,magic ,shadow-shapes that come and go 
,round with the ,sun-illumined ,lantern 
held   ,in ,midnight by the ,master of  
the ,show2      ,,lxix4     ,but        
helpless ,pieces of the ,game ,he plays 
,upon this ,chequer-board of ,nights and
 ,days2     ,hither and thither moves1  
and checks1 and slays1   ,and one by one
 back in the ,closet lays4      ,,lxx4  
,the ,ball no question makes of ,ayes   
and ,noes1   ,but ,here or ,there as    
strikes the ,player goes2     ,and ,he  
that toss'd you down into the ,field1   
,he knows about it all--,,he knows--,,he
 knows6      ,,lxxi4     ,the ,moving   
,finger writes2 and1 having writ1       
,moves on3 nor all your ,piety nor ,wit 
,shall lure it back to cancel half a    
,line1   ,nor all your ,tears wash out a
 ,word of it4      ,,lxxii4     ,and    
that inverted ,bowl they call the ,sky1 
,whereunder crawling coop'd we live and 
die1     ,lift not your hands to ,it for
 help--for ,it   ,as impotently moves as
 you or ,i4      ,,lxxiii4     ,with    

,earth's first ,clay ,they did the ,last
 ,man knead1   ,and there of the ,last  
,harvest sow'd the ,seed3     ,and the  
first ,morning of ,creation wrote       
,what the ,last ,dawn of ,reckoning     
shall read4      ,,lxxiv4               
,,yesterday ,this ,day's ,madness did   
prepare2   ,,to-,,morrow's ,silence1    
,triumph1 or ,despair3     ,drink6 for  
you not know whence you came1 nor why3  
,drink6 for you know not why you go1 nor
 where4      ,,lxxv4     ,i tell you    
this--,when1 started from the ,goal1    
,over the flaming shoulders of the ,foal
     ,of ,heav'n ,parwin and ,mushtari  
they flung1   ,in my predestined ,plot  
of ,dust and ,soul4      ,,lxxvi4       
,the ,vine had struck a fiber3 which    
about   ,if clings my ,being--let the   
,dervish flout2     ,of my ,base metal  
may be filed a ,key   ,that shall unlock
 the ,door he howls without4            
,,lxxvii4     ,and this ,i know3 whether
 the one ,true ,light   ,kindle to      
,love1 or ,wrath consume me quite1      

,one ,flash of ,it within the ,tavern   
caught   ,better than in the ,temple    
lost outright4      ,,lxxviii4          
,what6 out of senseless ,nothing to     
provoke   ,a conscious ,something to    
resent the yoke     ,of unpermitted     
,pleasure1 under pain   ,of ,everlasting
 ,penalties1 if broke6      ,,lxxix4    
,what6 from his helpless ,creature be   
repaid   ,pure ,gold for what he lent   
him dross-allay'd--     ,sue for a ,debt
 he never did contract1   ,and cannot   
answer--,oh the sorry trade6            
,,lxxx4     ,oh ,thou1 who didst with   
pitfall and with gin   ,beset the ,road 
,i was to wander in1     ,thou wilt not 
with ,predestined ,evil round   ,enmesh1
 and then impute my ,fall to ,sin6      
,,lxxxi4     ,oh ,thou1 who ,man of     
baser ,earth didst make1   ,and ev'n    
with ,paradise devise the ,snake3       
,for all the ,sin wherewith the ,face of
 ,man   ,is blacken'd--,man's           
forgiveness give--and take6             
9999999999      ,,lxxxii4     ,as under 

cover of departing ,day   ,slunk        
hunger-stricken ,ramazan away1     ,once
 more within the ,potter's house alone  
,i stood1 surrounded by the ,shapes of  
,clay4      ,,lxxxiii4     ,shapes of   
all ,sorts and ,sizes1 great and small1 
,that stood along the floor and by the  
wall2     ,and some loquacious ,vessels 
were2 and some   ,listen'd perhaps1 but 
never talk'd at all4      ,,lxxxiv4     
,said one among them--,surely not in    
vain   ,my substance of the common      
,earth was ta'en     ,and to this       
,figure molded1 to be broke1   ,or      
trampled back to shapeless ,earth again4
      ,,lxxxv4     ,then said a         
,second--,ne'er a peevish ,boy   ,would 
break the ,bowl from which he drank in  
joy2     ,and ,he that with his hand the
 ,vessel made   ,will surely not in     
after ,wrath destroy4      ,,lxxxvi4    
,after a momentary silence spake   ,some
 ,vessel of a more ungainly ,make2      
,they sneer at me for leaning all awry3 
,what6 did the ,hand then of the ,potter

