We are no other than a moving row

Of Magic Shadow-shapes tht come and go

Round with the Sun-illumined Llantern held

In Midnight by the Master of the Show;

But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays

Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days;

Hither and thither moves, and check, and slays,

And one by one back in the Closet lays.

Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat