The Quatrains of Omar Khayyám

What it is

This is an 1882 printed edition of the quatrains attributed to Omar Khayyám, translated into English verse by E. H. Whinfield and published in Trübner's Oriental Series. The scanned copy is held by the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

This edition is part of the wave of nineteenth-century European interest in Khayyám's poetry, following the success of FitzGerald's famous version. Its introduction gives background on Khayyám's life, showing how Victorian scholars tried to explain a medieval Persian poet to English readers of their own time.

Look closer

• What does the introduction's account of Khayyám's life tell you, and how might it differ from what we know today?
• Why might a translator organize the quatrains by the Arabic letter they begin with, as this edition does?
• How does translating poetry into verse, rather than plain prose, change what readers experience?