{"id":40,"date":"2009-05-11T18:14:45","date_gmt":"2009-05-11T23:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/?p=40"},"modified":"2009-05-11T18:15:05","modified_gmt":"2009-05-11T23:15:05","slug":"edward-fitzgerald-omar-khayyam-and-the-rubaiyat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/2009\/05\/11\/worldview\/edward-fitzgerald-omar-khayyam-and-the-rubaiyat\/","title":{"rendered":"Edward Fitzgerald, Omar Khayyam, and the Rubaiyat"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been an admirer of the Ruba\u2019iyat for many years, but was never aware that Edward Fitzgerald\u2019s version was substantially different from the original verses by Omar Khayyam and others until I picked up the recent translation by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs.\u00a0 <\/span>The original quatrains were meant to stand on their own, whereas Fitzgerald\u2019s poem is much more a unified statement of his own philosophy.\u00a0 <\/span>As often happens with poets who catch the fancy of so many lay readers, Fitzgerald has been widely panned by academics and professionals.\u00a0 <\/span>Unjustly, I think, because his poem is a concise, clear, and telling attack on the Judeo-Christian-Moslem religions.\u00a0 <\/span>In much of the poem, the author dwells on the absurdity of human existence;<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Turns Ashes \u2013 or it prospers; and anon, <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Like Snow upon the Desert\u2019s dusty Face<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Lighting a little Hour or two \u2013 is gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, he also launches a telling, and, in my opinion, unanswerable attack on the notion of eternal punishment in Hell for the paltry sins we commit during our short existence on earth, a belief characteristic of many Christian sects, and of Moslems in general;<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, Thou, who didst with Pitfall and with Gin<\/span><\/p>\n

Beset the Road I was to wander in,<\/span><\/p>\n

Thou wilt not with Predestination round<\/span><\/p>\n

Enmesh me, and impute my Fall to Sin?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What!\u00a0 <\/span>Out of senseless Nothing to provoke<\/span><\/p>\n

A conscious Something to resent the yoke<\/span><\/p>\n

Of unpermitted Pleasure, under pain<\/span><\/p>\n

Of Everlasting Penalties, if broke!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What!\u00a0 <\/span>from his helpless Creature be repaid<\/span><\/p>\n

Pure Gold for what he lent us dross-allay\u2019d\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Sue for a Debt we never did contract, <\/span><\/p>\n

And cannot answer \u2013 Oh the sorry trade!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nay, but for terror of his wrathful Face,<\/span><\/p>\n

I swear I will not call Injustice Grace,<\/span><\/p>\n

Not one Good Fellow of the Tavern but<\/span><\/p>\n

Would kick so poor a Coward from the place<\/span><\/p>\n

The poem deserves lasting fame for these quatrains, if for nothing else.\u00a0 <\/span>Certainly, belief in eternal punishment after death can be of great value to those who derive their livings by imposing on the credulity of their fellow mortals.\u00a0 <\/span>Logically, however, it is absurd.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tTweet<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been an admirer of the Ruba\u2019iyat for many years, but was never aware that Edward Fitzgerald\u2019s version was substantially different from the original verses by Omar Khayyam and others until I picked up the recent translation by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs.\u00a0 The original quatrains were meant to stand on their own, whereas … Continue reading “Edward Fitzgerald, Omar Khayyam, and the Rubaiyat”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion","category-worldview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwEq0-E","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43,"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helian.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}