The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Written by Edward FitzGerald
Narrated by Denis Daly
4/5
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About this audiobook
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Translated by Edward FitzGerald
Narrated by Denis Daly
Omar Khayyam (1048 - 1131) was a true polymath. A distinguished mathematician, astronomer and philosopher, he is best known today for his Rubaiyat, a collection of rubai, or rhyming quatrains, of which he is estimated to have composed at least 500. Together with the work of Hafiz and Rumi, Khayyam's poetry represents the high point of classical Persian literature.
Edward Fitzgerald was neither the first nor the most scholarly of the translators of the quatrains of Omar Khayyam, but due to his remarkable abilities as a poet, his versions have been accepted as classic literature in their own right.
During his lifetime Fitzgerald published four editions of his translation - in 1859, 1868, 1872 and 1879 - and a fifth edition was released posthumously in 1889.
In this recording are presented readings of all five editions as well as biographical material about Fitzgerald and Omar Khayyam and a laudatory poem by Andrew Lang, which were published as part of the Fourth Edition.
Production copyright 2020 Voices of Today
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Reviews for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
539 ratings20 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Omar Khayyám was a twelfth-century scientist and poet in Persia. This slim volume contains seventy-five quatrains (rubáiyát) each accompanied by an illustration by Sullivan. The text was translated by Fitzgerald in the late nineteenth century. The central theme of the poetry presented her seems to be drink and be merry, but especially drink. Khayyám is very fond of the daughter of the vine, as he calls it. Some of the poems also reveal a personal philosophy that no one knows why we are here on this earth and we never will learn, so live for today because yesterday has passed and tomorrow never really comes. I enjoyed the poetry, though it was sometimes difficult to understand. (That probably owes to the date of the translation and to my own unfamiliarity with poetry in general.) Each drawing coincides with a quatrain of the poem. The artwork is truly wonderful, line and ink drawings with expressive faces and lithe bodies. I quite liked this book and would like to read another edition, with a more modern translation.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A deserved classic, Fitzgerald's translation of the poetry of Omar Kayyam, here presented in his first two editions, is simply transcendent. In fact I compared the two editions and even though they communicated the same pearl their "shells" were completely different. Fitzgerald said he took liberties with the original verse, and if he did I actually applaud him because what's contained in this volume is nevertheless a living thing in the English language. Rarely have I seen verse this wise, this celebratory, this probing through our materialistic world. If that's what Omar Kayyam had intended to communicate through his verse then Fitzgerald is actually truer to Kayyam than if he had stuck closely to what was literal and there.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Verses from this are the first I ever memorized and had to recite (that I can remember anyway). It was in 8th grade, and when I reread the book at leisure as an adult, I was amazed at how different my perception of the themes is now that I am 10 years older.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Would that I had read this sooner, and frequently.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I feel like this translation was significantly coloured by Colonial perspectives of translator Edward FitzGerald and lacks the truth of the poetry I expected.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautifully illustrated in an art deco style in both coloured and b&w line drawings.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is an odd one. It reminds me of the Book of Ecclesiastes if Solomon had gotten too deep into his cups while writing it. A quick read, though!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I haven't a clue what I just read, was way over my head. To my poor addled brain it was just line after line of sentences that made no sense to one whose Menopause Fairy has long ago eaten her brain.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I originally read this in high school and have not ventured back since then. It is in many ways a long plea for carpe diem and a kind of "To His Coy Mistress" seduction song, with the mistress being both a woman and wine. I was reminded of the number of common expressions which came from this poem. One I did not recall, but admire is:
"The Stars are setting and the Caravan/Starts for the Dawn of Nothing..." - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Having read several other editions of the Rubáiyát, this is the first time I've read one with FitzGerald's foreword and his notes, which added much to the experience this time around.
I was not previously aware of the debate regarding the possibility of reading Khayyám's frequent references to wine as literal (how I'd previously read it) or as a metaphor for divinity. Interestingly, having introduced me to the debate, FitzGerald comes down firmly on the literalist side. Nevertheless, I've enjoyed reading this one with the metaphor in mind and it will inform future readings. I understand FitzGerald's position, though, as not all of the stanzas lend themselves to a mystical rendition, however that could be due either to his translation or my own lack of spiritual knowledge.
However that may be, this remains my favourite book of poetry (admittedly out of a relatively limited exposure to verse). - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5One thing I learned...Omar Khayyam was all about the wine drinking! I've mentioned before, poetry isn't really my cup of tea but drinking as much wine as I do, it was entertaining to read this collection of poetry. Though marked as 14th century literature according to first known edition, Omar Khayyam actually lived during the 11th and 12th century. To read something this old was definitely interesting. This edition in particular actually contained the first and fourth edition of the book and although very similar, the translations are different. I enjoyed comparing how much the world changes in just a few years. (Sorry I can't remember what the exact years were, and I already returned the book to the library.) Anyway, not bad. And now I've almost completed the poetry across the centuries challenge, only one more book to go! ;)
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lovely poetry -- I didn't realize some of the more familiar lines came from this -- "The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on."
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I was expecting more from this than it seemed to deliver. it's a series of 4 lines verses that sound good, but, mostly, seemed to be concerned with drinking! There's a lot of taverns and pots and vines going on in here. I'm not sure this was the great work of mystical literature I was expecting.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I enjoyed the Rubaiyat so much that I memorized it as a young man, while walking home from work. I was only able to recall the entire book 4 times, but I can still recall certain quatrains.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Collins' delightful little edition, 6" x 4", red-leather-bound, includes an introduction by Laurence Housman, illustrations by Marjorie Anderson, and versions of both the 1959 and the 1868 versions of the poem.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The poetry is beautiful, the rhyme scheme is melodic, and the illustrations definitely enhance the words. I came away with an appreciation of the beauty of the words, the pictures, and life in general. It can be read in about an hour. It can be studied and analysed for a lifetime.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lovely illustrations by Dulac.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An interesting linguistic curiosity
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The particular edition I read comes with an amazing wealth of detail, including a long introduction, a facsimile of the original manuscript and detailed information on the translation from the Persian (Farsi). Unfortunately I only managed to read a few pages of the introduction and didn't have time to read the quattrains with the attention they deserved. As a result, I have only my own uneducated impressions to go by. I was fascinated by the tension and ambiguity between divinity and earthly pleasures (wine). My sense was that this tension is deliberate. A colleague summed it up beautifully as the impossible tension between the desire to live divinely, but the knowledge that it is physically impossible to do other than live in the real world, which involves acquiring money and possessions, and earthly pleasures. This is an impossible tension to reconcile and yet it exists. What did seem clear was the view that it is better to worship God sincerely in a tavern than to feign worship in a mosque. Absolutely fascinating reading.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Timeless & Deep Poetry, with a good dose of obtuse, philosophical humor. Highly Recommended.---