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The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Euphranor and Salaman and Absal by Edward FitzGerald, Omar Khayyám
bookwomble's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
FitzGerald's Rubáiyát = 5⭐
Euphranor is an earlier work taking the form of a Platonic dialogue one day in late spring in Cambridge between a doctor and several young students while they drink beer and play bowls. It's a reply to a popular book of the 1850s on the proper education of English manhood which, little known today, set the tone for a certain kind of Stiff Upper Lipped Englishness that inspired the Scout movement and running towards machine gun fire armed with a stick, and pertains today amongst the Eton Set, Daily Mail readers, and those who still pine for the British Empire. FitzGerald, as far as I can make out, wasn't a fan. The polemic, good natured as it was, I could have done without, but the characters and setting were really appealing, and it's a great loss that FitzGerald never wrote a novel.
Sáláman and Absál is FitzGerald's translation of 14th century Persian Sufi poet, Jámí's, allegory of the soul's enlightenment. That he uses the metaphor of female sexual allure corrupting masculine purity and nobility doesn't read well in the 21st century. It was a bit of a slog, to be honest, but not without some beautiful images, and I learned something of the legend of Alexander's Mirror, which allowed the Great emperor to view far-off lands and communicate with people there, which was interesting. Overall rating 4 ⭐
Euphranor is an earlier work taking the form of a Platonic dialogue one day in late spring in Cambridge between a doctor and several young students while they drink beer and play bowls. It's a reply to a popular book of the 1850s on the proper education of English manhood which, little known today, set the tone for a certain kind of Stiff Upper Lipped Englishness that inspired the Scout movement and running towards machine gun fire armed with a stick, and pertains today amongst the Eton Set, Daily Mail readers, and those who still pine for the British Empire. FitzGerald, as far as I can make out, wasn't a fan. The polemic, good natured as it was, I could have done without, but the characters and setting were really appealing, and it's a great loss that FitzGerald never wrote a novel.
Sáláman and Absál is FitzGerald's translation of 14th century Persian Sufi poet, Jámí's, allegory of the soul's enlightenment. That he uses the metaphor of female sexual allure corrupting masculine purity and nobility doesn't read well in the 21st century. It was a bit of a slog, to be honest, but not without some beautiful images, and I learned something of the legend of Alexander's Mirror, which allowed the Great emperor to view far-off lands and communicate with people there, which was interesting. Overall rating 4 ⭐
ljcostel's review
Not sure this is exactly the version i read, but close enough
Pleasant, easy poetry read. Two editions of (mostly) the same set of poems. Liberally adapted by the translator. Khayyam was a Persian, Sufi poet born 1048. Edward Fitzgerald a rich Brit born in 1809. Rubaiyat is the plural of rubai - a 2-line stanza of Persian poetry, subdivided into 4 pieces of which the first, second, and 4th must rhyme
Pleasant, easy poetry read. Two editions of (mostly) the same set of poems. Liberally adapted by the translator. Khayyam was a Persian, Sufi poet born 1048. Edward Fitzgerald a rich Brit born in 1809. Rubaiyat is the plural of rubai - a 2-line stanza of Persian poetry, subdivided into 4 pieces of which the first, second, and 4th must rhyme
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