 shake8      ,,lxxxvii4     ,whereat    
some one of the loquacious ,lot--   ,i  
think a ,sufi pipkin--waxing hot--      
,all this of ,pot and ,potter--,tell me 
then1   ,who is the ,potter1 pray1 and  
who the ,pot8      ,,lxxxviii4     ,why1
 said another1 ,some there are who tell 
,of one who threatens he will toss to   
,hell     ,the luckless ,pots he marr'd 
in making--,pish6   ,he's a ,good       
,fellow1 and 'twill all be well4        
,,lxxxix4     ,well1 murmured one1 ,let 
whoso make or buy1   ,my ,clay with long
 ,oblivion is gone dry3     ,but fill me
 with the old familiar ,juice1          
,methinks ,i might recover by and by4   
,,xc4     ,so while the ,vessels one by 
one were speaking1   ,the little ,moon  
look'd in that all were seeking3        
,and then they jogg'd each other1       
,brother6 ,brother6   ,now for the      
,porter's shoulders' knot a-creaking6   
9999999999      ,,xci4     ,ah1 with the
 ,grape my fading life provide1   ,and  
wash the ,body whence the ,life has     

died1     ,and lay me1 shrouded in the  
living ,leaf1   ,by some not            
unfrequented ,garden-side4      ,,xcii4 
,that ev'n buried ,ashes such a snare   
,of ,vintage shall fling up into the    
,air     ,as not a ,true-believer       
passing by   ,but shall be overtaken    
unaware4      ,,xciii4     ,indeed the  
,idols ,i have loved so long   ,have    
done my credit in this ,world much      
wrong3     ,have drown'd my ,glory in a 
shallow ,cup1   ,and sold my reputation 
for a ,song4      ,,xciv4     ,indeed1  
indeed1 ,repentance oft before   ,i     
swore--but was ,i sober when ,i swore8  
,and then and then came ,spring1 and    
,rose-in-hand   ,my thread-bare         
,penitence apieces tore4      ,,xcv4    
,and much as ,wine has play'd the       
,infidel1   ,and robb'd me of my ,robe  
of ,honor--,well1     ,i wonder often   
what the ,vintners buy   ,one half so   
precious as the stuff they sell4        
,,xcvi4     ,yet ,ah1 that ,spring      
should vanish with the ,rose6   ,that   

,youth's sweet-scented manuscript should
 close6     ,the ,nightingale that in   
the branches sang1   ,ah whence1 and    
whither flown again1 who knows6         
,,xcvii4     ,would but the ,desert of  
the ,fountain yield   ,one glimpse--if  
dimly1 yet indeed1 reveal'd1     ,to    
which the fainting ,traveler might      
spring1   ,as springs the trampled      
herbage of the field6      ,,xcviii4    
,would but some winged ,angel ere too   
late   ,arrest the yet unfolded ,roll of
 ,fate1     ,and make the stern         
,recorder otherwise   ,enregister1 or   
quite obliterate6      ,,xcix4     ,ah  
,love6 could you and ,i with ,him       
conspire   ,to grasp this sorry ,scheme 
of ,things entire1     ,would not we    
shatter it to bits--and then   ,re-mold 
it nearer to the ,heart's ,desire6      
,c4     ,yon rising ,moon that looks for
 us again--   ,how oft hereafter will   
she wax and wane2     ,how oft hereafter
 rising look for us   ,through this same
 ,garden--and for one in vain6          

,,ci4     ,and when like her1 oh ,saki1 
you shall pass   ,among the ,guests     
,star-scatter'd on the ,grass1     ,and 
in your joyous errand reach the spot    
,where ,i made ,one--turn down an empty 
,glass6      ,,tamam4            ,notes3
      ,the references are1 except in the
 first note only1 to the stanzas of  the
 ,fifth edition4      7,stanza ,i47     
,flinging a ,stone into the ,cup was the
 signal for ,to  ,horse6 in the ,desert4
    7,,ii47 ,the ,false ,dawn2 ,subhi   
,kazib1 a transient ,light on the       
,horizon  about an hour before the      
,subhi sadik or ,true ,dawn2 a          
well-known  ,phenomenon in the ,east4   
7,,iv47 ,new ,year4  ,beginning with the
 ,vernal ,equinox1 it must be           
remembered2 and 7howsoever the old      
,solar ,year is practically  superseded 
by the clumsy ,lunar ,year that dates   
from the ,mohammedan  ,hijra7 still     
commemorated by a ,festival that is said
 to have been  appointed by the very    
,jamshyd whom ,omar so often talks of1  

and whose  yearly ,calendar he helped to
 rectify4    ,the sudden approach and   
rapid advance of the ,spring1 says ,mr4 
,binning1 are very striking4  ,before   
the ,snow is well off the ,ground1  the 
,trees burst into ,blossom1 and the     
,flowers start from the ,soil4  ,at     
,naw ,rooz 7their ,new ,year's ,day7 the
 ,snow was lying in patches on the      
,hills and in the shaded ,vallies1 while
 the ,fruit-trees in the ,garden  were  
budding beautifully1 and green ,plants  
and ,flowers springing upon  the ,plains
 on every side--      ',and on old      
,hyems' ,chin and icy ,crown     ,an    
odorous ,chaplet of sweet ,summer buds  
,is1 as in mockery1 set--'--    ,among  
the ,plants newly appear'd ,i recognized
 some ,acquaintances ,i had  not seen   
for many a ,year3 among these1 two      
varieties of the ,thistle2 a  coarse    
species of the ,daisy1 like the         
,horse-gowan2 red and white  clover2 the
 ,dock2 the blue ,cornflower2 and that  
vulgar ,herb the  ,dandelion rearing its

 yellow crest on the ,banks of the      
,water-courses4  ,the ,nightingale was  
not yet heard1 for the ,rose was not yet
 blown3 but  an almost identical        
,blackbird and ,woodpecker helped to    
make up  something of a ,north-country  
,spring4    ,the ,white ,hand of ,moses4
  ,exodus iv4 #f2 where ,moses draws    
forth his  ,hand--not1 according to the 
,persians1 leprous as ,snow1 but white1 
as  our ,may-blossom in ,spring perhaps4
  ,according to them also the ,healing  
,power of ,jesus resided in his ,breath4
    7,v47 ,iram1 planted by ,king       
,shaddad1 and now sunk somewhere in the 
,sands of ,arabia4  ,jamshyd's          
,seven-ring'd ,cup was typical of the #g
  ,heavens1 #g ,planets1 #g ,seas1 c41  
and was a ,divining ,cup4    7,,vi47    
,pehlevi1 the old ,heroic ,sanskrit of  
,persia4  ,hafiz also speaks  of the    
,nightingale's ,pehlevi1 which did not  
change with the ,people's4    ,i am not 
sure if the fourth line refers to the   
,red ,rose looking  sickly1 or to the   

,yellow ,rose that ought to be ,red2    
,red1 ,white1 and  ,yellow ,roses all   
common in ,persia4  ,i think that       
,southey in his ,common-  ,place ,book1 
quotes from some ,spanish author about  
the ,rose being ,white  till #aj        
o'clock2 ,rosa ,perfecta at #b2 and     
perfecta incarnada at #e4    7,x47      
,rustum1 the ,hercules of ,persia1 and  
,zal his ,father1 whose  exploits are   
among the most celebrated in the        
,shahnama4  ,hatim ,tai1 a  well-known  
type of ,oriental ,generosity4          
7,,xiii47 ,a ,drum--beaten outside a    
,palace4    7,,xiv47 ,that is1 the      
,rose's ,golden ,centre4    7,,xviii47  
,persepolis3 call'd also                
,takht-i-,jam-shyd--,,the ,,throne ,,of 
,,jamshyd1 ,king ,splendid1 of the      
mythical ,peshdadian ,dynasty1 and      
supposed 7according to the ,shah-nama7  
to have been founded and built  by him4 
,others refer it to the ,work of the    
,genie ,king1 ,jan ,ibn  ,jan--who also 
built the ,pyramids--before the time of 

,adam4    ,,bahram ,,gur4--,bahram of   
the ,wild ,ass--a ,sassanian            
,sovereign--had also  his ,seven        
,castles 7like the ,king of ,bohemia67  
each of a different  ,colour3 each with 
a ,royal ,mistress within2 each of whom 
tells him a  ,story1 as told in one of  
the most famous ,poems of ,persia1      
written by  ,amir ,khusraw3 all these   
,sevens also figuring 7according to     
,eastern  ,mysticism7 the ,seven        
,heavens2 and perhaps the ,book itself  
that ,eighth1  into which the mystical  
,seven transcend1 and within which they 
revolve4  ,the ,ruins of ,three of those
 ,towers are yet shown by the           
,peasantry2 as also the ,swamp in which 
,bahram sunk1 like the ,master of       
,ravenswood1 while pursuing his ,gur4   
,the ,palace that to ,heav'n his pillars
 threw1    ,and ,kings the forehead on  
his threshold drew--       ,i saw the   
solitary ,ringdove there1    ,and ,coo1 
coo1 coo1 she cried2 and ,coo1 coo1 coo4
    ,included in ,nicolas's edition as  

,no4 #cej of the ,rubaiyat1 and also in 
,mr4 ,whinfield's translation4    ,this 
,quatrain ,mr4 ,binning found1 among    
several of ,hafiz and others1  inscribed
 by some stray hand among the ruins of  
,persepolis4  ,the  ,ringdove's ancient 
,pehlevi ,coo1 ,coo1 ,coo1 signifies    
also in ,persian  ,where8 ,where8       
,where8  ,in ,attar's ,bird-parliament  
she is reproved  by the ,leader of the  
,birds for sitting still1 and for ever  
harping on  that one note of lamentation
 for her lost ,yusuf4    ,apropos of    
,omar's ,red ,roses in ,stanza xix1 ,i  
am reminded of an old  ,english         
,superstition1 that our ,anemone        
,pulsatilla1 or purple ,pasque  ,flower1
 7which grows plentifully about the     
,fleam ,dyke1 near  ,cambridge17 grows  
only where ,danish ,blood has been      
spilt4    7,,xxi47 ,a thousand years to 
each ,planet4    7,,xxxi47 ,saturn1     
,lord of the ,seventh ,heaven4          
7,,xxxii47 ,,me-,,and-,,thee3 some      
dividual ,existence or ,personality     

distinct  from the ,whole4              
7,,xxxvii47 ,one of the ,persian        
,poets--,attar1 ,i think--has a pretty  
story  about this4  ,a thirsty          
,traveller dips his hand into a ,spring 
of ,water  to drink from4  ,by-and-by   
comes another who draws up and drinks   
from  an earthen bowl1 and then departs1
 leaving his ,bowl behind him4  ,the    
first ,traveller takes it up for another
 draught2 but is surprised to  find that
 the same ,water which had tasted sweet 
from his own hand  tastes bitter from   
the earthen ,bowl4  ,but a ,voice--from 
,heaven1 ,i  think--tells him the clay  
from which the ,bowl is made was once   
,man2  and1 into whatever shape renew'd1
 can never lose the bitter flavour of   
,mortality4    7,,xxxix47 ,the custom of
 throwing a little ,wine on the ground  
before  drinking still continues in     
,persia1 and perhaps generally in the   
,east4  ,mons4 ,nicolas considers it un 
signe de liberalite1 et en meme temps   
un avertissement que le buveur doit     

vider sa coupe jusqu'a la derniere      
goutte4  ,is it not more likely an      
ancient ,superstition2 a ,libation to   
propitiate ,earth1 or make her an       
,accomplice in the illicit ,revel8  ,or1
  perhaps1 to divert the ,jealous ,eye  
by some sacrifice of superfluity1  as   
with the ,ancients of the ,west8  ,with 
,omar we see something more is          
signified2 the precious ,liquor is not  
lost1 but sinks into the ground  to     
refresh the dust of some poor           
,wine-worshipper foregone4    ,thus     
,hafiz1 copying ,omar in so many ways3  
,when thou drinkest ,wine  pour a       
draught on the ground4  ,wherefore fear 
the ,sin which brings to  another ,gain8
    7,,xliii47 ,according to one        
beautiful ,oriental ,legend1 ,azrael    
accomplishes his mission by holding to  
the nostril an ,apple from the  ,tree of
 ,life4    ,this1 and the two following 
,stanzas would have been withdrawn1 as  
somewhat de trop1 from the ,text1 but   
for advice which ,i least like to       

disregard4    7,,li47 ,from ,mah to     
,mahi2 from ,fish to ,moon4    7,,lvi47 
,a ,jest1 of course1 at his ,studies4   
,a curious mathematical  ,quatrain of   
,omar's has been pointed out to me2 the 
more curious  because almost exactly    
parallel'd by some ,verses of ,doctor   
,donne's1  that are quoted in ,izaak    
,walton's ,lives6  ,here is ,omar3 ,you 
and ,i are  the image of a pair of      
compasses2 though we have two heads 7sc4
 our  feet7 we have one body2 when we   
have fixed the centre for our circle1   
we bring our heads 7sc4 feet7 together  
at the end4  ,dr4 ,donne3      ,if we be
 two1 we two are so       ,as stiff     
twin-compasses are two2    ,thy ,soul1  
the fixt foot1 makes no show       ,to  
move1 but does if the other do4         
,and though thine in the centre sit1    
,yet when my other far does roam1       
,thine leans and hearkens after it1     
,and rows erect as mine comes home4     
,such thou must be to me1 who must      
,like the other foot obliquely run2     

,thy firmness makes my circle just1     
,and me to end where ,i begun4          
7,,lix47 ,the ,seventy-two ,religions   
supposed to divide the ,world1          
including ,islamism1 as some think3 but 
others not4    7,,lx47 ,alluding to     
,sultan ,mahmud's ,conquest of ,india   
and its dark  people4    7,,lxviii47    
,fanusi khiyal1 a ,magic-lanthorn still 
used in ,india2 the  cylindrical        
,interior being painted with various    
,figures1 and so  lightly poised and    
ventilated as to revolve round the      
lighted ,candle  within4    7,,lxx47 ,a 
very mysterious ,line in the ,original3 
,o danad ,o danad ,o danad ,o--         
breaking off something like our         
,wood-pigeon's ,note1 which she is said 
to take up just where she left off4     
7,,lxxv47 ,parwin and ,mushtari--,the   
,pleiads and ,jupiter4    7,,lxxxvii47  
,this ,relation of ,pot and ,potter to  
,man and his ,maker  figures far and    
wide in the ,literature of the ,world1  
from the time of  the ,hebrew ,prophets 

to the present2 when it may finally take
 the name  of ,pot theism1 by which ,mr4
 ,carlyle ridiculed ,sterling's         
,pantheism4  ,my ,sheikh1 whose         
knowledge flows in from all quarters1   
writes to me--    ,apropos of old       
,omar's ,pots1 did ,i ever tell you the 
sentence ,i found  in ',bishop ,pearson 
on the ,creed'8  ',thus are we wholly at
 the disposal  of ,his will1 and our    
present and future condition framed and 
ordered  by ,his free1 but wise and     
just1 decrees4  ,hath not the potter    
power  over the clay1 of the same lump  
to make one vessel unto honour1 and     
another unto dishonour8  7,rom4 ix4     
#ba47  ,and can that earth-artificer    
have a freer power over his brother     
potsherd 7both being made of the  same  
metal71 than ,god hath over him1 who1 by
 the strange fecundity of  ,his         
omnipotent power1 first made the clay   
out of nothing1 and then him  out of    
that8'    ,and again--from a very       
different quarter--,i had to refer the  

other  day to ,aristophanes1 and came by
 chance on a curious ,speaking-pot      
story in the ,vespae1 which ,i had quite
 forgotten4    ,greek text deleted from 
etext4    ,the ,pot calls a bystander to
 be a witness to his bad treatment4     
,the  woman says1 ',if1 by ,proserpine1 
instead of all this 'testifying'  7comp4
 ,cuddie and his mother in ',old        
,mortality6'7 you would buy  yourself a 
rivet1 it would show more sense in you6'
  ,the ,scholiast  explains echinus as  
,greek phrase deleted from etext4       
,one more illustration for the oddity's 
sake from the ,autobiography of  a      
,cornish ,rector1 by the late ,james    
,hamley ,tregenna4  #ahga4    ,there was
 one odd ,fellow in our ,company--he was
 so like a ,figure in  the ',pilgrim's  
,progress' that ,richard always called  
him the  ',,allegory1' with a long white
 beard--a rare ,appendage in those      
days--and a ,face the colour of which   
seemed to have been baked in1  like the 
,faces one used to see on ,earthenware  

,jugs4  ,in our ,country-  dialect      
,earthenware is called ',clome'2 so the 
,boys of the ,village used  to shout out
 after him--',go back to the ,potter1   
,old ,clomeface1 and get  baked over    
again4'  ,for the ',allegory1' though   
shrewd enough in most  things1 had the  
reputation of being 'saift-baked1' i4e41
 of weak  intellect4    7,,xc47 ,at the 
,close of the ,fasting ,month1 ,ramazan 
7which makes the  ,mussulman unhealthy  
and unamiable71 the first ,glimpse of   
the ,new ,moon  7who rules their        
division of the ,year7 is looked for    
with the utmost  ,anxiety1 and hailed   
with ,acclamation4  ,then it is that the
 ,porter's  ,knot maybe heard--toward   
the ,cellar4  ,omar has elsewhere a     
pretty  ,quatrain about the same ,moon--
     ,be of ,good ,cheer--the sullen    
,month will die1    ,and a young ,moon  
requite us by and by3      ,look how the
 ,old one meagre1 bent1 and wan    ,with
 ,age and ,fast1 is fainting from the   
,sky6