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The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam (view source)
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'''The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam''' is the collection of [[quatrain]]s—four-line stanzas—written by the [[Persia]]n astronomer [[Omar Khayyam]] (1048 – 1123). They are largely known to the English-speaking world in the translations written by Edward FitzGerald, first published, anonymously, in 1859.
'''Omar Khayyam''' (1048 – 1123) was a [[Persia|Persian]] [[mathematician]], [[astronomer]], and [[poet]].
'''The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam''' is the collection of [[quatrain]]s—four-line stanzas which he wrote. They are largely known to the English-speaking world in the translations written by Edward FitzGerald, first published, anonymously, in 1859.
They are perhaps some of the most quoted poetry in the English language: of approximately a hundred stanzas, about forty of them are included ''in full'' in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
They are perhaps some of the most quoted poetry in the English language: of approximately a hundred stanzas, about forty of them are included ''in full'' in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
FitzGerald's translation is not literal. FitzGerald believed he was being true to the spirit of the original.
FitzGerald's translation is not literal. FitzGerald believed he was being true to the spirit of the original.
Khayyam alludes to his professional work as mathematician and astronomer in the quatrain:
Ah, but my Computations, People say,<br>
Reduced the Year to better reckoning?—Nay<br>
'Twas only striking from the Calendar<br>
Unborn To-morrow, and dead Yesterday.<br>
[[Category:Poetry|Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, The]]
[[Category:Poetry|Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, The]]
[[category:mathematicians]]