though with Rule and Line,
And "UP - AND - DOWN" without,
I could define,
I yet in all I only cared to know,
Was never deep in anything but...Wine.
_(rendered in English verse by Edward Fitzgerald)
P.S.: while going through some old stuff, i found this. i dont wanna know why but i feel its true.
4 comments:
If one reads (the translation) until the penultimate verse then it feels like Rumi, the last verse make the rubai distinctly Omar Khayyam's
i dont exactly know why you say so, but if its the "wine" part, i feel differently about it.
i think the two last verses are the essence...to me they mean, my passions had a limit...like i could sleep but i couldnt dream, like i was drunk but i wasnt really intoxicated.
"wine" is not just wine , its an expression for sleep n ignorance. the 'will' to know is the key to the absolute intoxication. even Quran teaches the same, that only those reach the truth who 'want' to
i dont feel here Khayyam says any thing much differnt than rumi, he's just admitting his failure.
Yes of course the word wine is highly symbolic in Persian and Urdu poetry. Its "anything but" that makes the verse characteristically Khayyam's. Rumi also extensively uses the simile of wine in his poems. I would say that Khayyam generally likes to give the impression that he is care free (even though he is not).
very rightly said!
btw, thanks for explaining...otherwise i was just about to take it at as an offense against my dear O.Khayyam :p :D ;)
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