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The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - Rubai 51 (The Moving Finger writes)

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Uploaded by on Feb 4, 2011

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.


The direct message is clear: you cannot change certain things. More deeply, it's an expression of disillusionment with religious belief, similar in tone to William Blake's poem 'The Tiger' and to Fitzgerald's own rubai 58 (in the First Edition of the translation), which I'll soon post.

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