Page:Quatrains of Omar Khayyam (tr. Whinfield, 1883).djvu/340

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
284
THE QUATRAINS OF

423.

With going to and fro in this sad vale
Thou art grown double, and thy credit stale,
    Thy nails are thickened like a horse's hoof,
Thy beard is ragged as an ass's tail.


424.

O unenlightened race of humankind,
Ye are a nothing, built on empty wind!
    Yea, a mere nothing, hovering in the abyss,
A void before you, and a void behind!


425.

Each morn I say, "To-night I will repent
Of wine, and tavern haunts no more frequent;"
    But while 'tis spring, and roses are in bloom,
To loose me from my promise, O consent!


423.   C. L. A. I. J.   A description of old age.

424.   C. L. A. I. J.   The technical name for existence between two non-existences is Takwín.   Bl.   Ain i Akbari, p. 198.   Compare the term "nunc slans," applied to Time by the Schoolmen.