Home > Work > Edward Fitzgerald's The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)
1 " A book of verses underneath the boughA flask of wine, a loaf of bread and thouBeside me singing in the wildernessAnd wilderness is paradise now. "
― Harold Bloom , Edward Fitzgerald's The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)
2 " Where is an intimate friend who’ll hear the secret from me straight out– of what human beings have been from the moment they began? They are born of toil and molded from the clay of sorrow.They wander the world for a time, then set off. "
3 " To all of us the thought of heaven is dear ---Why not be sure of it and make it here?No doubt there is a heaven yonder too, But 'tis so far away --- and you are near. "
4 " What is my true substance?What will remain of me after my death?Our life is as short as a raging fire:flames the passer-by soon forgets,ashes the wind blows away.A man's life. "
5 " The scent of wine risingfrom my grave will be so strongthat it will intoxicate passers-by.There will be such an atmosphere of serenitythat couples in love will find it impossibleto tear themselves away. "
― Omar Khayyám , Edward Fitzgerald's The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)
6 " I see a horseman disappearing intothe evening mist. Will he travel through woodsor across wild plains? Where is he heading? I don't know.Tomorrow, will I be stretched out above orbelow the earth? I don't know. "