Omar Khayyám and his Rubaiyat

I started reading Omar Khayyam’s poetry when I wandered in an old book shop in Islamabad. Its cover was torn and the pages were brown with age. I randomly opened a page and this was there:

 

Ah love! Could Thou and I with fate conspire

To grip this sorry scheme of things entire,

Would we not shatter it to bits-and then

Re-mold it nearer to heart’s desire

Ah! Moon of my delight who know’st  no wane,

The moon if heav’n is rising once again:

How oft hereafter rising shall she look

Through this same garden after me-In vain!

And when thyself with shining foot shall pass

Among the guest star-scattered on the grass

Where I made one-Turn down an empty glass

I absolutely love how the words play with the emotions of a person while telling a story. I hope I can read more of this to help me understand the dimensions of poetry and Literature in that era.

Beyond Sanity Publishing