UC-NRLF *C 13 SSE »«AITAT ®E ,-1 u f4^h > M ^ I v-^ T\X^- —JY ^)) ^ \Sfe^\^ /^ -r-i .r\rss Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/dodgerubaiyatOOomarrich BELCHEP Copyright, 1905, by Dodge Publishing Company IF i HIS CHARACTER SIGNIFIES STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL. HIS COLOR SIGNIFICANT OF THE PHYSICAL O F THE MENTAL O F THE SPIRITUAL T- HE SIGN OF SATURN OR ■ THE SEVENTH HEAVEN A BIRD CAN FLY WITHOUT -, WINGS XPRESSES MY GRATITUDE TO JOAQUIN MILLEPv GEORGE STERLING GEOFkGE W. JAMES AND OTHERS WHO HAVE RENDERED VALUABLE ASSIST^ ANCE IN POSING FOR THESE ILLUSTRATIONS AND TO ORLOF ORLOW FOR COS^ TUMES AND INFORMATION ON PERSIAN SYMBOLISM. ' >-' O THE UNIVERSITY Of t lilt. VHP OF 1 I'E UNIVER OF m UNIVERSITY Before the phantom of False morning died^ Methougfht a Voice within the Tavern criedf "When all the Temple is prepared within, Why nods the drowsy Worshipper outside V* m. And, as the Gxrk crew, those who stood before The Tavern shouted— "Open then the Door I You know how little while we have to stay. And, once departed, may return no more." IV. Now the New Year reviving old Desires, The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires. Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough Puts out, and Jesus from the ground suspires* COPYRJOHT i005 BY DCfDQE PUSLISHINQ CO- , -t^' i- ^ If am indeed is gone with all his Rose, And Jamshyd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows ; But still a Ruby kindles in the Vine, And many a garden by the water blows. vt And David's lips are lockt ; but in divine High-piping Pehlevi, with ''Winel Wine I Wine! Red Wine 1"— the Nightingale cries to the Rose That sallow cheek of hers to' incarnadine* vn. G3me, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling : The Bird of Time has but a little way To flutter — and the Bird is on the Wing, ^ 1 i if 43P1K-W5- -W i i ^^^B^flH ^MCTMCK AT ^^K^^H Naishapur ^^^^^B^l on F^^^^^^H Babvlom ^^^^^^1 Cup ^^^^^^H wiThswecTon l^^^^^^^l 5lTTER RUN 0 r ' O" THE UNIVER'-'iTY OF Each Mom a thousand Roses brings, you say; Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday? And this first Summer month that brings the Rose Shall take Jamshyd and Kaikobid away* Well, let it take them I What have we to do With Kaikobad the Great, or Kaikhosrti ? Let ZaI and Rustum bluster as they will. Or Hitim call to Supper — heed not you* XL With me along the strip of Herbage strewn That just divides the desert from the sown. Where name of Slave and Sultdn is forgot — And Peace to MahmtJKl on his golden Throne 1 OF THE UNIVERSITY OF I Look to the blowing Rose about us — "Lo, Laughing," she says, " into the world I blow, At once the silken tassel of my Purse Tear, and its Treasure on the Garden throw." XV. And those who husbanded the Golden grain, And those who flung it to the winds like Rain, Alike to no such aureate Earth are turn'd As, buried once. Men want dug up again. XVL 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 — ^was gone. I xvra. They saj the Lion and the Lizard keep The Courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep; And Bahrim, that great Hunter — the Wild Ass Stamps o'er his Head, but cannot break his Sleep. XDC I sometimes think that never blows so red The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled ; That every Hyacinth the Garden wears Dropt in her lap from some once lovely Head. XX. And this reviving Herb whose tender Green Fledges the River-Lip on which we lean — Ah, lean upon it lightly I for who knows From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen I \7P^^^r^f¥r^^'^^^^<:^/^f'^^^^^/^f^r^^'^f^^-^^r Kje<^ K^ yi^. XXV. Alike for those who for Today prepare. And those that after some To-morrow stare, A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries, "Fools! your Reward is Neither Here nor There," XXVI. 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 scattered, and their Mouths are stopt with Dust. xxvn. Myself when young did eagerly frequent Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument About it and about: but evermore Came out by the same door where in I went. .^> ^^i «.