The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Images and Gifts
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - An Introduction
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was given to me by my first boyfriend. So romantic! He could recite the whole poem and I thought the Rubaiyat was very romantic:
Here, with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse
And Thou - beside me, singing in the Wilderness -
And Wilderness is Paradise enow!
In later years I read the Rubaiyat many times and saw its deeper meaning, to live in the Now. We seem to take that philosophy as being modern, but few modern ideas are truly modern. Omar Khayyam was a mathematician and philosopher as well as a poet. I have to say the my love for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam outlasted that for my first boyfriend by many, many years!
On this page I want to celebrate the Rubaiyat on Omar Khayyam in images. I hope you will enjoy the designs, the poetry and maybe explore it more if it is new to you!
Awake! For Morning in the Bowl of Night
Has flung the Stone that put the Stars to Flight
Awake! For Morning in the Bowl of Night
Has flung the Stone that put the Stars to Flight
And Lo! The Hunter of the East has caught
The Sultan's Turret in a noose of light.
Fitzgerald's first translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is still my favourite for its beautiful imagery. It may not be the most modern or accurate, but I am fond of it!
Awake for Morning in the Bowl of Night
Buy the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - Do you read the Rubaiyat?
If you don't own your own copy of the Rubaiyat, there is a selection of different editions to choose from. This is some of the most beautiful poetry ever written.
The Form of the Rubaiyat
What is a quatrain?
The Rubaiyat is written in iambic pentameter in quatrains. I say this because it is possibly the most popular form of poetry and also because, in the interest of design, its form has been adapted in some of my Zazzle products. A quatrain is simply a four line verse. In fact Rubaiyat is a word that derives from a Persian word meaning "root of four".
Iambic pentameter describes the meter, or the stresses on words and parts of words (syllables) and how it is recited. To me, the feel and the music of these words is far more important than how they are set out on paper, but that is a personal thing. Over the course of this page I want to show you some of my favourite verses and the zazzle designs that go with them.
Here, with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse and Thou
Here, with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse and Thou -
Beside me, singing in the Wilderness -
And Wilderness is Paradise enow!
Images from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
More Zazzle designs based on the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
I have used my own designs, based on Oliver's picture, to illustrate some of my favorite verses from the Rubaiyat, but there are others too. You will find these designs on Zazzle if you click through and then use search.
Links to the Rubaiyat - Compare versions and read the Rubaiyat for free.
- Compare different versionsof the poem in translation
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Comparison of Versions by: Edward FitzGerald 1858, Edward Whinfield 1883, Arthur Talbot 1908, Richard Brodie 2001 - Review: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, Translated by Edward Fitzgerald | The Invisible Mentor
Most readers have at least one book that profoundly impacts them; Omar Khayyam's Rubáiyát was the "book" that profoundly impacted Dee Hock, father of the credit card and founder of Visa - Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: a Study Guide
Summary, themes, analysis of imagery, and other background information - The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - Wikisource
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam From Wikisource Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Persian) The Rubáiyát is a collection of poems - Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - Google Books
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is a collection of poems authored by Persian astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyam. The poems in this title are written into quatrains, Rubaiyat being arabic for root of four, as in four line verses of which quatrains
Buy the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - Poetry and Critique of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
What is the Rubaiyat all about? Illustrated editions, critique and general discussion of the Rubaiyat.
Dreaming when Dawn's left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a Voice with the Tavern cry
Dreaming when Dawn's left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a Voice with the Tavern cry
Awake my little Ones and fill the Cup
before life's Liquor in its Cup be dry!
Ah! Fill the Cup what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet
Ah! Fill the Cup what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:
Unborn Tomorrow and dead Yesterday
Why fret about them if Today be sweet?
And this Reviving Herb whose Tender Green
Fledges the River-Lip on which We lean
And this Reviving Herb whose Tender Green
Fledges the River-Lip on which We lean
Ah, lean upon it lightly for who knows
From what once Lovely Lip it springs unseen
As a teenager, it was the romantic side of the poem that appealed most to me. As an older person, I now appreciate the philosophy as well as the beautiful words. Did you enjoy the poem? What about the images? Can poetry speak to us about a way of life in tune with the Now?
Come fill the Cup and in the Fire of Spring
The Winter Garment of Repentance fling
Come fill the Cup and in the Fire of Spring
The Winter Garment of Repentance fling
The Bird of Time has but a little way to fly
And Lo... the Bird is on the Wing
© 2011 Lisa Marie Gabriel
