Omar Khayyam’s Quatrains Intertwine Epicurean Penchant With Life’s Brevity

 

Omar Khayyam (1050-1132) is one of the most celebrated and timeless poets of Iran. He was born in 11th century but his poems ornamented with beautiful words and metaphors have made him immortal. Still millions of people all over the world read his poems and discover the depth of his thoughts with astonishment. Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat is an anthology of the poet’s quatrains and it is valued as an imperishable classic by literary analysts of current time. Quatrains are poems with four lines. Most of the quatrains by Omar Khayyam jingle with the poet’s vision of life, his views about love and nature, his regret for the transience of this lovely world and his mystic philosophy which had a far-reaching influence on poets of the following centuries of both oriental and western countries. English romantic poets and some poets belonging to the American Age of Enlightenment have a lot of resemblance with Omar Khayyam in terms of their treatment of life and their lament for the transitory characteristic of life. Beside poetry, Omar Khayyam worked on mathematics, geometry and astronomy too.

Omar Khayyam’s anthology of quatrains Rubaiyat was translated into English by Edward FitzGerald, a 19th century English poet.

Omar Khayyam’s poetry is filled with the poet’s portrayal of love and an appeal for endless happiness. He was aware that all the attractive things in the world are perishable and ephemeral. That’s why he wanted to make most of his lifetime by having as much amusement as possible. Life is too short for worries, for silly grievances. He urged his readers through his poems to enjoy life to the highest scale by rising over narrow thoughts and apprehensions. This feature of Omar Khayyam’s poetry speaks of epicureanism. Epicureanism stands for making life delightful with the fulfillment of feasible desires, passing most of the time with one’s beloved, consuming the best available food and drinks and beholding the peerless beauty of the universe. Let’s look at one quatrain by Omar Khayyam:

Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring
Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter---and the Bird is on the Wing.

The above lines bear the message that, repenting for the past reaps no benefit. Rather people should seize all the pleasure they can secure today and stop looking back on the sad stories of bygone days. The poet urges his beloved to fill his cup with life’s sweetest ambrosia. He wants to enjoy the dazzling glamour of spring wiping away his tears of repentance. Life in the above lines has been presented in the form of a bird which might fly away anytime. So, people should not waste their time by shedding tears because life is a divine gift that comes to us just once. Another quatrain may be cited for a deeper understanding of Omar Khayyam’s vision of life:

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
 A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise now!

These lines put forward Omar Khayyam’s thoughts over the way human beings can lead the lives they crave for. Too many things are not required to lead a happy life. Rather running after too high ambitions can make life miserable. That’s why an ideal man keeps himself happy with the company of his beloved, a little amount of food, a bottle of his favourite drink and some poems. Omar Khayyam has glorified love and poetry in the above quatrain which he has envisioned as the most essential stuff for a sweet and pleasant life. Another quatrain by Omar Khayyam exposes the poet’s longing for rebirth, for revival after the end of life, for another genesis.

And those who husbanded the Golden Grain
And those who flung it to the Winds like Rain,
Alike to no such aureate Earth are turned
As, buried once, Men want dug up again.

The lines cited above elucidate the poet’s intense desire to come back to this wonderful world over and over again. Just one lifetime is not enough in Omar Khayyam’s view to see the mesmeric prettiness of this world to his heart’s content. So, he wishes to be reborn, to be resurrected after his demise. We cannot achieve all the goals of our lives during our lifetime. We cannot gratify all our appetites within the short lifespan we have. We pass away with this remorse in our hearts.

Omar Khayyam intended to stay alive in the minds of his readers, admirers and companions even after his death. He wanted to be commemorated while he would be no more. Let’s read the following quatrain:

And when like her, oh Saki, you shall pass

Among the Guests star-scattered on the Grass,

And in your joyous errand reach the spot

Where I made one -- turn down an empty Glass.

Omar Khayyam implored his acquaintances to recall his memory while they would have amusement in his absence. He requested his successors to keep an empty glass upside down as a symbol of honour to him. Omar Khayyam’s plea to be remembered has stood all tests of time. His verses are perused and interpreted till today which is how readers across the world pay homage to his memories.

 
Mahfuz Ul Hasib Chowdhury is a
contributor to different English
newspapers and magazines.