Page:Quatrains of Omar Khayyam (tr. Whinfield, 1883).djvu/282

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I know what is, and what is not, I know The lore of things above, and things below; But all this lore will cheerfully renounce, If one a higher grade than drink can show.

Though I drink wine, I am no libertine. Nor am I grasping, save of cups of wine; I scruple to adore myself, like you; For this cause to wine-worship I incline.

To confidants like you I dare to say What mankind really are:—moulded of clay, Affliction's clay, and kneaded in distress, They taste the world awhile, then pass away.