Reading the Rubaiyat

Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) was a mathematician who wrote poetry.  Here are two quatrains from his Rubaiyat.

        XLVI

   For in and out, above, about, below,
   'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show
        Play'd in a Box whose Candle is the Sun
   Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.  

        XLVII

   And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,
   end in the Nothing all Things end in -- Yes --
        Then fancy while Thou art, Thou art but what
   Thou shalt be -- Nothing -- Thou shalt not be less.

Found in Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald (Grammercy Books, 1992).