The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ
E560221
"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ" is a famous quatrain from Edward FitzGerald’s translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, often quoted for its reflection on the irreversibility of time and human actions.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ" | 0 |
Statements (40)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
poetic line
ⓘ
quotation ⓘ |
| author | Omar Khayyam NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| countryOfTranslation | United Kingdom NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| culturalImpact |
frequently cited in discussions of fatalism
ⓘ
widely quoted in English-speaking world ⓘ |
| followedBy |
"Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit"
ⓘ
"Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it" ⓘ "Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line" ⓘ |
| form | quatrain line ⓘ |
| genre |
didactic poetry
ⓘ
philosophical poetry ⓘ |
| influenced | popular conceptions of fate and time in modern culture ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| literaryDevice | metaphor ⓘ |
| literaryPeriod | Victorian literature (English translation context) ⓘ |
| metaphorFor |
destiny
ⓘ
record of human life ⓘ time ⓘ |
| meter | iambic pentameter (approximate) ⓘ |
| notableFor | concise expression of the impossibility of undoing the past ⓘ |
| openingWords | The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | Persian ⓘ |
| originalWorkTitle | Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOf | Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (FitzGerald translation) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| positionInWork | opening line of a quatrain ⓘ |
| quotationType |
aphorism
ⓘ
maxim ⓘ |
| subjectOf |
literary criticism
ⓘ
philosophical commentary ⓘ |
| theme |
determinism
ⓘ
fate ⓘ finality of human actions ⓘ human powerlessness to alter the past ⓘ irreversibility of time ⓘ regret ⓘ |
| translator | Edward FitzGerald NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| usedAs |
epigraph in literary works
ⓘ
proverbial saying about the past ⓘ |
| workDate | 1859 (first FitzGerald edition) ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.