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

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226
THE QUATRAINS OF

336.

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.


337.

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.


338.

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.


336.   L. N. B.   Line 1, Being and Not-being , 'Grade,' i.e. of learning.

337.   C. L. N. A, I. J.   A hit at the vain and covetous Mollas.   Also ascribed to Anwari.