DAVID

DAVID

Yon rising moon that looks for us again–

How oft hereafter will she wax and wane;

How oft hereafter rising look for us

Through this same Garden–and for one in vain!

 

And when like her, oh, Saki, you shall pass

Among the guests star-scatter’d on the Grass,

And in your joyous errand reach the spot

Where I made One–turn down an empty Glass!

 

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, trans. Edward FitzGerald.

For David Lewis James, 1941-2012.