Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

As Byatt observes in her new intro. to this volume, FitzGeralds 19th-century lyrical translation of Omar Khayyams Rubaiyat forever changed the landscape of English poetry. FitzGeralds own verse — delicate & piercing, with a mixture of hedonism & melancholy — adapted itself well to what he perceived to be Khayyams original intent: to revel in the pleasures of the moment, forsake the folly of attempting to control ones life, & disavow religious succor outright. In FitzGeralds hands the Persian poets brief, evocative verses — some 800 years old at the time — became a cohesive whole. Illustrated by Edmund Dulac.