The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám · Chapter
LXXXVI explained
A vessel of ungainly make speaks up after a silence, questioning whether the Potter's hand shook when it was formed, as it leans awry and is sneered at for its imperfection.
What happens
A vessel of ungainly make speaks up after a silence, questioning whether the Potter's hand shook when it was formed, as it leans awry and is sneered at for its imperfection.
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Themes in this chapter
- The Potter and Clay Metaphor
The vessel's complaint about its flawed shape directly invokes the potter and clay allegory, questioning divine craftsmanship.
Key passages
“After a momentary silence spake Some Vessel of a more ungainly Make; "They sneer at me for leaning all awry: What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"”
After a brief pause, a clumsily shaped pot spoke up: 'People mock me for being crooked—was the Potter's hand unsteady when making me?'
The vessel questions whether its deformity is due to a flaw in the creator, not itself.
