I
Awake! for morning in the bowl of night
Has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight:
And Lo! the hunter of the East has caught
The Sultán's turret in a noose of light.
IX
Whether at Naishápúr or Babylon
Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run,
The Wine of Live keeps oozing drop by drop
The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.
XVII
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.
XXV
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!
XXVI
Alike for those for TO-DAY prepare,
And those that after some TO-MORROW stare,
A Mezzín from the Tower of Darkness cries,
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There".
XXVII
Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss'd
Of the Two worlds so wisely - they are thrust
Like foolish Prophets forth; their Words to scorn
Are scatter'd, and their Mouths are stop with Dust.
XXXVI
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".
XXXVIII
For I remember stopping by the way
To watch a Potter thumping his wet Clay:
And with its all-obliterated Tongue
It murmur'd - "Gently, Brother, gently, pray!"
XLIV
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.
XLV
While the Rose blows along the River Brink,
With old Khayyám the Ruby Vintage drink:
And when the Angel with his Darker Draught
Draws up to thee - take that, and do not shrink.
L
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!
LIII
Whose secret Presence through Creation's veins
Running Quicksilver-like eludes your pains;
Taking all shapes from Máh to Máhi; and
They change and perish all - but He remains;
LVIII
For "is" and "is-not" though with rule and line
And "up-and-down" by Logic I define,
Of all one should care to fathom, I
Was never deep in anything but - Wine.
LXVI
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.
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.
XLV
While the Rose blows along the River Brink,
With old Khayyám the Ruby Vintage drink:
And when the Angel with his Darker Draught
Draws up to thee - take that, and do not shrink.
L
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!
LIII
Whose secret Presence through Creation's veins
Running Quicksilver-like eludes your pains;
Taking all shapes from Máh to Máhi; and
They change and perish all - but He remains;
LVIII
For "is" and "is-not" though with rule and line
And "up-and-down" by Logic I define,
Of all one should care to fathom, I
Was never deep in anything but - Wine.
LXVI
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.
