Quatrain#101-illustration for Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyam-Quatrain#101-Edward Fitzgerald tr.5 ed.,

Read Full Post »

Quatrain#202 the Great Silence

Some tales with much moral add’d to lend weight
Prophets have told us: such is their bless’d state
We took it gospel truth: They are all dead.
None returns after he has pass’d the gate.

Read Full Post »

Illustration for Quatrain#131

for the text see omarikhayyamdotcom.wordpress.com

Read Full Post »

The Rubaiyat-Benny Thomas: Quatrain #87

Divine Will- the Inner Eye

Life of the senses has spread the feast sure

Each takes his fill and thinks the world as fair:

But in death earth has her treasures laid out

True heirs we are, bereft of senses there.

benny

“Under God’s benign eye we may see His rich treasures through His eyes. What makes any one think his eyes are better than that of his maker?” b

Read Full Post »

Omar Khayyam-Rubaiyat parodies

Parodies based on Edward Fitzgerald version:
2.

Seeking yet old thrill,-it begins anew
I heard a cry within, ‘Snort or go bust!’
‘Yeah with a monkey on my back a fix
Will give my world its center: I am at rest !

3.
A quick bite on the run to my workplace
Will keep me for the day in this rat race:
You do know how to get on without sweat?
Backbite or kiss the ass to save the face. (#2 and 3 from First Ed.)

#12

Here with a kindle O, beneath the Sun
A word or two from my love,-it is fun
If she had her Kindle too; Had Khayyam
lived now would he check out from Amazon?

(Fifth Ed.)
benny

Read Full Post »

Omar Says-Rubaiyat for the Present Day

Remote control it is not, press I well
Surfing channels of reason, my eyes fail-
If Nature stayed true to will and please
My senses-Ah it would be worth my while.

In this age of instant gratification can Omar Khayyam be relevant to us? I believe the quatrain form could be used to convey our spiritual confusion or love for Immensities that comes in byte-size, only we call it passing time. Nature changes: seasons after seasons on the treadmill of Time, is the riddle that was poets of every age and clime had to come to terms with.
Who is using the remote control, by the way?
It is somewhat like the theatre of the Absurd. One who makes Nature keep renewing the face of the earth affects us as well. Lacking in time we require certainties and only certainty that we end up with is what one might call as Chance.
Thanks to our attention-deficit we also keep checking out what is all available whenever we want some entertainment. Instead we are inundated with bits and snatches of man’s art, news of the mart that would not even feed the appetite of a louse. Who is using the remote control and what for?
benny

Read Full Post »

Quatrain #28- the Rubaiyat

Read Full Post »

Quatrain #29

Read Full Post »

The Illustrated Omar Khayyam

Read Full Post »

Chapter heading-Omar Khayyam

Read Full Post »