‘THE PERSIAN SONNETS’
The Rubaiyat revisited
Welcome to this site which is an Internet version of an original sonnet cycle by the author of de RES HISTORIAE ANTIQUA, completed in 2006 and now being published for the first time on a web site rather than as a printed book. Nevertheless it is subject to the same copyright restrictions as would apply there. Free access and reference is herewith granted via the Internet and all quotes extracted and used must be fully acknowledged. All other rights are reserved.
Subject to this provision only, no further reproduction copy or transmission of this publication or any parts thereof may be made without specific written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as now and subsequently amended.) Any such unauthorised acts will be subject to prosecution and relevant claims for damages.Original Text Copyright Louis Francis 2006
[NOTE: Illustrations are by Hossein Behzad, and Copyright exists with ASAR GALLERIES of ART]
SUMMARY
These fifteen sonnets attempt to capture the essence of Omar Khayyam’s Quatrains within the formal decasyllabic metres of the English Sonnet.
It follows therefore that, unlike Fitzgerald’s translation with its strict observance of the quatrain format, a radical re-formatting has been necessary. The initial ‘Preface’ (below) will explain the method adopted.