My dearly beloved,
I wish to gift you this beautiful copy of my favorite poem, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. You may be asking yourself why I might gift you a book of all things, for you prefer paintings to literature. This 1910 edition of the poem contains eight beautiful illustrations from Frank Brangwyn. You know Brangwyn from his paintings of the sea, remember? The exterior of the book is quite plain, you see the boring, tan cover? Its spine could blend in on any bookshelf. It is the contents inside that really show its beauty. When you open the book, you will notice the end sheet is purple. As soon as I opened this book, I knew you needed it because not only is purple your favorite color, but this shade of purple reminds me of the ring I gifted you around this time last year. A few stanzas of the poem reminded me of you as well. Stanza XXI states, “Lo! Some we loved, the loveliest and the best,” and you, my dear, are the loveliest and the best. I am so happy to love you, and this poem will tell you a lot about how important it is to have special connections in our current lives. I hope you find our love to be as special as I do.
Another cool feature of the book is that each page has a beautiful border on it with hearts and grapes. The design reminded me of the rug your parents had in their house, just a bit, as the rug was green and striped. I love that the cover has just a bit of gold on it as well, in this same pattern as is on the pages filled with poetry. Let this gold be a promise that one day, I will put a gold ring on your finger and make you my wife. In the wise words of Khayyám, “Then to this earthen Bowl did I adjourn/My lip the secret Well of Life to learn: / And Lip to Lip it murmur’d- “While you live / Drink! - for once dead you never shall return.” (Stanza XXXIV). We must live in the moment and enjoy life’s many pleasures. Let us make a toast to ourselves and enjoy some wine and this poem how we shall approach our entire lives: together.
All of my love,
John