>( \^i ^'^^>^^'^ML^^^jLi^^A^^A^^A^^:if^^ I i >' OF THE UNIVERSITY or xxvm. With them the seed of Wisdom did I sow, And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow; And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd — "I came like Water, and like Wind I go." XXIX. Into this Universe, and Why not knowing Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing And out of it, as Wind along the Waste, I know not Whithett willy-nilly blowing. XXX. What, without asking, hither hurried Whence? And, without asking. Whither hurried hence 1 Oh, many a Cup of this forbidden Wine Must drown the memory of that insolence ! ^ xxxn. There was the Door to which I found no Key ; There was the Veil through which I might not see ; Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee There was — and then no more of Thee and Mb. XXXIIL Earth could not answer ; nor the Seas that mourn In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn ; Nor rolling Heaven, with all his signs rcveal'd And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Mom. XXXIV. Then of the Thee in Me who works behind The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find A Lamp amid the Darkness ; and I heard. As from Without—** The Me within Thee bundI" i X V * ■ SZU xxxvm. And has not such a Story from of Old Down Man's successive generations roll'd Of such a cloud of saturated Earth Cast by the Maker into Human mould ? XXXIX. And not a drop that from our Cups we throw For earth to drink of, but may steal below To quench the fire of Anguish in some Eye There hidden — far beneath, and long ago. XL. As then the Tulip for her morning sup Of Heav'niy Vintage from the soil looks up. Do you devoutly do the like, till Heav'n To Earth invert you— like an empty Cup. XLL Perplext no more with Human or Divine, To-morrow's tangle to the winds resign, And lose your fingers in the tresses of The Cypress-slender Minister of Wine. XLII. 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 Yester- day You were — To-morrow you shall not be less. XLm, So when the Angel of the darker Drink At last shall find you by the river-brink, And, offering his Cup, invite your Soul Forth to your Lips to quaff — you shall not shrink. M mmmmmmmM i M> M XLIV. 8 1 Why, if the Soul can fling the Dust aside. And naked on the Air of Heaven ride, Were *t not a Shame— were *t not a Shame for him In this clay carcase crippled to abide ? i O XLV. s i 'Tis but a Tent where takes his one day's rest A Sultan to the realm of Death addrest. The Sukan rises, and the dark Ferrash Strikes, and prepares it for another Guest. i '0 XLVL ^ y And fear not lest Existence closing your Account, and mine, should know the like no ^ § more; The Eternal Saki from that Bowl has pour'd Millions of Bubbles like us, and will pour Q i 1 M. MMIMS^^ I I ; i A ^ M XLvn. i When You and I behind the Veil are past, Oh, but the long, long while the World shall last, Which of our Coming and Departure heeds As the Sea's self should heed a pebble-cast. 1 XLvm. M A^^J.,^:::;^.„^l:,^m-^^.i'^r:^. ^ .:■«. I 'MmiMM A Hair perhaps divides the False and True ; Yes ; and a single Alif were the clue — Could you but find itT-to the Treasure- house^ And peradventure to The Master too; Whose secret Presence, through Qreation's veins Runnir^ Quicksilver-Iike eludes your pains; Taking all shapes from Mah to Mihi ; and They change and perish all— but He remains ; LIL A moment guess'd— then back behind the Fold Immerst of Darkness round the Drama roll'd Which, for the Pastime of Eternity, He does Himself contrive, enact, behold. ))t()Ai)ilOit()A()it(^it( 5 5 3 un. But if in vain, down on the stubborn floor Of Earth, and up to Heav'n's unopening Door, You gaze To-day, while You are You — how then To-MORROv, You when shall be You no more? uv. Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit Of This and That endeavor and dispute ; Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape ^ Than sadden after none, or bitter. Fruit.. LV. You know, my friends, with what a brave Carouse I made a Second Marriage in my house; Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed, And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse* ■J 4 1-^YOU KttOW, fXt fRiEnrs WITH WHAT A BRAVE CAROUSE %i t\Aor. A 5EC0nD /-\fiHRlA.a£ iii r\Y HOUSE J P]VORCE0 OLD BARREM RtASOn rROn MY BED, AMD TOOK TME OAUQMTER OF THE VlfiE TO SPOUSE » ti"? ^Jj-iw.?