 |
| 1967: Omar Khayyam - Poet and Philosopher |
Arab and Persian miniatures and woodcuts illustrating the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
As can be seen the sheet is incomplete, missing tabs and selvedges. In the English speaking world the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is most familiar (and quotable) in the translation by Edward Fitzgerald first published in 1859. Dubai issued the sheetlets in four languages, English, Arabic, French and German.
The missing quatrains tabs on the top include the two that are most often quoted - Left to Right: -
The moving finger writes, and having writ,/Moves on: not all thy Piety and Wit/Shall lure it back to cancel half a line/Not all they Tears wash out a Word of it
Here with a little Bread beneath the Bough,/ A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse - and Thou/ Beside me singing in the Wilderness -/Oh Wilderness were Paradise enow!
So while the Vessels one by one were speaking,/One spied the little Crescent all were seeking;/And then they jogg'd each other, "Brother! Brother!/Hark to the Porter's Shoulder-knot a creaking!"
Sunday Stamps theme this week is - Poets and Writers - read more at See It On A Postcard
5 comments:
What a fantastic mini sheet, and thanks so much for adding the missing quotes. I particularly like the first missing quote about the written word being impossible to erase.
Wow. Interesting illustrations. Somewhere, I should have an old battered copy. Sadly, no illustrations in mine.
What a wonderful set of stamps, so appropriate for today.
I had never seen this set. It's wonderful! I guess I would send it with the selvedge :)
Beautiful! I like the artwork very much.
Post a Comment