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Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Author: Edward Fitzgerald, Illustrated by Eugene Karlin
"In the Rubaiyat we have one of those rare conjunctions in literature where medieval and modern, Oriental and Occidental, meet in a near miracle of expression. It is difficult to decide who deserved comment first: the original Persian poet, Omar Khayyam, or his English transcriber, Edward FitzGerald, without whose splendid work the Persian whoul...  more »
ISBN: 138297
Publication Date: 2/1966
Pages: 80
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Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Company
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
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sphinx avatar reviewed Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam on + 97 more book reviews
I cannot read or speak Persian/Farsi, so this refers only to the English interpretation, without reference to the original.

I found this to be a beautiful, touching, and contemplative poem, which can be read literally, as a celebration of wine and the beauty of the world that surrounds us, or symbolically, as a reminder to welcome in to one's soul the 'wine of divine light'. Khayyam implores the reader to remember that life is short and a beautiful gift, and that one needs no church or priest or holy book to access heaven, as it is available all around us, if only we can sense its presence. This is the sort of mysticism found in Walt Whitman, and if you like one, you'll probably like the other.

The translation seems very fluid and expresses the dual meaning of the text well.


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