An online archive of the first five editions of Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

1868 edition, stanza 38

1868 edition, stanza 38

Then to the Lip of this poor earthen Urn

I lean'd, the secret Well of Life to learn:

And Lip to Lip it murmur'd—'While you live,

'Drink !—for, once dead, you never shall return.'