XXI
Lo! some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to Rest.
XXII
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?
From Fitzgerald's translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (first edition).
In the same way that a character in Wilkie Collins' Moonstone swears that there's a line in Robinson Crusoe for every occasion and eventuality, I feel the same about Omar Khayyam. I could have waffled on about all the great KB contributors that I missed but, what the heck, Omar said it so much better.