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Elena Posted 21 years ago

Rubaiyat. Omar Khayyam.

0Hi everybody,02br
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00LanguageLover and I were discussing the different translations of the Rubaiyats of Omar Khayyam 00(1048-1122)02br
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00I copy here one of them, in Fitzgerald translation, Fith Edition (1889).02br
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00Every comment will be very appreciated, 05002br
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00LXVI 02br
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00I sent my Soul through the Invisible,02br
00Some letter of that After-life to spell:02br
00And by and by my Soul return'd to me,02br
00And answer'd "I Myself am Heav'n and Hell:"010id1
  

Top answer

0It's astonishing how many copies of Fitzgerald's version you find in second-hand bookshops in England. They mostly date from between 1900 and 1935, and are often pocket-size editions with a leather (or other special) binding. From the inscriptions inside, you can see that it was often given as a present.

— MrPedantic

  • 0It's astonishing how many copies of Fitzgerald's version you find in second-hand bookshops in England.
  • They mostly date from between 1900 and 1935, and are often pocket-size editions with a leather (or other special) binding.
  • From the inscriptions inside, you can see that it was often given as a present.
  • 02br 02br 00I'd be interested to see a literal translation of that stanza.
  • 02br 02br 00MrP0-
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7 Answers
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0It's astonishing how many copies of Fitzgerald's version you find in second-hand bookshops in England. They mostly date from between 1900 and 1935, and are often pocket-size editions with a leather (or other special) binding. From the inscriptions inside, you can see that it was often given as a present. The only comparable phenomenon from that time (in terms of special editions/sales) seems to
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0Thanks Elena. Could you also post the Spanish version you are (of course with your English translation 05000 ). I'll try MrP, with the help of my husband. He's not yet home, first he has to read the stanza and guess the Persian equivalent. Then I may be able to help.02br
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00Cheers,010id1
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0Of course,02br
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00the Spanish version I have is by Mauricio Reguera (1996) from a French translation by Ali Nô-Rouze (1923)02br
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00Más allá de los límites de la Tierra,02br
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00más allá del límite Infinito,02br
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00buscaba yo el Cielo y el Infierno.02br
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00Pero una voz severa me
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0Hi Elena,02br
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00I know a bit Spanish, your translation sounds good to me. 05000 The Spanish translation that you inserted sounds familiar to me, my husband agreed on that too and added that he would find the Persian equivalent, and also he doesn't say that **** and Heaven are in you, but **** and Heaven is here (on the earth!). I'll come with a better answer as s
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I am so sorry Elena and MrP,

I looked for the quatrain in question for hours, all in vain! The only similar implication to this meaning I found was another English translation by E.H. Whinfield, that I read somewhere that he has provided a longer and more literal translation of the quatrains:

To find great Jamshid's world-reflecting bowl
I compassed sea and land, and viewed
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I found this: http://www.okonlife.com/poems/page1.htm

Though it doesn't include your quatrain, Elena, there are many others with the Persian Rubayi (as you can see in the link, you can go till page 6). Now I can go to bed!
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Thank you very much Language Lover, fastastic page!
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