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Omar Khayyám, Part I

Song Cycle by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946)

1.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Wake! For the Sun [who]1 scatter'd into flight
The Stars before him from the Field of Night,
Drives Night along with them from Heav'n, and strikes
The Sultán's Turret with a Shaft of Light.

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1 Headlam-Morley: "that"

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2.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Before the phantom of False morning died
Methought a Voice within the Tavern cried:
"When all the Temple is prepared within
Why nods the drowsy Worshipper outside?"

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3.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
The Tavern shouted -- "Open then the Door!
"You know how little while we have to stay,
"And, once departed, may return no more."

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4.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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.

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Già l'anno nuovo a voglie antiche dà vita", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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5.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Irám indeed is gone with all his Rose
And Jamshýd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows,
But still a Ruby [gushes from the Vine]1,
And many a Garden by the water blows.

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1 Lehmann: "kindles in the Vine"

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6.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
And David's Lips are lock't; but in divine
High piping Péhlevi, with "Wine! Wine! Wine! 
"Red Wine!" -- the Nightingale cries to the Rose
That [yellow]1 Cheek of hers to incarnadine.

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1 Second edition (1868) and later: "sallow"; no other changes in later editions.

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7.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Come, 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 fly -- and lo, the Bird is on the wing!

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8.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Whether at Naishápúr or Babylon,
Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run,
The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop,
The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.

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9.   [sung text not yet checked]

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Each morn 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 Kaikobád away.

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10.   [sung text not yet checked]

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Well, let it take them! What have we to do 
With Kaikobád the Great, or Kaikhosrú?
Let Zál and Rustum bluster as they will, 
Or Hátim call to Supper -- heed not you.

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11.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
With me along the strip of Herbage strown 
That just divides the desert from the sown,
Where name of Slave and Sultán is forgot --
And Peace to Máhmúd on his golden Throne!

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12.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread -- and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness --
[Oh]1, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Un libro di poesie posato sotto un ramo", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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1 Lehmann : "Ah"

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13.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Some for the Glories of This World; and some
Sigh for the Prophet's Paradise to come;
Ah, take the Cash, and let the Promise go,
Nor heed the music of a distant Drum!

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14.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Look to the [blowing Rose]1 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."

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1 first edition: "Rose that blows".

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15.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
[And]1 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.

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1 in the second edition, "For" ; "And" in all other editions.

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16.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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 -- [is]1 gone.

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1 Fitzgerald has "was" in the second and third editions.

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17.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Think, in this batter'd Caravanserai,
Whose [Portals]1 are alternate Night and Day,
How Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp,
Abode his [destined hour]2 and went his way.3

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1 in the first edition alone: "Doorways"
2 in the first edition alone: "Hour or two"
3 Lehmann adds: "Waste not your hour!"

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18.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
They say the Lion and the Lizard keep
The Courts where Jamshýd gloried and drank deep,
And Bahrám, that great Hunter, -- the wild Ass
Stamps o'er his Head, [but cannot break his sleep]1.

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1 in the first edition alone: "and he lies fast asleep"

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19.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
I sometimes think that never blows so red
The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled,
That [every]1 Hyacinth the Garden wears
Dropt in [her]2 lap from some once lovely head.

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1 Lehmann: "ev'ry"
2 first edition, Murray (probably): "its"

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20.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
And this [delightful]1 Herb, whose [tender]2 green,
Fledges the [River's Lip]3 on which we lean --
Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows
From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen.

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1 Houseley, Lehmann: "reviving"
2 Fitzgerald had "living" in the second edition.
3 Lehmann: "river-lip"

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21.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Ah, my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears
TO-DAY of past Regrets and future Fears:
To-morrow! Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n thousand Years.

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22.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
[For some]1 we [loved]2, the loveliest and [the]3 best 
That [from his Vintage rolling Time has prest]4,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before, 
And one by one crept silently to rest.

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1 first edition: "Lo! some"; Lehmann: "Lo, some"
2 Lehmann: "lov'd"
3 omitted in the first edition; also omitted by Lehmann.
4 first edition: "Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest"

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23.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
And we, that now make merry in the Room
They left, and Summer dresses in new Bloom,
Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth
Descend, ourselves to make a Couch -- for whom?

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24.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and -- sans End!

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25.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Alike [for]1 those who for TO-DAY prepare,
And those that after [some]2 TO-MORROW stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There!"

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1 Harris: "are" ; further changes may exist not noted above.
2 in the first edition: "a"

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26.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss'd
Of the two Worlds so learnedly, are thrust
Like foolish Prophets forth; their words to scorn
Are scatter'd, and their mouths are stopp'd with Dust.

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27.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint and heard great argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by that same door as in I went.

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28.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with my own Hand [wrought to make it]1 grow,
And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd --
"I came like Water, and like Wind I go."

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1 first edition: "labour'd it to"

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29.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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 whither, willy-nilly blowing.

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30.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
What, without asking, hither hurried Whence? 
And, without asking, Whither hurried hence!
Oh, many a Cup of this forbidden Wine 
Must drown the memory of that insolence!

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31.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate
I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate,
And many Knots unravel'd by the Road;
But not [the Knot of Human Death and Fate]1.

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1 second edition: "Master-Knot of Human Fate"

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32.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
There was the Door to which I found no Key:
There was the Veil through which I could not see: 
Some little talk awhile of ME and THEE
There was -- and then no more of THEE and ME.

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33.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Earth could not answer; nor the Seas that mourn
In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn;
Nor Heav'n, with those eternal Signs reveal'd
And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn.

