A Book of Verses under the Branch,
A pitcher of wine, a loaf of bread, and you
By my side singing in the desert–
Oh, the desert was now Paradise!
The above quatrain is from Edward Fitzgerald’s second edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, 1868. Fitzgerald’s treatments of the poems of Omar Khayyam brought the Persian poet to the attention of the Western world more than 700 years after the poems were written.
Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam (1048-1123) was born in Nishapur, the capital city of Khurasan, Persia, now Iran. He was born Ghiyath al-Din Abul Fateh Omar Ibn Ibrahim al-Khayyam. Little is known of his early life, but the name Khayyam means “tent maker” and means that Omar or his father Ibrahim may have practiced that trade.
Omar was educated locally and completed a treatise on algebra as a young man. He caught the attention of Sultan Malik Shah, who offered him Omar’s presence at the royal court. The vizier Nizam al-Mulk gave Omar a pension that allowed him to pursue research in his favorite subjects of mathematics and astronomy. He was commissioned to build an observatory in Isfahan, and was later assigned along with eight other scholars to revise the Muslim calendar. Omar published several books on astronomy and algebra that rivaled the studies of contemporary Europeans.
Although he excelled as a mathematician and astronomer, Omar wrote poems throughout his life. His preferred style was to write four-line quatrains, and it is believed that he wrote over a thousand of them during his lifetime. Not all of the manuscripts survive, but around 600 poems are attributed to him, although most critics agree that not all of them were written by Omar Khayyam.
The word Rubaiyat is a plural noun that refers to the four-line quatrains that Omar wrote. Each quartet can be called correctly headband. In modern convention, rubaiyat now refers to a four-line poem with a rhyme scheme of aaba where each line expresses a complete thought.
The main themes of Omar’s rubaiyat are the mortality of the human spirit and the fragile nature of human existence. The tone of his poems is often pessimistic. Omar writes vividly about the impossibility of understanding the universe. As a counterpoint, he also writes about the wisdom of living in the moment, sharing friendship and the conviviality of enjoying wine in the tavern.
Not surprisingly, Omar’s poems were viewed with suspicion by orthodox Muslims. Since wine and drunkenness were prohibited by Islamic law, an effort was made to interpret his poems about wine metaphorically, as spiritual or romantic intoxication.
Omar told a student near the end of his life: “My grave will be in a place where the north wind can spread roses on it.” Omar Khayyam died in Nishapur in 1131. According to Ali ibn Azidu’l-Baihaqi’s biography, Omar called his family to listen to his last wishes and said, “O Lord, I have known you to the best of my ability. Forgive me already.” that verily my knowledge is my recommendation to Thee.”
The Edward Fitzgerald Treatment
The world knew very little about the poetry of Omar Khayyam until Edward Fitzgerald’s second edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in 1868. The first edition of 250 copies was published in 1859 anonymously and unnoticed. However, the 1868 edition was surprisingly well received. The edition treated 101 of Omar Khayyam’s quatrains as one long poem. Many critics believed that it was an English poem with Persian allusions.
Fitzgerald did not literally translate Omar’s poems. He freely reinterpreted them and even combined some of the poems to make a completely new poem. However, his translation was inspired and skillful, true to the soul of Omar Khayyam’s poems if not his words.
In fact, Fitzgerald spoke of his work not as a translation but as a transfiguration. Fortunately, Fitzgerald’s work is so good that few in the Western world care that some of the work is Fitzgerald’s own creation.
Fitzgerald created iambic pentameter quatrains. That is, the meter of each line contains five feet, and each foot is iambic with an unaccented syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The rhythmic pattern of the four lines is aaba.
Notice the last line of “A Book of Verse Beneath the Branch”, where Fitzgerald chose the word now to produce the final iambic foot.
Other translations
There are numerous sources to watch and read Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat in the original Farsi language.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam it has been translated into many languages around the world. Many English translations have followed Fitzgerald’s. Out of interest and for the sake of comparison, here are some additional translations of the quatrain “A Book of Verses Beneath the Branch.”
From Fitzgerald’s first edition, still in iambic pentameter:
Here with a Loaf of Bread under the Branch,
A bottle of wine, a book of verses, and you
Besides me singing in the desert –
And Wilderness is Paradise now.
From the 1882 edition of Edward Henry Whinfield:
In the sweet spring I looked for a grassy bench
And they brought this wine and a beautiful Houri;
And, although people called me a graceless dog,
You thought no more of Paradise!
From John Leslie Garner’s 1888 translation:
Yes, Beloved, when the Laughing Fountain blows,
With you by my side and the cup overflowing,
I spend the day on this rolling meadow,
And dreams meanwhile, without thinking of Heaven’s bestowal.
From Edward Heron-Allen’s 1898 prose translation:
I wish for some ruby wine and a book of verse,
Just enough to keep me alive, and half a loaf is necessary;
And then you and I sit in a desolate place
It is better than the kingdom of a sultan.
Lastly, just for fun, here is Wendy Cope’s transcription of the South London amateur poet, a character she created, Jason Strugnell’s translation:
Here with a Bag of Chips under the Branch,
A can of beer, a radio and you
Beside me half asleep in Brockwell Park
And Brockwell Park is Heaven now.
At least he got the next part right.
