Wednesday, May 21, 2008

XXVI


Oh, come with old Khayyam,
and leave the wise to talk:

One thing is certain and the rest is lies.

The flower that once has blown
forever dies.



This is just one of many quatrains from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the astronomer poet of Persia. He was born, it is said, about 1018, and died in 1123, at the age of one hundred and five. Translated by Edward Fitzgerald in 1859.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

beautiful hands. Just lovely, really.