Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

About the Book For the great bulk of English readers-if in this connection a "great bulk" of readers can be predicated-the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam means the one particular translation done so divinely well by Edward FitzGerald, when the Victorian era was at its most self-centered and self- sufficient state of development.

The poem made so little mark on its first appearance-so little mark with the critics and the general public, that is to say-that the original edition, 'passing out of sight, became presently a delightful rarity for the next generation of second-hand book lovers to unearth, for the high appreciation in two kinds which was then awaiting it-the literary and the monetary. And it remains essentially, like all other translations-even the authorized version of the Bible-a second-hand book.

For the translator of poetry and vision always stands between us and the original. And whatever the beauty or the exact meaning of the original may have been, in this case we can hardly doubt that, for English minds, the translator has given to it a reconciling beauty and flavor of his own, which make it more acceptable to all but scholars or pedants.

About the Author Edward FitzGerald (31 March 1809 -14 June 1883) was an English poet and writer, best known as the poet of the first and most famous English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The writing of his name as both FitzGerald and Fitzgerald is seen. The use here of FitzGerald conforms to that of his own publications, anthologies such as Quilter- Couch's Oxford Book of English Verse, and most reference books up until about the 1960s.

Edward FitzGerald was born Edward Purcell at Bradfield House in Bradfield, around 2 miles north of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, in 1809. In 1818, his father, John Purcell, assumed the name and arms of his wife's family, the Fitzgerald’s.

This name change occurred shortly after FitzGerald's mother inherited her second fortune. She had previously inherited over half a million pounds from an aunt, but in 1818, her father died and left her considerably more than that. The Fitzgerald’s were one of the wealthiest families in England. Edward FitzGerald later commented that all of his relatives were mad; further, that he was insane as well, but was at least aware of the fact.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages