The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

by Omar Khayyam

Overview

As Byatt observes in her new intro. to this volume, FitzGeralds 19th-century lyrical translation of Omar Khayyams Rubaiyat forever changed the landscape of English poetry. FitzGeralds own verse — delicate & piercing, with a mixture of hedonism & melancholy — adapted itself well to what he perceived to be Khayyams original intent: to revel in the pleasures of the moment, forsake the folly of attempting to control ones life, & disavow religious succor outright. In FitzGeralds hands the Persian poets brief, evocative verses — some 800 years old at the time — became a cohesive whole. Illustrated by Edmund Dulac.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596251540
Publisher:	Digireads.com Publishing
Publication date:	01/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
File size:	46 KB

About the Author

Anthony Briggs, Emeritus Professor of Russian at Birmingham University, Senior Research Fellow at Bristol University, is a well-known writer and broadcaster on Russian cultural affairs and European poetry. His recent translation of WAR AND PEACE was critically acclaimed. Among his many publications are six editions in the Everyman poetry series.

Editorial Reviews

Fitzgerald compulsively revised his translation of the "Rub<'a>iy<'a>t," resulting in four published editions, all of which are presented here with their original prefaces and notes, along with all extant versions of FitzGerald's translation. Decker supplies biographical and textual introductions that make use of FitzGerald's correspondence to seek motives for his revisions, the aim being to to unearth a full record of the poem's textual evolution, to provide an interpretive context, and to illuminate the complex process of revision. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

an attractive new edition with a lengthy essay by Tony Briggs, who characterises the poem, memorably, as "the story of the apocalypse told to us by a kind uncle"—DAILY MAIL

a lovely new edition... Professor Briggs does us all a favour by putting before our red and weary eyes FitzGerald and this legacy from an older Iran.—Libby Purves, TIMES

From the Publisher