poetry

For a whole lifetime, I’ve made praising wine a constant exercise. I always have its  instruments around me. Prude, if reason  is your teacher here, cheer up– for your teacher  is my student. Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 89

The Kamkaran group performs Khayyam’s poetry in classical style in Tehran:

Since we have to go, what is it to exist? What is it to chase  impossible ambitions? They’ll never pass by  anyplace with a  sense of well-being. What is it to be deprived both of travel and of rest? Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 88

Fifth and final part of “The Genius of Omar Khayyam” — the continuing appeal of his poetry and philosophy, and the question of how much of Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat translation is Fitzgerald and how much Khayyam:

A cup full of rose-colored wine  is beautiful; the tunes of the lute are lovely. As for the prude who knows nothing of wine, it is beautiful when he  is very far away. Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 85

Part 4 of the “Genius of Omar Khayyam”— how Edward Fitzgerald’s translation became a Western publishing sensation:

The life of this world without wine and bartender is not happy; without the airs of the Iraqi flute, it is not happy; Whenever I look at the world’s condition,  its fruits are joy; and the rest is not happy. Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 86

Part 3 of “The Genius of Omar Khayyam”, with special attention to the place of the Rubaiyat (Quatrains) in Iranian music: