logo

40 pages 1 hour read

Omar Khayyam

"The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam"

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1100

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Symbols & Motifs

Flowers, Gardens, and Birds

Pastoral (natural) imagery was an important feature of medieval Persian poetry; additionally, romanticized images of nature were popular in Fitzgerald’s England. England in the mid-19th century was also witnessing the influence of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, painters and poets devoted to capturing the true essence of nature as shown in 14th- and 15th-century Italian painting. With England’s colonial enterprise at its zenith, images from the supposedly exotic, mystical Orient too were much in demand. Given all these factors, it is perhaps natural that Fitzgerald’s translation be filled with flowers, gardens, and birds. To the traditional Persian imagery, Fitzgerald brought an additional meaning of Victorian flower symbolism, making the pastoral images even richer in meaning to its Victorian reader. The rose in Persian tradition symbolized perfection and beauty, as well as inscrutable divinity. (The rose is similarly associated with Christ in Christian tradition). For Khayyam, flowers represent both the timelessness of nature, as well as the time-bound life of all natural living things. (“And look—a thousand Blossoms with the Day / Woke—and a thousand scatter’d into Clay” (Lines 29-30); In Victorian floriography, the red rose symbolized love, while a deeper crimson shade stood for mourning.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 40 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 8,600+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools