Omar Khayyám

Quotes

1. And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky.

2. 

   There was the Door to which I found no Key;

   There was the Veil through which I might not see:

   Some little talk awhile of and

   There was — and then no more of and .

3. 

   And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press

   End in what All begins and ends in — Yes;

   Think then you are To-day what Yesterday

   You were — To-morrow You shall not be less.

4. 

   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!

5. 

   For "" and "" though with Rule and Line,

   And, "Up-and-down" without, I could define,

   I yet in all I only cared to know,

   Was never deep in anything but — Wine.

6. 

   The Revelations of Devout and Learn'd

   Who rose before us, and as Prophets burn'd,

   Are all but Stories, which, awoke from Sleep,

   They told their comrades, and to Sleep return'd.

7. 

   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 and

   There seemed — and then no more of and .

8. 

   I sent my Soul through the Invisible,

   Some letter of that After-life to spell:

   And by and by my Soul return'd to me,

   And answer'd "I Myself am Heav'n and Hell."

9. 

   But Here or There as strikes the Player goes.

10. 

    One Flash of It within the Tavern caught.

11. 

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

    And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire,

    Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves,

    So late emerged from, shall so soon expire.

12. 

    What, without asking, hither hurried whence?

    And, without asking, whither hurried hence!

    Another and another Cup to drown

    The Memory of this Impertinence!