** «<*«««». ,?'-«^ inarm r/'\,wom» utsr- r or 3HTV JMT 10 aSTfliDUAa 3rir .^OOT UHA « jeuoqe ^J i For **Is" and "Is-not" though with Rule and Line And ** Up-and-down*' by Lc^c I define, Of all that one should care to fathom, I Was never deep in anythii^ but — ^Wine, Lvn. Ah, but my Computations, People say Reduced the Year to better reckoning ? — Nay, Twas only striking from the Calendar Unborn To-morrow and dead Yesterday* Lvra. And lately, by the Tavern Door agape. Came shining through the Dusk an Ai^el Shape Bearing a Vessel on his Shoulder ; and He bid me taste of it ; and *t was — the Grape I txntnarrr i»06 Br nOO>IC (VBLJSniNS CO. •■w .^y^-^ »<^6j|g "lOoG (^iJViS! OF tV L6W WNIVEftSlTY '<,pAi LIX. The Grape that can with Logic absolute The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute: The sovere^ Alchemist that in a trice Life's leaden metal into Gold transmute: LX. The mighty Mahmtid» Aflah-breathing Lord, That all the misbelieving and black Horde Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the Soul Scatters before him with his whirlwind Sword* LXI. Why, be this Juice the growth of God, who dare Blaspheme the twisted tendril as a Snare ? A Blessing, we should use it, should we not? And if a Curse — why, then. Who set it there ? I I r I must abjure the Balm of Life, I must. Scared by some After-reckoning ta^en on trust. Or lured with Hope of some Diviner Drink, To fill the Cup — when crumbled into Dust! Lxm. Oh, tlireats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise 1 One thing at least is certain — This Life fUes, One thing is certain and the rest is Lies ; The Flower that once has blown for ever dies. LXIV. 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. The Revelations of Devout and Learned Who rose before us^ and as Prophets bum'd. Are all but Stories^ which, awoke from Sleep They told their comrades, and to Sleep retum'd. LXVL I sent my Soul through the Invisible, Some letter of that After-life to spell : And by and by my Soul returned to me. And answer'd "I Myself am Heav'nand Hell:** Lxvn. Heav*n but the Vision of fuM'd Desire^ And Hell the Shadow from a Soul on fire Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves, So late emerged from, shall so soon expire* Lxvni. We are no other than a moving row Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go Round with the Sun-iHumin'd Lantern held In Midnight by the Master of the Show; LXIX. But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays Upon this Qiequer-board of Nights and Days; Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays, And one by one back in the Closet lays. LXX. The Ball no question makes of Ayes and Noes, But Here or There as strikes the Player goes. And He that toss'd you down into the Field, He knows about it all— he knows — HE knows I LXXI. The Movit^ Fitter 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. LXXIL And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky, Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die, Lift not your hands to It for help— for it As impotently moves as you or I. Lxxra. With Earth's first Clay They did the Last Man knead. And there of the Last Harvest sow'd the Seed : And the first Morning of Creation wrote What the Last Dawn of Reckoning shall read. -'/tfU J I^S^PTO^SSK^ S^^l LXXIV. i io^^ Yes'ikrday This Day's Madness did prepare; &^ 1^^ To-morrows Silence, Triumph, or Despair: ^^ gg^y Drink 1 for you know not whence you came, ^^ ^« nor why: i^u »!rN|i Drink I for you know not why you go, nor ^u -y^a where. ^n s LXXV. ^ V^^r I tell you this — When, started from the Goal, s Over the flaming shoulders of the Foal Of Heav*n Parwin and Mushtari they flung. ^s In my predestine Plot of Dust and Soul ^ .^? LXXVI. The Vine had struck a fibre : which about s It elites my Being — let the Dervish flout; vM^ Of my Base metal may be filed a Key, ^^M That shall unlock the Door he howls without. 