false 4 2 false false Mon May 25 18:55:50 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 19:03:36 -0700 2009
The "Rubaiyat" itself is a series of four line stanzas, following one another in ". . .a strange succession of Grave and Gay." Here are some of the more affecting stanzas, from my own perspective, that well illustrate the poet's art.

"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."

"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."

"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor shall thy Tears wash out a Word of it."

And on it goes. Some of the stanzas are very familiar to us; others are not. But put them together and we experience a strangely powerful view of the world, from the eyes of Omar Khayyam.

If you are interested in his Rubaiyat, this and other versions will introduce you to trhe poet's world.
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