Essay Questions

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyan is a compilation of unrelated quatrains into one epic poem. Edward Fitzgerald has been accused of departing from a true translation and sometimes even inserting whole quatrains. What problems would one face when trying to compile a poem such as this?

The original poem was written in the 11th century in old-Farsi, a Persian language. English and Persian are linguistically and culturally widely different languages that have different grammatical structures and would not have shared much vocabulary at the time. Even with the assumption that Edward Fitzgerald was completely fluid in Farsi, direct translations often face the problem that distinct terms often have no direct translation and that cultural phrases or terms are hard to understand outside of the original language. Furthermore, trying to keep the original poetic format and some form of rhyme scheme would make the task close to impossible without some form of personal freedom in the translation. Additionally, the will to compile unrelated quatrains into a more or less consistent story would require some additions and/or deletions.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyan discusses the concept of fate and religious doctrine. Considering the time period of the original (11th century), which attitudes towards these concepts can be found within the poem?

The original poems were written in the Middle East during the 11th century. At this time the Middle East was the centre of the world's intellectual elite. At the same time, Islamic religious doctrine was a constant of everyday life. While the poem was compiled by Edward Fitzgerald, even the individual quatrains contain strong criticism of religious doctrine. This might be connected to the original author, who is mostly known for his scientific work in astronomy and mathematics. A scientific mind like his might have trouble with stringent religious rules. However, the topic of fate is discussed in a different tone. The narrator of the poem states that fate is something that is preordained by a higher power and no human can change it. This fact is then used to further criticize those that practice religion. The narrator argues that all actions taken by religious people are useless, as their deaths are already certain and no afterlife awaits them anyway.

The main theme of the poem is often described as the generally positive carpe diem. What aspects of the poem support this assumption, which ones would suggest a less optimistic theme?

One can argue that the whole poem has a strong message of seize the day. However, while the general assumption is that carpe diem is a positive concept, the narrator in this poem gives it a darker twist. They argue that seizing each day is the only thing a human can do, as all other knowledge is not secure. One cannot know if the past I remember is true or if my plans for the future will come to fruition. Therefore, it is better to not think about the past and not make plans. The narrator goes even further and suggest that any thought on anything that is not secure, i.e. religion, the afterlife, how to change one's fate, is futile. While all these suggestions can still be considered a positive message, eager to relieve people of their daily insecurities, the narrator's main solution is questionable. They suggest that the only thing that can help to take one's mind of these things is wine, a copious amount of wine. This, in the end, paints a picture of a depressed narrator, whose own findings about the insecurities of the world have driven them to alcoholism.