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Home  »  Familiar Quotations  »  Omar Khayyam fl 11th ent John Bartlett

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

Omar Khayyam fl 11th ent John Bartlett

 
1
    I sometimes think that never blows so red
The Rose as where some buried Cæsar bled;
  That every Hyacinth the Garden wears
Dropt in her Lap from some once lovely Head.
          Rubáiyát. Stanza xix.
2
    A Moment’s Halt—a momentary taste
Of BEING from the Well amid the Waste—
  And, Lo! the phantom Caravan has reach’d
The NOTHING it set out from. Oh, make haste!
          Rubáiyát. Stanza xlviii.
3
    Heav’n but the Vision of fulfill’d Desire,
And Hell the Shadow of a Soul on fire.
          Rubáiyát. Stanza lxvii.
4
    The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit
  Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
          Rubáiyát. Stanza lxxi.
5
    And this I know: whether the one True Light
Kindle to Love, or Wrath-consume me quite,
  One Flash of It within the Tavern caught
Better than in the Temple lost outright.
          Rubáiyát. Stanza lxxvii.
6
    And when like her, O Sáki, you shall pass
Among the Guests Star-scatter’d on the Grass,
  And in your blissful errand reach the spot
Where I made One—turn down an empty Glass.
          Rubáiyát. Stanza ci.