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The Rubaiyat brings to mind O. Henry...
'''O. Henry''' was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), who wrote some of the most famous and beloved stories in English. They are so famous for having surprise endings that another name for a surprise ending is an "O. Henry ending." Nevertheless, his stories are beautifully constructed and are enjoyable to read even when the ending is known.
Many of his stories are set in New York, a city which he sometimes called "Bagdad-on-the-Hudson." But he found stories everywhere. One of his most famous stories, "A Municipal Report," opens by quoting Frank Norris: "Fancy a novel about [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] or [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], let us say, or [[Nashville, Tennessee]]! There are just three big cities in the United States that are 'story cities' — New York, of course, [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]], and, best of the lot, [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]." Thumbing his nose at Norris, O. Henry sets the story in Nashville.<!--Well, yes, this is from Wikipedia, but since I was the one who added it there I don't see why I can't add it here.--->
Many of his stories are set in New York, a city which he sometimes called "Bagdad-on-the-Hudson." But he found stories everywhere. One of his most famous stories, "A Municipal Report," opens by quoting Frank Norris: "Fancy a novel about [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] or [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], let us say, or [[Nashville, Tennessee]]! There are just three big cities in the United States that are 'story cities' — New York, of course, [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]], and, best of the lot, [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]." Thumbing his nose at Norris, O. Henry sets the story in Nashville.<!--Well, yes, this is from Wikipedia, but since I was the one who added it there I don't see why I can't add it here.--->