Beginning in 1859, FitzGerald authorized four editions and had a fifth posthumous edition of his translation of the
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (), of which three (the first, second, and fifth) differ significantly; the second and third are almost identical, as are the fourth and fifth. The first and fifth editions are almost equally reprinted and equally often anthologized.
- A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
- A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou
- Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
- Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
Stanza XI above, from the fifth edition, differs from the corresponding stanza in the first edition, wherein it reads: "Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the bough/A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse—and Thou". Other differences are discernible. Stanza LXIX is more well known in its incarnation in the first edition:
- 'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
- Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:
- Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,
- And one by one back in the Closet lays.
The fifth edition is less familiar: "But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays/Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days".
FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát is notable for being a work to which allusions are both frequent and ubiquitous. It remains popular, but enjoyed its greatest popularity for a century following its publication, wherein it formed part of the wider English literary canon.
One indicator of the popular status of the Rubáiyát is that, of the 107 stanzas in the poem's fifth edition, the
Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (2nd edition) quotes no less than 43 entire stanzas in full, in addition to many individual lines and couplets. Stanza LI, also well-known, runs:
- The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
- Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit
- Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
- Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
Lines and phrases from the poem have been used as the titles of many literary works, amongst them Nevil Shute's
The Chequer Board, James Michener's
The Fires of Spring and Agatha Christie's
The Moving Finger; Eugene O'Neill's
Ah, Wilderness alludes to the Rubáiyát without being a direct quotation. Allusions to it are frequent in the short stories of O. Henry; Saki's nom-de-plume makes reference to it. The popular 1925 song
A Cup of Coffee, A Sandwich, and You, by Billy Rose and Al Dubin, makes reference to the first of the stanzas quoted above.
Parodies
FitzGerald's translations were popular in the century of their publication, and since its publication humourists have used it for purposes of parody.
- The Rubáiyát of Ohow Dryyam by J. L. Duff utilises the original to create a satire commentating on Prohibition.
- Rubaiyat of a Persian Kitten by Oliver Herford, published in 1904, is the illustrated story of a kitten in parody of the original verses.
- The Rubaiyat of Omar Cayenne by Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) was a condemnation of the writing and publishing business.
- The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Jr. by Wallace Irwin purports to be a translation from "Mango-Bornese"; it chronicles the adventures of Omar Khayyam's son "Omar Junior"–unmentioned in the original–who emigrated from Persia to Borneo.