Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Oxford World's Classics)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.80
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Oxford World's Classics) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.80, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Handsome, richly illuminating - and keenly priced. (Boyd Tonkin, The Independent )
Product Description
'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 all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.' In the 'rubáiyát' (short epigrammatic poems) of the medieval Persian poet, mathematician, and philosopher Omar Khayyám, Edward FitzGerald saw an unflinching challenge to the illusions and consolations of mankind in every age. His version of Omar is neither a translation nor an independent poem; sceptical of divine providence and insistent on the pleasure of the passing moment, its 'Orientalism' offers FitzGerald a powerful and distinctive voice, in whose accents a whole Victorian generation comes to life. Although the poem's vision is bleak, it is conveyed in some of the most beautiful and haunting images in English poetry - and some of the sharpest-edged. The poem sold no copies at all on its appearance in 1859, yet when it was 'discovered' two years later its first readers and admirers included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Swinburne, and Ruskin. By the end of the century it was one of the best-known poems in the English language. Daniel Karlin's richly annotated edition does justice to the scope and complexity of FitzGerald's lyrical meditation on 'human death and fate'.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've loved Fitzgerald's Omar ever since I bought a remaindered World Books' edition for one shilling in 1969. That had an introduction by Laurence Housman, younger brother of the poet, which, for me, has always been a model of expository clarity, with one exception: no mention was made of Fitzgerald's seemingly repressed homosexuality which, in some ways, was the begetter of his translation. Daniel Karlin's sensitive, beautifully written introduction remedies this, and provides the best short summary of the poem's genesis, writing, and meaning that I have read (and I've read quite a few). The text of the first edition is used (Fitzgerald produced five versions over 30 years, the last - published immeduately after his death - containing very minor revisions) and is very well presented; but the great strength of this book lies in the other material. As well as the previously mentioned introduction, there's a chronology, a publication history, a bibliography, Fitzgerald's own notes, notes on variant readings, some early critical responses to the poem - including Tennyson's poem "To E Fitzgerald" - and Karlin's very full notes on the text. And if all this sounds dry - it isn't. I found it quite enthralling. If you already know the Rubaiyat then you need this volume; if you don't yet know it, treat yourself. You won't regret it.
One thing missed - Karlin notes how Fitzgerald would "alter" poems, plays and prose written by others; he believed he was making them more readable, cutting out the padding. He physically altered books in his own library, cutting out chunks he didn't like and having the books re-bound. Not so well known is that he did the same with paintings - he would overpaint parts of pictures in his collection so that they accorded more with his taste. Odd but true.
One thing missed - Karlin notes how Fitzgerald would "alter" poems, plays and prose written by others; he believed he was making them more readable, cutting out the padding. He physically altered books in his own library, cutting out chunks he didn't like and having the books re-bound. Not so well known is that he did the same with paintings - he would overpaint parts of pictures in his collection so that they accorded more with his taste. Odd but true.
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Nice edition, beautiful, lots of notes providing background and explanation, which enriches the experience of the Rubaiyat, particularly as I was new to it when I bought this. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This delightful book makes a great gift. It is like jumping into a bowl of peaches; although you need to time to digest its contents! A brilliant translation - a chequer board of nights and days...
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Rubiyat
Alwys good, but this version was too complex for me, and I just wanted a copy of the poetry rather than a dissection of it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by G. Byrne
Very badly transferred onto kindle
Attention - this review is only about the kindle version.
I do not want to add to what the other reviewers say to the text itself: it is brilliantly introduced and has a lot... Read more
I do not want to add to what the other reviewers say to the text itself: it is brilliantly introduced and has a lot... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Peacock Wings
Classic poetry on the go
I got Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat to read on the go on my kindle - as poetry it consists of multiple 4 line verses translated from Arabic. Read more
Published 14 months ago by MasterOfNinja
Opinion
The item was in the condition that I expected and at a reasonable price and the service was on time.
Published 15 months ago by Ian Bell
A classic for every student of philosophy
Having seen a TV programme on Omar Khayyam I bought the book to read for myself what so many people rave about. The poems take up a very small part of the book. Read more
Published 16 months ago by G. J. Kirby
Fab pechase
This book is originally in Persian(Farsi), which is very well translated. Khayam is outstandingly popular not only for his practically true poems but for being a famous astronomers... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Anish
Clearly a clasic
This is a wonderful book. Fitzgerald has recently been honoured in Iran for bringing the Rubaiyat to the English speakers of the world. Read more
Published 24 months ago by J Grainger
pity about the delivery service
Very pleased with book but unhappy with Citylink service - a 5 day a week delivery service is ridiculous for those of us in employment. Read more
Published on 17 May 2010 by Mr. Matthews
a wondeful poem in a beautiful edition
I hadn't read this poem for many years but a documentary on Omar Khayyam inspired me to read Fitzgerald's rendering again. I am amazed at how much I missed years ago. Read more
Published on 9 May 2010 by Mr. Timothy P. Smith
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
