COVE

To the Fair Lady Lucy(1),

For this Christmas season (1), I am eager to impart this edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám to you. Do not be fooled by it’s drab appearance (3), for this book of verses will surely delight you in ways ornamentation could never. 

Your inquisitive and poetic nature is not something I have taken for granted, nor has it passed by me the similarities we have. While I am in anticipation to hear your thoughts and musings upon your reading, I’d like to first share some of my own favorite verses. I’ve marked them throughout the book (only in pencil, so that you might erase if needed), but I’ll point out some here:

“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.” (VII)

(4)

Here, Khayyám’s ideas of the passage of time truly resonate with me- the bird of time has not long to flutter, and I wish to keep treasuring each moment, especially with you, dearest. 

“There was the Door to which I found no Key;

There was the Veil through which I could not see:

Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee

There  was- and then no more of Thee and Me.” (XXXII)

(5)

While there has been much talk, both betwixt and about, me and thee, I truly believe that Khayyám’s expression here is what I most hope to convey to you: Lucy, you and I are not simply two people, our souls are far more intertwined than that- there will no more be me AND thee, just us.

I hope this book gives you great warmth during this cold month, and I await your response so that we can discuss the book at more length. 

Best,

Your Lover

(1)