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.
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.