The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Click the link to read the entire Edward Fitzgerald translation. Omar Khayyam was a 12th century Persian Poet,Philosopher, Mathemetician and Scientist. Two of my favorite quatrains[verses of four lines] are


For in and out, above, about, below,
'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.

And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,
End in the Nothing all Things end in ---Yes---
Then fancy while Thou art, Thou art but what
Thou shalt be---Nothing---Thou shalt not be less.

Whether it was the genius of Fitgerald or Khayyam is for the scholars to decide but the result is one of the most beautiful and thought provoking pieces of literature ever written.