The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Images and Gifts

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!

(The image, At The Tomb of Omar Khayyam by Jay Hambridge, is from Wikipedia Creative Commons and is in the public domain in the USA due to its copyright expiring, the artist died in 1924)

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

What is the Rubaiyat all about? Illustrated editions, critique and general discussion of the Rubaiyat.

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!

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?

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?

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