The Rubaiyat : Quatrain IV

Now the New Year reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires,
Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough
Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires.

Continuing with the series on Khayyam, This is the fourth quatrain of the Fitzgerald Rubaiyat.The fourth quatrain starts with the hint of spring in the air and thousands of desires that were hibernating in the cold winter snow have awaken (like TS Elliot's The Wasteland opening stanza). The Persian New Year begins in spring and hence the coming of spring rekindles the spirits and the pervading gloom of winter and the accompanying solitude melts away in the golden spring sun. This quatrain is different from the first three as they occurred at the dawn while this one happens at the change of season. In this spring the Moses's diseased white hand is healed and the Jesus also starts to breathe to life. Both these terms "White Hand of Moses" & "Jesus from Ground" could also mean the flowers that come to bloom in the early spring from the sterile land. The underlying theme is one of rejuvenation and renewal, where spring cures the ills that the frigid winter has brought on the land and body.It also marks the new beginning where old desires (things thought over during the idle winters) are revived and mind and body gets down to work on them to fulfill them. The quatrain is basically a commentary on the cycle of life and the cyclical nature of the world. There is time for renewal and rebirth, there are times for youth and vigor and then old age and death which again leads to rebirth.