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It's quite an incredible piece of anti-establishment and anti-religious work considering the time and place of its authorship. The Koran! well, come put me to
by causality0 5y ago
It's quite an incredible piece of anti-establishment and anti-religious work considering the time and place of its authorship.
The Koran! well, come put me to the test —
Lovely old book in hideous error drest —
Believe me, I can quote the Koran too,
The unbeliever knows his Koran best.
And do you think that unto such as you,
A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew,
God gave the Secret, and denied it me? —
Well, well, what matters it! believe that too.
Old Khayyám, say you, is a debauchee;
If only you were half so good as he!
He sins no sins but gentle drunkenness,
Great-hearted mirth, and kind adultery.
But yours the cold heart, and the murderous tongue,
The wintry soul that hates to hear a song,
The close-shut fist, the mean and measuring eye,
And all the little poisoned ways of wrong.
So I be written in the Book of Love,
I have no care about that book above;
Erase my name, or write it, as you please—
So I be written in the Book of Love.
- jhbadger 5y agoActually, in its heyday when Khayyam lived (11th-12th century), Islamic Persia wasn't all that pious and more or less tolerated heresy. That's what led to all its great discoveries -- they were on their way to having the Scientific Revolution before the West. It was the Black Plague in the 14th century that put an end to that.
- chickenimprint 5y agoThe only problem is that Fitzgerald's work is very loosely inspired by ruba3yat not attributable to a single person
- baybal2 5y ago