It is amazing how
the caravan of life goes by.
Take a deep breath,
and let it pass cheerfully.
Barkeep, why be sad
about tomorrow’s grief?
Pick up a wine glass,
before the night has fled.
Translated by Juan Cole
from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 136
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Amazing how our thoughts are so similar
I was thinking the same as above so I did; Cheers!
Also all day I had the “fool all the people” in my mind then read in on your site.
You are still my Hero please keep up the great work
Best wishes
Peter
I will, I will…pick up the wine glass. Thank you, Juan.
I must admit, what I would like to see is Cole’s Khayyam in parallel with FitzGerald’s “Khayyam”. Yes, I know FitzGerald was not an accurate translator, but his “Rubaiyat” is an interesting mid-Victorian work in its own right, and widely read (and memorised). So it would be interesting to see an accurate translation side-by-side with FitzGerald to provide a comparison.