Place wine in my hand for my heart is aglow, And this fleet-footed existence is like quicksilver. Arise! for the wakefulness of good fortune turns to slumber; Know thou that the fire of youth is (fugitive) like water. _Ref._: C. 40, L. 63, B. 60, S.P. 54, T. 45.--W. 57, N. 54, V. 62. «From Mah to Mahi»--_i.e._, from Moon to Fish is a common Oriental metaphor for universality. See FitzGerald's note on this subject, and the Terminal Essay to my former volume, p. 309. LII.* A moment guess'd--then back behind the Fold Immerst of Darkness round the Drama roll'd Which, for the Pastime of Eternity, He doth Himself contrive, enact, behold. This quatrain is translated from C. 479. Hidden sometimes thou shewest thy face to none, Sometimes thou appearest in the forms of created beings, Thou exhibitest this spectacle to thyself. Thou art thyself both the real thing seen and the spectator. _Ref._: C. 479, L. 705, B. 695, S.P. 437.--W. 475, N. 443, V. 757. LIII.* But if in vain, down on the stubborn floor Of Earth, and up to Heav'n's unopening Door, You gaze TO-DAY, while You are You--how then TO-MORROW, when You shall be You no more? The original of this quatrain is C. 24. If the heart understood the secret of existence as it _is_, In death it would know all the secrets of God: If to-day thou knowest nothing, being _with_ thyself, What wilt thou know to-morrow when thou abandonest thyself? _Ref._: C. 24, L. 78, B. 74, S.P. 49, P. 85, B. ii. 106, T. 25.--W. 52, N. 49. V. 77. LIV. Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit Of this and That endeavour and dispute; Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape Than sadden after none, or Bitter, Fruit. The inspiration for this quatrain comes from O. 50 and O. 107: Those who are the slaves of intellect and hair-splitting,[61] Have perished in bickerings about existence and non-existence; Go, thou dunce! and choose (rather) grape juice, For the ignorant from (eating) dry raisins, have become (like) unripe grapes (themselves).[62] _Ref._: O. 50, L. 262, T. 102, P. v. 164.--W. 216, V. 267. How long this talk about the eternity to come, and the eternity past?[63] Now is the time of joy, there is no substitute for wine! Both theory and practice have passed beyond my ken, (But) Wine unties the knot of every difficulty. _Ref._: O. 107, C. 312, L. 489, B. 485, B. ii. 341, T. 213, P. v. 207.--W. 304, V. 259. LV. You know, my friends, with what a brave Carouse I made a Second Marriage in my house; Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed, And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse. This quatrain is translated from C. 175.