IX

But come with old Khayyám, and leave the Lot
Of Kaikobád and Kaikhosru forgot :

Let Rustum lay about him as he will,
Or Hátim Tai cry Supper-heed them not.

X

With me along some Strip of Herbage strown
That just divides the desert from the sown,

Where name of Slave and Sultán scarce is known, And pity Sultán Máhmúd on his Throne.

XI

Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse—and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.

XII

How sweet is mortal Sovranty '-think some: Others How blest the Paradise to come!

Ah, take the Cash in hand and waive the Rest ; Oh, the brave Music of a distant Drum!

XIII

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."

XIV

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.

XV

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.

XVI

Think, in this batter'd Caravanserai

Whose Doorways are alternate Night and Day,
How Sultán after Sultán with his Pomp
Abode his Hour or two, and went his way.

XVII

They say the Lion and the Lizard keep
The Courts where Jamshýd gloried and drank deep;
And Bahrám, that great Hunter-the Wild Ass
Stamps o'er his Head, and he lies fast asleep.

XVIII

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.

XIX

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!

XX

Ah, my Belovéd, 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.

XXI

Lo! some we loved, the loveliest and 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.

XXII

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?

XXIII

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!

XXIV

Alike for those who for To-DAY prepare,

And those that after a TO-MORROW stare,

A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries Reward is neither Here nor There !

'Fools! your

XXV

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.

XXVI

Oh, come with old Khayyám, 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.

XXVII

Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same Door as in I went.

XXVIII

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.'

XXIX

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.

XXX

What, without asking, hither hurried whence?
And, without asking, whither hurried hence !
Another and another Cup to drown
The Memory of this Impertinence !

XXXI

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.

XXXII

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 seem'd-and then no more of THEE and ME.

XXXIII

Then to the rolling Heav'n itself I cried,

6

Asking, What Lamp had Destiny to guide

Her little Children stumbling in the Dark?' And-' A blind Understanding!' Heav'n replied.

XXXIV

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.'

XXXV

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!

XXXVI

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!'

XXXVII

Ah, fill the Cup -what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:
Unborn To-MORROW and dead YESTERDAY,
Why fret about them if To-DAY be sweet!

XXXVIII

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!