Omar Khayyam ("The Tent-Maker")

There was the Door to which I found no key;
There was the Veil through which I might not read more

There was the Door to which I found no key;
There was the Veil through which I might not see.

Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make,
And ev'n with Paradise devise the snake;
For read more

Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make,
And ev'n with Paradise devise the snake;
For all the Sin wherewith the Face of Man
Is blackened--Man's forgiveness give and take!

And this I know; whether the one True Light
Kindle to Love, or Wrath consume me quite,
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And this I know; whether the one True Light
Kindle to Love, or Wrath consume me quite,
One flash of it within the Tavern caught
Better than in the temple lost outright.

A book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, A Loaf of Bread, and Thou
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A book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, A Loaf of Bread, and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
On, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die,
Lift not read more

And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die,
Lift not your hands to it for help--for it
As impotently moves as you or I.