Awake!

I.

 

"Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night

Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:

And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught

The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light."*

For many years now, I have been collecting copies of Edward FitzGerald's translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat. At this stage, I think it's time to let my collection do its own talking and have its own time in the sun. Hereafter I will show off the fruits of my labours along with some discussion of the various historical facts surrounding the poem, links to other works, some controversies and disasters that have dogged the work as well as some talk about the various illustrators and critics who have enjoyed wrestling with this hybrid beast.

Simply put, I have had many years of enjoyment from this activity; now it's time to share. I hope you enjoy what my collection has to reveal. 

*****

*In the Persian world, the throwing of a stone into a bowl or cup, was the signal for a hunt to begin. In his subsequent re-workings of this stanza, FitzGerald altered and removed this image and it was far less successful (in my humble opinion, at least!).