On a listserv no one knows you are enlightened. But fingers do move! Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane Sent from a cell phone
On Aug 9, 2012, at 21:49, Merle Lester <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > ah ah!..merle > > On 8/9/2012 3:44 AM, Merle Lester wrote: >> >> KG.."is the moving hand that once writ"...... who knows this quote? and who >> is it from?.. >> merle >> > > > "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, > Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit, > Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, > Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it. > > But helpless pieces in the game He plays, > Upon this chequer-board of Nights and Days, > He hither and thither moves, and checks ... and slays, > Then one by one, back in the Closet lays. > > And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before > The Tavern shouted - "Open then the Door! > You know how little time we have to stay, > And once departed, may return no more." > > A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, > A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou, > Beside me singing in the Wilderness, > And oh, Wilderness is Paradise enow. > > If chance supplied a loaf of white bread, > Two casks of wine and a leg of mutton, > In the corner of a garden with a tulip-cheeked girl, > There'd be enjoyment no Sultan could outdo. > > Myself when young did eagerly frequent > Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument > About it and about: but evermore > Came out of the same Door as in I went. > > With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow, > And with my own hand labour'd it to grow: > And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd - > "I came like Water, and like Wind I go." > > Into this Universe, and why not knowing, > Nor whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing: > And out of it, as Wind along the Waste, > I know not whither, willy-nilly blowing. > > And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky, > Whereunder crawling coop't we live and die, > Lift not thy hands to It for help - for It > Rolls impotently on as Thou or I." > > - Omar Khayyam (11th Century) - translations vary, and likely none does it > justice. > > > > > > >
