January 07, 2005

A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread --and Thou...

At least that's how Fitzgerald translated it in the 4th and 5th editions. The Rubaiyat will always have a special place in my heart. It is part of what brought me and my S.O. together. Was Omar a Sufi? Devoutely Islam? A mystic? A drunk? An Atheist? Does the Rubaiyat have less meaning, considering it is widely known best by it's Fitzgerald "translation"? By turns fanciful and fatalistic, joyful and cryptic. To me it still feels like a lovers lament. Enjoy...

posted by lilnemo 19 years ago
  • Vedder's illustrations are gorgeous. Cost me a tad over $100 to get a good copy for a gift, but it was worth it. Actually, I've got a few scans that revolve as my desktop. :p
  • the vedder art is cool, cool, cool.
  • I'd forgotten how much I like Vedder. Thanks, lilnemo.
  • Vedder's illustrations are gorgeous! I hadn't seen them before. That Arabian Nights site is top stuff; I like how you can choose your edition AND your illustrator. I love the Rubaiyat; the first edition is my favourite, before he revised it to mute the Godlessness. My copy with Dulac illustrations is a happy, happy thing.
  • Boy, I knew that Pearl Jam guy was talented, but this? Wow. What? Not that E. Vedder? never mind
  • On a tangentially similar note... Pallas: If you like Dulac, you'd probably like Barry Windsor-Smith. I'm not sure if you're familiar with his work but his line, and color sensibilities are eerily similar. Windsor-Smith's work is predominately fantasy; he worked for comics companies for years (Conan, X-Men, Solar, etc.).
  • Ah, I wish I still had the edition I found in the 1950s. I think it dated to the 30s. Fitzgerald's translation, but the drawings were so clean and evocative. They didn't overwhelm the poetry with overly complicated images, but they were so beautiful, and seemed to express the complicated simplicity of the poetry better than anything else I've seen! I lost it in some move or other. And, really, the poems are beautiful but simple. None of the images here seem as perfect.
  • lilnemo: Ooh, hey, Art Nouveau-fabulous! I'll have to check out more of this guy. Thanks for the link!
  • the bird of time perching above me leaves white streaks on my beard and brows