posted on 06 Oct 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald

There are literally hundreds of editions of The Rubaiyat but this one, published by Siegle, Hill &Co. sometime shortly after 1910 is my absolute favourite. This Fitzgerald translation has an introduction by A.C.Benson and is reproduced from a manuscript produced by the legendary book producers and binders, Sangorski and Sutcliffe.

To call this book illustrated is to massively understate the quality of the work that has gone into this. It would be more accurate to call this volume illuminated because it resembles some of the finest work you would normally find in hand-produced religious texts. The colours glow, the script is reproduced as if by free-hand caligraphy and capital letters drip with decoration. Sumptuous.

I try to collect interesting versions of The Rubaiyat especially in the Edward Fitzgerald translation. There are other versions which scholars believe to be more authentic but I love the atmosphere of the Fitzgerald manuscript and the satisfying cadence of the verse. This is, of course, a long poem of spirituality which acknowledges our insignificance in the face of the creation - our impotence when it comes to time and transience. But it's not a sombre poem; it's a poem of celebration and a poem of urgency. Our time on Earth is short and the vanity of our Earthly status means nothing in the great scheme of things. Our only duty is to acknowledge our place in this creation, allow ourselves to be awestruck and submit to the pleasures our brief life offers.

It is a poem that always moves me as much now as when I first read it. Every time you pick this book up something new is revealed and the illumination adds to what is always a moving and visceral experience.

Awake! For morning in the bowl of night

Has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight

And Lo! The hunter of the east has caught

The Sultan's turret in a noose of light.

Dreaming when dawn's left hand was in the sky

I heard a voice within the tavern cry

"Awake my little ones and fill the cup

Before life's liquor in its cup be dry".

 

Terry Potter

October 2015