Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-05-29
EXISTENCE.
EY OMAR KuAYYAM.
A Persian Tod Of he T,peifh O,.tury.


We're II not folly .ipidGr-like TO spin
The thread Of pr cent life away. to win
whatG For ourselves, who know bot II we shall
Breathe out the very brcath|we now breathe in
Think in this battered Garavanscrai,
Whose portals arc alternate night and day,
How Sultan after Sultan with his pomp
Abode his destucd hour, and went his way.
They say the lion and The lizard keep
The courts where Janshyd gloried and drankdcep;
And Bahram, that great buntcr-thc wild ass
Stamps DER his head but cannot break his sleep.
And some we loved, the loyeicst AMI the best
That from his vintage rolling Time has prest,
Have drunk their cup round or two, and then
Have one by one crept silently to rest.
sometimes think that never blows so red
The rose as where SOME buried Cesar bled;
That every IIyacinth the garden wears
Dropt in her lap from some once lovely heal
Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and saint, and heard great argument
About IL and about: but evermors
Came out by the same door rs in I went.
With them the seed Of wisdom did SOW,
And with my own hand wrought 10 make II grow
But this was all the harvest that reapcd-
"I came like water and like wind go"
And remember stopping 10y tho way
To watch potter humping his wet clay:
And with ali-oblitcrtcd tongue
It munnurcd-"(icntly, BROTHER, gently, pray"
When you and I.behind tho veil have passed,
Oh but the long long while the word shall last,
Which of our coming and departure hecls
As much as ocean Of pebble cast.
But fear not lest Existence closing your
Account should lose, or know the type no more;
The eternal Saki from that bowl has pour'd
Millions Of bubbles like us-and will pour
Ono moment In annihilation's waste,
One moment Of the well Of Life 10 taste
The stars are setting, and the caravan
Draws to the dawn OF Nothing, oh make haste.
This lifcis but tent, wherein may rest
a sultan 10 the REALM Of Death addrcst:
The sultan rises and the dark Ferrash
Strikes and prepares il for another guest.
Impotent pieces Of the game lie plays
Upon this chequcf-bOarl Of nights and days;
IIither and thitbcr moves, and checks and Stays;
Then one by one back in the closet lays.
The moving finger writes; and having writ
Movas on; nor all your piety nor wit
Shall lure Il back to cancel half llnc,
MOI all your fears wash out word Of II.
And that inverted bowl We call the sky
Whereunder crawling coopel We live and die,
Lift not your hauds % 1t for hclp-for II
As impotcntly rolls as you or /,
oh II this world were but rc-crcatc,
That wo might catch, ecr closed, the Book of Fat
And make the writer on faircr leaf,
Inscribc our names--or quite Oblitorato
Bettor, oh better cancel from tho scroll
Oruniycrsc ono lucklcss human soul,
Than drop by drop enlarge the flood tilat rolls
Hoarser with anguish as the ages roll
All, Iovo! could you and with Fate conspire
To grasp this sorry scheme Of things entire,
Would not VIC sllatter 1t TO bi's-and then
Renould II nearer W our hearts desire?
But sec! Tho risirg moon ofhcayon ugain
Looks for us, Sweetheart through the quivcripg
plain
How oft hereafter rising will she look
Among those Ieayes-lor one OF in vain.