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is one of the triumphs of FitzGerald's version. Omar gives several hints for that quaint little miracle-play, but the development of them is so much FitzGerald's own that there was no option but to leave the pots alone.
The reader may remark that Omar's pessimism in the following paraphrase is mitigated more frequently by moods of optimism than in FitzGerald. In his attitude to the Deity, the 'he's a good fellow' note is more frequently sounded, a curiously complete and abandoned faith alternating paradoxically with the most savage criticism and despair. In this my paraphrase accords more nearly with the Omar of the more literal translators—for Omar is always ready to curse God with one cup and love Him with the next.
One interest of Omar's existence I may perhaps claim to represent with a more proportionate fulness,—his interest in love and 'women with languorous narcissus eyes.' There are a considerably greater number of verses devoted to that pleasant subject in>16