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34.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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 BLIND!"

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35.   [sung text not yet checked]

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Then to the Lip of this poor earthen Urn
I lean'd, the secret Well of Life to learn:
And Lip to Lip it murmur'd -- "While you live,
"Drink ! -- for, once dead, you never shall return."

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36.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
I think the Vessel, that with fugitive
Articulation answer'd, once did live,
And [merry-make; and the cold]1 Lip I kiss'd
How many Kisses might it take -- and give!

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1 second edition: "drink; and that impassive" ; third and fourth editions : "drink; and Ah! the passive"

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37.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
For I remember stopping by the way
To watch a Potter thumping his wet Clay:
And with its all-obliterated Tongue
It murmur'd -- "Gently, Brother, gently, pray!"

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38.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
[For]1 has not such a Story from of Old
Down Man's successive generations roll'd
Of such a clod of saturated Earth
Cast by the Maker into Human mould?

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1 fourth edition: "And"

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39.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
And not a drop that from our Cups we throw
On the parcht herbage but may steal below
To quench the fire of Anguish in some Eye
There hidden -- far beneath, and long ago.

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40.   [sung text not yet checked]

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As then the Tulip for her morning sup
Of Heav'nly Vintage from the Soil looks up,
Do you devoutly do the like, till Heav'n
To Earth invert you -- like an empty Cup.

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41.   [sung text not yet checked]

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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.

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42.   [sung text not yet checked]

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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 YESTERDAY 
You were -- TO-MORROW you shall not be less.

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43.   [sung text not yet checked]

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So when [the]1 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.

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1 Houseley, Lehmann: "that"

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44.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
[Why,]1 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?

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1 Lehmann: "But"

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45.   [sung text not yet checked]

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But that is but a Tent wherein may rest
A sultan to the realm of Death addrest;
The Sultan rises, and the dark Ferrásh
Strikes, and prepares it for another guest.

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46.   [sung text not yet checked]

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And fear not lest Existence closing your
Account, [should lose, or know the type]1 no more;
The Eternal Sáki from [that]2 Bowl has pour'd 
Millions of Bubbles like us, and will pour.

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1 third edition: "and mine, should know the like"
2 third edition: "the"

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47.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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 much as Ocean of a pebble-cast]1.

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1 third edition: "As the Sev'n Seas should heed a pebble-cast"

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48.   [sung text not yet checked]

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A Moment's Halt -- a momentary taste
Of BEING from the Well amid the Waste --
And LO! -- the phantom Caravan has reach'd
The NOTHING it set out from -- Oh, make haste!

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49.   [sung text not yet checked]

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Would you that spangle of Existence spend
About THE SECRET -- quick about it, Friend!
A [Hair, they say,]1 divides the False and True --
And upon what, prithee, [does]2 Life depend?

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1 third and fourth editions: "Hair perhaps"
2 fourth edition: "may"

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50.   [sung text not yet checked]

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A Hair, they say, divides the False and True;
Yes; and a single Alif were the clue,
Could you but find it, to the Treasure-house,
And peradventure to THE MASTER too;

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51.   [sung text not yet checked]

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Whose secret Presence, through Creation's veins
Running, Quicksilver-like eludes your pains:
Taking all shapes from Máh to Máhi; and 
They change and perish all -- but He remains;

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52.   [sung text not yet checked]

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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.

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53.   [sung text not yet checked]

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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-morrow, [when You]1 shall be You no more

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1 second and third editions: "You when" (?)

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54.   [sung text not yet checked]

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Waste not your hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of This and That endeavour and dispute;
Better be [jocund]1 with the fruitful Grape
Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit.

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1 second edition: "merry"

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55.   [sung text not yet checked]

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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.

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56.   [sung text not yet checked]

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For "IS" and IS-NOT though with Rule and Line,
And "UP-AND-DOWN" [Without, I could define,
I yet in all I only cared to know,]1 
Was never deep in anything but -- Wine.

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1 second, third, and fourth editions: "by Logic I define,/ Of all that one should care to fathom, I"

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57.   [sung text not yet checked]

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Ah, but my Computations, People say,
[Have squared the Year to human compass, eh?
If so, by]1 striking from the Calendar
Unborn To-morrow and dead Yesterday.

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1 third and fourth editions: "Reduced the Year to better reckoning? -- Nay,/ 'Twas only"

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58.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
And lately, by the Tavern Door agape,
Came [shining]1 through the Dusk an Angel Shape
Bearing a Vessel on his Shoulder; and
He bid me taste of it; and 'twas--the Grape!

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1 first edition: "stealing"

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59.   [sung text not yet checked]

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The Grape that can with Logic absolute
The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects confute:
The [sovereign]1 Alchemist that in a Trice
Life's leaden Metal into Gold transmute.

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1 first edition: "subtle"

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60.   [sung text not yet checked]

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The mighty Mahmúd, Allah-breathing Lord,
That all the misbelieving and black Horde 
Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the Soul
Scatters before him with his whirlwind Sword.

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61.   [sung text not yet checked]

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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?

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62.   [sung text not yet checked]

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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, 
[When the frail Cup is]1 crumbled into Dust!

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1 third and fourth editions: "To fill the Cup -- when"

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63.   [sung text not yet checked]

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Oh threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise! 
One thing at least is certain -- This Life flies: 
One thing is certain and the rest is lies;
The Flower that once [is]1 blown for ever dies.

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1 Headlam-Morley: "has"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

64.   [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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.

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Total word count: 1996