1 Lxxvn. 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. Lxxvm. What! out 01 senseless Nothing to provoke A conscious Somethii^ to resent the yoke Of unpermitted Pleasure, under pain Of Everlasting Penalties, if broke I LXXIX. Whatl from his helpless Creature be repaid Pure Gold for what he lent him dross-allay'd — Sue for a Debt we never did contract, And cannot answer — Oh, the sorry trade 1 Q^< 8 i^s^< LXXX. m Oh Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin Beset the Road I was to wander in, Thou wilt not with Predestin'd Evil round Enmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin I 1 J^( K l^^>^ 1 LXXXL S Oh, Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make. And ev'n with Paradise devise the Snake : For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man Is blacken'd— Man's forgiveness give— and take! ******* 1 (^?*v ' ^ ^^< 1 ^»$£»MSS:MS^ S i I ., 4 Lxxxm. Shapes of all Sorts and Sizes, great and small, That stood along the floor and by the wall; And some loquacious vessels were ; and some Listened perhaps, but never talk'd at alL LXXXIV. Said one amoi^ them — ** Surely not in vain My substance of the common Earth was ta'en And to this F^re moulded, to be broke, Or trampled back to shapeless Earth again*'' LXXXV. Then said a Second — ** Ne'er a peevish Boy Would break the Bowl from which he drank in joy; And He that with his hand the Vessel made Will surely not in after Wrath destroy." 1^ ^ After a momentary silence spake Some Vessel of a more ut^ainly make ; ** They sneer at me for leaning all awry : What I did the Hand then of the Potter shake?" Lxxxvn. Whereat some one of the loquacious Lot — I think a Sufi pipkin — waxing hot — '♦ All this of Pot and Potter— Tefl me then, Who is the Potter, pray» and who the Pot?" Lxxxvm. ** Why," said another, ** Some there are who tefl Of one who threatens he wifl toss to HeU The luckless Pots he marr'd in making — Pishl He's a Good Fcflow, and 't wifl afl be wefl." y CAL'FOP ^^ ^ ^ ^ i s LXXXDC p ^ **WeII/' murmured one, ^* Let whoso make or ^g ^ m buy. My Clay with long Oblivion is gone dry: But fill me with the old familiar Juice, Methinks I might recover by and by/^ P ^ xc i^ So while the Vessels one by one were speak- ^ ing. The little Moon looked in that all were seek- 1 ^ ing: And then they jogg'd each other, "Brother I Brother I Now for the Porter's shoulder-knot a-creak- i «fNJ ingl" ******* »^ 1 f^mmm^mmi xa. Ah, with the Grape my fading Life provide, And wash the Body whence the Life has died. And lay me, shrouded in the living Leaf, By some not unfrequented Garden-side. xcn. That ev'n my buried Ashes such a snare Of Vintage shall fling up into the Air As not a True-believer passing by But shall be overtaken unaware* xcin. Indeed the Idols I have loved so long Have done my credit in this World much wrong: Have drown'd my Glory in a shaflow Cup, And sold my Reputation for a sor^. xav. Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before I swore— but was I sober when I swore? And then and then came Sprii^, and Rose-in- hand My thread-bare Penitence apieces tore* xcv. And much as Wine has played the Infidel, And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour— Well, I wonder often what the Vintners buy One-half so precious as the stuff they selL XCVL Yet Ah, that Spring should vanish with the Rose! That Youth's sweet-scented manuscript should close! The Nightingale that in the branches sang. Ah whence, and whither flown again, who knows I Would but the Desert of the Fountain yield One glimpse — if dimly^ yet indeed, r eveal'd, To which the faintii^Traveflef might spring, As sprites the trampled herbage of the field I xcvm. Would but some winged Angel ere too late Arrest the yet unfolded Roll of Fate, And make the stern Recorder otherwise Enregister, or quite obliterate I xax. Ah Love I could you and I with Him conspire To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire. Would not we Matter it to bits— and then Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's desire 1 r m^ 4%; ^ ./ify f-,\:,^ I i Or TK't ' or ^u Vj CAiiffyoytyhc <' OF THE f UNIVERSITY