Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

by Poole, Adrian; Van Ruymbeke, Christine; Martin, William H.; Mason, Sandra

• ISBN13: 9780857287816
• ISBN10: 0857287818
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-07-01
• Publisher: Anthem Pr

Summary

This volume of essays is based on a conference held in July 2009 at Trinity College, Cambridge to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Edward FitzGerald (1809) and the 150th anniversary of the first publication of his #x18;Rub#xE1;iy#xE1;t of Omar Khayy#xE1;m#x19; (1859). The #x18;Rub#xE1;iy#xE1;t#x19;, loosely based on the verses attributed to the eleventh-century Persian writer, Omar Khayy#xE1;m, has become one of the most widely known poems in the world, republished virtually every year from 1879 (the year of FitzGerald#x19;s fourth edition) to the present day, and translated into over eighty different languages. And yet, with a few exceptions, it has been systematically ignored or at best patronized by the academic establishment. This volume sets out to explore the reasons for both the popularity and the neglect. Broadly speaking, the essays are divided into two main blocks. The first six chapters focus primarily on the poem#x19;s literary qualities (including consideration of its place in the tradition of verse translation into English, the idea of #x18;nothingness#x19;, and #x18;syntax and sexuality#x19;), the last five on aspects of its reception (including essays on the late-Victorian Omar Khayy#xE1;m Club, on American parodies, and on the many illustrated editions). They are linked by three essays that address key #x18;facilitators#x19; in the poem#x19;s transmission (including the significant but neglected issue of cheap reprints).

Author Biography

Adrian Poole is Professor of English Literature at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. Christine van Ruymbeke is Soudavar Lecturer in Persian at the University of Cambridge, and was formerly Lecturer at the Universit Libre de Bruxelles. William H. Martin and Sandra Mason are independent researchers with a long-standing interest in the Rubiyt of Omar Khayyam.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Notes on Contributors	p. xi
List of Elustrations	p. xv
Introduction FitzGerald's Rubáiydt Popularity and Neglect	p. xvii
Edward FitzGerald, Omar Khayyám and the Tradition of Verse Translation into English	p. 1
Much Ado about Nothing in the Rubáiyát	p. 15
Common and Queer: Syntax and Sexuality in the Rubáiyát	p. 27
A Victorian Poem: Edward FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám	p. 45
FitzGerald's Rubdiyát and Agnosticism	p. 55
The Similar Lives and Different Destinies of Thomas Gray, Edward FitzGerald and A. E. Housman	p. 73
The Second {1862 Pirate) Edition of the Rubdiydt of Omar Khayyam	p. 93
Edward Heron-Allen: A Polymath's Approach to FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám	p. 109
'Under Omar's subtle spell': American Reprint Publishers and the Omar Craze	p. 127
The Imagined Elites of the Omar Khayyam Club	p. 147
Le Gallienne's Paraphrase and the Limits of Translation	p. 175
'Some for the Glories of the Sole': The Rubáiyát and FitzGerald's Sceptical American Parodists	p. 193
The Vogue of the English Rubáiyát and Dedicatory Poems in Honour of Khayyám and FitzGerald	p. 213
The Illustration of FitzGerald's Rubáiyát and its Contribution to Enduring Popularity	p. 233
Bibliography	p. 249
Index	p. 263
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