- #Ah love could you and i with him conspire meaning full#
- #Ah love could you and i with him conspire meaning series#
That all the misbelieving and black Horde The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute: He bid me taste of it and ’twas-the Grape! You know, my Friends, how long since in my HouseĪnd took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.įor “IS” and “IS-NOT” though with Rule and Line,Īnd “UP-AND-DOWN” without, I could define,Ĭame stealing through the Dusk an Angel Shape Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit. Starts for the Dawn of Nothing-Oh, make haste! One Moment, of the Well of Life to taste. How Time is slipping underneath our Feet: Read it with a glass or two of wine and count your blessings.Īh, fill the Cup:-what boots it to repeat Most of these stanzas celebrate the virtues of wine to foster this state of mind, but it is a conscious philosophy of life, not a mentality of drowning one’s sorrows. This section has another take on living life to the full, in the moment and casting unproductive cares aside. Today, I am posting the continuation, with the next 12 stanzas going from stanza 37 to stanza 48.
#Ah love could you and i with him conspire meaning series#
In previous posts on September 29th, October 18th and November 8th, I posted in series the first 36 stanzas of Edward Fitzgerald’s masterful mid-19th century translation of the Persian classis “Rubai Yat of Omar Khayyam”. So whether we are in 11th century Persia, 19th century England or 21st century America, let’s follow the poet’s example and drink and be merry. The poem ends with the poet imagining one of his lovers or one of his readers coming across his burial place and finding an empty glass – meaning that he has succeeded in drinking all the wine that life has had to offer.
It is a final affirmation that life is made to be lived to the full. The final several stanzas express regret, not that the poet’s life has been frittered away on wine and pleasure, but regret that death brings those pleasures to an end. But ultimately, this is less important than the fact that has enjoyed his life. In stanzas 69 and 70, he recognizes that his philosophy of life may have damaged his reputation among more orthodox, more conformist people. There are no illusions of after-life or immortality here. Stanza 67 has the poet still yearning after the grape as his life fades away, and all he asks for is a beautiful burial place in a scenic spot where passers-by can remember him. Fitzgerald’s Omar Khayyam will have none of this. This is a time when many people try to put the world behind them and find religion, as if it was going to change their fate.
#Ah love could you and i with him conspire meaning full#
Where I made one-turn down an empty Glass!Īfter the parable of the pots in the previous section, which put another spin on the themes of living life to the full while you can, avoiding useless ambition, avarice or power, making the most of the moment, ignoring false prophets or mystics, and taking joy from wine, women and song, this final section reaffirms the poet’s philosophy as he approaches death. Through this same Garden after me-in vain!Īnd when Thyself with shining Foot shall passĪmong the Guests Star-scatter’d on the Grass, Re-mould it nearer to the Heart’s Desire!Īh, Moon of my Delight who Know’st no wane To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire, The Nightingale that in the Branches sang,Īh, whence, and whither flown again, who knows!Īh Love! could thou and I with Fate conspire That Youth’s sweet-scented Manuscript should close! One half so precious as the Goods they sell.Īlas, that Spring should vanish with the Rose! Have done my Credit in Men’s Eye much wrong:Īnd then and then came Spring, and Rose-in-hand Enjoy…Īh, with the Grape my fading Life provide,Īnd wash my Body whence the Life has died,Īnd in the Windingsheet of Vine-leaf wrapt,
You can either revisit the blog posts referenced above, or just click on the link below the poem to find the whole work in one place. I hope some of the readers of this blog are inspired to do the same. So the whole work has appeared here in 7 posts.Īfter looking at this last section, I intend to set aside some time to go back and read the whole poem again in one sitting. For the previous sections see the sequence of posts on this site on September 29th 2014, October 18th 2014, November 8th 2014, December 12th 2014, January 20th 2015 and February 20th 2015. Today’s section goes from stanza 67 to the end at stanza 75. I have really enjoyed re-reading and posting this in the last few months, as both the content, the style and the great translation are uplifting and full of life. Today we come to the final section of Edward Fitzgerald’s 19th century translation of the Persian classic, the Rubai’Yat of Omar Khayyam.
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