Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

As Byatt observes in her new intro. to this volume, FitzGerald's 19th-century lyrical translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat forever changed the landscape of English poetry.Ó FitzGerald's own verse -- delicate & piercing, with a mixture of hedonism & melancholyÓ -- adapted itself well to what he perceived to be Khayyam's original intent: to revel in the pleasures of the moment, forsake the folly of attempting to control one's life, & disavow religious succor outright. In FitzGerald's hands the Persian poet's brief, evocative verses -- some 800 years old at the time -- became a cohesive whole. Illustrated by Edmund Dulac.Dulac, Edmund is the author of 'Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam' with ISBN 9780788168727 and ISBN 078816872X.