was the poet of Agnosticism and Epicureanism; having failed (however mistakenly) of finding any Providence but Destiny, and any world but this, he set about making the most of it.' His outlook on life is presented with great beauty in his poem, though, as FitzGerald says, the Result is sad enough, more apt to move Sorrow than Anger toward the old Tentmaker.' Attempts have been made by lovers of allegory, who would fain have enlisted so fine a poem 'on the side of the angels,' to read a mystic meaning into 'Wine,' the ' Cup,' the Bowl' and other material delights of which Omar sings. Notably M. Nicolas, French Consul at Resht, published in 1867 an edition of the text with a translation in which to every mention of wine he appended the explanation Dieu.' It is perhaps enough to say that FitzGerald, having studied M. Nicolas's arguments, adhered to his former opinion, finding more difficulty in the allegorical than in the literal interpretation, as he explains in his preface to the second edition. This was published in 1868 and amounted practically to a new version of the poem, containing 107 stanzas in place of the original 75. A third edition in 1872 contained again many changes, and there were a few in the fourth of 1879, the last published in the author's lifetime.

FitzGerald took great liberties with the original poem, not merely in the matter of omissions,-the Persian poem contains over 400 stanzas,-but by changes of order and the insertion of many ideas of which there is no trace in the original. Indeed, many of the most striking lines are entirely his; he has however preserved the form of the original poem which is written in Rubáiyát or stanzas of four lines of equal length, sometimes all riming, but oftener-as in FitzGerald's version-having the third line blank. Those of the following notes which are taken from FitzGerald are marked F.'

1. the Bowl: 'that inverted Bowl we call The Sky,' below, 1. 205. Flinging a Stone into a Cup was the Signal for "To Horse!" in the Desert.' (F.)

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5. when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky: an allusion to the transient light, called the False Dawn,' which appears on the horizon about an hour before the True Dawn comes.

13. the New Year in Persia this begins at the Vernal Equinox, March 21.

15. the WHITE HAND OF MOSES: see Exodus iv. 6, And he [Moses] put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.' The Koran version, which was of course the one known to the Persians, has, his hand was white, without any hurt.' The allusion is to the bursting

forth of blossoms on the trees.

16. Jesus from the ground suspires: i.e. flowers spring up from the ground. According to the Persians the Healing Power of Jesus resided in his breath.' (F.)

17. Irám: planted by King Shaddad, and now sunk somewhere in the sands of Arabia.' (F.) It is termed many columned' in the Koran (ch. lxxxix. 6).

18. Jamshýd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup: Jamshýd was a mythical Persian king of the earliest dynasty. He is said to have reigned for 700 years and taught his people the uses of iron and the arts of weaving and navigation. His cup was used for divination, the seven rings typifying the seven heavens, seven planets, etc.

21. David's Lips are lock't: the Psalmist will sing no more.'

22. Péhlevi or Pahlavi, here used of the language in which the Zendavesta is written, but more appropriately applied to the characters in which that language is transcribed.

24. That yellow Cheek of hers: FitzGerald in a note says that he does not know whether this was a red Rose looking sickly, or a yellow one which the nightingale wished to be red.

32. Kaikobád: a famous Sultan of the Seljukian dynasty, who ruled over almost the whole of Asia Minor and died in 1234. He was the nephew of one Sultan Kaikhosrau and the grandfather of another. Jamshýd and Kaikobád are here used for heroes' generally.

35. Rustum or Rustam, a mythical hero of Kabul, best known to English readers by Matthew Arnold's poem Sohrab and Rustum.

36. Hátim, chieftain of the tribe Tai in days before the birth of Islam, was 6 a well-known type of Oriental

Generosity.' (F.)

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37. strown: cf. below, 1. 298, Among the Guests

Star-scatter'd on the Grass.' Some verb like 'lie' must be supplied before' With me.'

40. Máhmúd: Sultan of Ghazin in Afghanistan (997-1030), surnamed The Great' for the expeditions he made in the interests of Islam against the infidels in India.

48. of a distant Drum: 'beaten outside a Palace,' (F.) to summon the soldiery. Death's summons need cause no anxiety while it is yet far off.

52. its Treasure: 'the Rose's Golden Centre.' (F.) 57-60. Thrifty and prodigal alike are turned to dust; neither of them is transmuted into gold.

61. Caravanserai: an inn in Eastern countries where caravans put up; in shape a quadrangular building with a large courtyard in the centre. Here it stands for the earth.

66. The Courts: at Persepolis, which Jamshýd is credited with having built.

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'Gur

67. Bahrám: Bahrám V, commonly called (the Wild Ass ') from his love of hunting that animal, was king of Persia c. 420-438 (?).

80. Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years: FitzGerald's explanation of this-if it can be so called-is that there are a thousand years to each planet.' Dr. Nicholson says the 7000 years are counted from the creation of Adam, which is more intelligible.

86. They left, and Summer dresses: sc. which they left and which Summer dresses.

92. Sans: before the time of Shakespeare this substitute for 'without' was used almost exclusively with substantives adopted from Old French, in collocations already formed in that language,' N.E.D. It is pronounced to rime with ' pans.'

93, 94. Those who are living for this world and those who are living for the next respectively.

95. Muezzin : or mueddin, or mooddin, the crier who proclaims the hours of prayer from the minaret or roof of a mosque in Mohammedan countries.

98. Of the Two Worlds: I take this to mean the Visible and Invisible Worlds, and the relations between them.

122. Saturn: Lord of the Seventh Heaven.' (F.) In the Ptolemaic System the seventh of the spheres enclosing the earth (see note to No. 62, 1. 48 and 1. 131)

was that of the planet Saturn. There were yet two other spheres outside it.

133, 4. did I adjourn My Lip: used apparently in the sense of transfer '-a usage for which I find no parallel. The expression was changed in subsequent editions.

145. The 37th stanza and the 45th are the only two which are not found in the same or in an altered form in the later editions.

151. The Stars are setting: presumably this means 'fading,' as the stars are rising and setting continuously throughout the twenty-four hours.

161, 162. A quip at his studies in Logic and Geometry. 170. The Two-and-Seventy jarring Sects: 'the Seventy-two Religions supposed to divide the World, including Islamism, as some think; but others not.' (F.)

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172. transmute: supply can' from 1. 169. 173. Máhmúd: see above, note on 1. 40. 182. a Magic Shadow-show: a Magic-lantern still used in India; the cylindrical Interior being painted with various Figures, and so lightly poised and ventilated as to revolve round the lighted Candle within.' (F.)

191. the Angel with his darker Draught: Azrael, the Angel of Death.

193. a Chequer-board: a chess-board was originally called a chequer.'

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197. The Ball: an allusion to the game of polo, which originated in the East.

201. The Moving Finger writes: sc. in the Book of Fate.

209. With Earth's first Clay, etc.: i.e. in moulding the first-created man the Heavenly Powers were fashioning the whole of the human race, and saddling mankind with responsibility till the end of time.

215. Parwin and Mushtara: these, FitzGerald tells us, are the Pleiads and Jupiter; the former come just at the head of Taurus, which is possibly a Foal in Persian astronomy. The literal translation of the Persian is, 'On the day when they saddled the wild horse of heaven (the sun), And equipped Mushtarî and Parwîn' (Nicholson). The three lines mean, 'When the Stars were first planted in the sky,'

i.e. at the creation of the Universe; even then Omar's tastes and nature were being unalterably settled for him.

218. the Súfi: the Sufis are Mohammedan mystics whose creed is really pantheism, the belief that God is everything and everything is God. They regarded Omar with fear and hatred as one who ridiculed their beliefs and was too honest to conceal his doubts. 219. a Key: sc. to the mysteries of man's origin, purpose, and ultimate end.

221. the one True Light: i.e. God.

222. Wrath - consume:

6 consume in wrath.'

is rather harsh.

a strange compound for The omission of 'is' in 1. 224

232. This tremendous line, with its last two words flinging on God's shoulders the responsibility for man's sins, is not in the original.

Kúza-Náma: 'Book of Pots,' a heading given to stanzas 59 to 66; the heading disappeared after the first edition.

234. Ramazán: or Ramadan, the month in which the Mohammedans fast each day till nightfall. The months in the Mohammedan calendar being lunar, the appearance of the new moon, which puts an end to this period of fasting, is eagerly awaited.

235. Potter's Shop: the view of Man and his Maker as the Pot and the Potter is as old as the Hebrew prophets, e.g. Jeremiah xviii. 6. See also Romans ix.

21.

239. one more impatient: the Agnostic pot, who had no knowledge as to whether God had made the universe, or the universe had made itself.

241. Then said another: the pot which believed in immortality.

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245. Another said: a pot representing what would be termed the Broad Church' or ' Universalist' party in this country; as is the pot of the sixty-fourth stanza. 250. A Vessel, etc.: the Determinist pot, who asserts that man has no power of choice, but necessarily follows the motive which appeals to him most strongly.

253. Tapster: the pots being wine-jars, their Master is naturally the Vintner.

257. Then said another: he typifies one who has lost his early faith, but hopes to recover it.