Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Fitzgerald)

The Rubaiyat is a collection of poems, originally written in Persian, in a form of four-line stanzas called rubaiyat. They are attributed to Omar Khayyam, a Persian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He is usually said to have been born in 1048 and to have died in 1131, though sources differ on when he died. Nobody knows exactly how many of the quatrains attributed to him are really his.

The English poem recorded here is the version by Edward FitzGerald (1809-1883), first published in 1859 and revised in later editions. FitzGerald took great liberties with the originals, selecting, combining and rewriting them, and the result is better described as a free adaptation than as a literal translation. In this form the poem became extremely popular in English and was widely quoted.

Its themes are those of the old tradition of carpe diem: the shortness of life, the uncertainty of what comes after, the consolation of wine and friendship, and a scepticism about religious and philosophical certainty. These are presented through vivid images, such as the potter and the clay, the moving finger and the caravanserai, which have entered the English language.

The recording, by a LibriVox volunteer, is a single file and lasts about twenty minutes. It is suitable for anyone who enjoys short, rhythmic poetry and a meditative mood. Because the poem is short and strongly rhythmic, it lends itself to repeated listening, and different stanzas will stand out on different occasions.