By: Edward Fitzgerald

As Byatt observes in her new intro. to this volume, FitzGerald's 19th-century lyrical translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat "forever changed the landscape of English poetry." FitzGerald's own verse -- delicate & piercing, with a mixture of "hedonism & melancholy" -- adapted itself well to what he perceived to be Khayyam's original intent: to revel in the pleasures of the moment, forsake the folly of attempting to control one's life, & disavow religious succor outright. In FitzGerald's hands the Persian poet's brief, evocative verses -- some 800 years old at the time -- became a cohesive whole. Illustrated by Edmund Dulac.