ENG 470 / 570 Spring 2025

Liza Lehmann composed the music for In a Persian Garden. Lehmann was a popular Soprano in England, performing from 1885 to 1894. Lehmann retired from the stage after marrying her husband and turned her talents to vocal compositions. Lehmann published 334 songs and cycles, which is the most by any female composer in Great Britain and the United States during that period (Christopher… more

Quatrain XLIII of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, presents a satirical critique of religious orthodoxy and celebrates more personal and experiential ways of finding meaning. The stanza proposes that wine, usually a symbol of pleasure and wisdom, can succeed where logic and the… more

XLI 

For “Is” and “Is-Not” though with Rule and Line,

And “Up-and-Down” without, I could… more

The eleventh stanza “Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough, / A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse–and Thou / Beside me singing in the Wilderness– / And Wilderness is Paradise enow.” (Fitzgerald, XI) (Figure 1) is about how one should enjoy the fruits of the moment. That we should be content with the simple things in life and enjoy the present moment. The… more

Within Barbara Black’s On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums, the author explains many criticisms for Fitzgerald’s translation of Omar Khayyám’s Rubáiyát, as well as the book’s status as… more

For this close reading, I have selected a related stanza and piece of artwork from my edition. These two elements contribute to the poem’s message about enjoyment and value of the physical world, through its beautiful portrayal of nature, vibrant colors, and depiction of what appears to be a romantic moment between a couple.  

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The text of Quatrain 88 of Edward FitzGerald’s second-edition translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, and Edmund Dulac’s accompanying illustration work together to enforce the Orientalist undertones of the 1909 Hodder and Stoughton edition of the Rubáiyát. Quatrain 88 [Figure 1] reads:

Oh, Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make,… more

In this particular pairing of stanza and illustration, the image of a woman playing bridge while a child is placing cards down works hand in hand with the poem’s reflection on how human lives are shaped and moved by larger, unseen forces. Together, they highlight not just the inevitability of fate, but also how each generation quietly continues the “game” of… more

The meaning of Rubaiyat of a Scotch Terrier is revealed in the last stanza, where it is shown that the beloved Scottish terrier is dead and simply wishes his owners to think of him fondly. The stanza says, “And when that time comes, Master, if in vain/ I seek a paradise for Dogs, I fain/ (If, as some say, there's no such Place for me)/ Would dwell just in your Thoughts-and not… more

Stanza 89 in The Rubáiyát of Doc Sifers along with this image (see figure 1), convey a greater meaning of the goodness of Doc Sifers by showing what he has gone through in the past. This window into the past of Doc Sifers also reveals some of the trauma he has experienced as a… more