"And one by one crept silently to Rest:" FitzGerald's The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:21

"And one by one crept silently to Rest:" FitzGerald's The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:21

Stanza 21 of the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s translation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám continues with the theme of the shortness of life and the finality of death, but introduces new emotions, of grief for lost loved ones and nostalgia for the past. These poignant lines have sometimes made me cry. We get maudlin as we get old. XXI Lo! some we loved, the loveliest and best That Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest,     Have drunk t…