Xcviii.*

Would but some wingéd Angel ere too late Arrest the yet unfolded Roll of Fate, And make the stern Recorder otherwise Enregister, or quite obliterate!

This quatrain in its original form in the second edition was closer to the original Persian.

Oh if the World were but to re-create, That we might catch ere closed the Book of Fate, And make the Writer on a fairer leaf Inscribe our names, or quite obliterate!

It owes its inspiration to N 457.

I would that God should entirely alter the world, And that he should do it now, that I might see him do it; And either that he should cross my name from the Roll, Or else raise my condition from want to plenty.

Ref.: N. 457, S.P. 451.--W. 486, V. 841.

XCIX.

Ah, Love! could you and I with Him conspire To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire, Would not we shatter it to bits--and then Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire!

* * * * *

This quatrain is translated from C. 395.

Had I, like God, control of the heavens, Would I not do away with the heavens altogether, Would I not so construct another heaven from the beginning That, being free, one might attain to the heart's desire?

Ref.: C. 395, L. 594, B. 587, S.P. 337, P. 98, B. ii, 450, T. 268.--W. 379, N. 340, V. 641.

C.

Yon rising moon that looks for us again-- How oft hereafter will she wax and wane; How oft hereafter rising look for us Through this same Garden--and for one in vain.

This quatrain in its various forms is inspired by O. 5.

Since no one will guarantee thee a to-morrow, Make thou happy now this lovesick heart; Drink wine in the moonlight, O Moon, for the moon Shall seek us long and shall not find us.

Ref.: O. 5, C. 7, L. 5, S.P. 8, P. 219, B. 4, B. ii. 8, T. 6, P. v. 168.--W. 7, N. 8, E.C. 5, V. 4.

CI.

And when like her, Oh Saki, you shall pass Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass, And in your joyous errand reach the spot Where I made One--turn down an empty Glass!

This quatrain is taken from O. 83 and 84.

Friends when ye hold a meeting together, It behoves ye warmly to remember your friend; When ye drink wholesome wine together, And my turn comes, turn (a goblet) upside down.

Ref.: O. 83.--W. 234, V. 459.

Friends, when with consent ye make a tryst together, And take delight in one another's charms, When the Cup-bearer takes (round) in his hand the Mugh wine, Remember a certain helpless one in your benediction.

Ref.: O. 84, L. 290, B. 286, S.P. 191, P. 226, B. ii. 245.--W. 205, N. 192, V. 293.

APPENDIX.

In addition to the quatrains composing the final form in which we know his poem, there are a few stray quatrains scattered about Edward FitzGerald's Introduction and Notes. There are also two quatrains which appeared in the first edition only, and nine that appeared in the second edition only. I do not think that this work would be complete without an attempt to identify these quatrains in the original texts which inspired them.