dublinka

From, The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam:

Since neither truth nor certainty is granted,
You cannot sit in doubtful hope all your life;
Let us be careful not to set the wine cup aside,
Since a man is in ignorance, drunk or sober.

The form is composed of two lined stanzas, broken into four hemistichs. The first, second and fourth rhyme in the original language, although they don't in this translation (by Avery and Stubbs). It's a useful reminder of the long and varied traditions of Persian thought, and doubtless should be given to all those who have forgotten the history of Iran, in addition to those who never knew it. Needless to say, it also fits into any stellar system of alcoholic justification constructed by an Irishman.