Literary Criticism of the Rubaiyat by Omar Kahyyam

Definition

Rubaiyat is a plural form of Rubai or lines. Rubaiyat it is a Persian poem with 4 lines or Rubai
(quatrain) and a rhyme scheme of AABA.

Analysis

Omar Kahyyam wants us to understand how important life is. Rubaiyat of Omar
Kahyyam is very interesting poem, though it has a mix of an old English vocabulary and deep
vocabulary. It is worth to analyze because it contains so many motivational lines, which mostly
about life enjoyment. The poem shows 5 features or universality which are Human ups and
down, failure, success, life and death. There so many rubai or quatrains in the poem shows those
features. And these five features are connected with each other. This master piece of Omar
Kahyyam demonstrated Hedonism, and it is a daring move from his time. There may be someone
to disagree with him due to this poem of him, but if we would look on the other side we would
understand him and the message of his poem. The message of this poem is to enjoy every
moment of our life that we have in our world, weather it is good or bad, always cherish it
because we never knew where we are going face our death.

Figures of speech

The figures of speech used in this poem are Metaphor, Allusion, Repetition and
alliteration. In the first stanza we can see the two metaphors used, which it is to refer to the sun.
The first metaphor used are in the line The stone that puts the stars to flight and the next one is
line the hunter of the east. Obviously in the first line which metaphor has been first used indicate
the sun makes the star disappears from the view. And in the second line the sun is like a hunter in
that it catches everything in its light the phrase cough the sultan’ s torrent in a noose of light
refers to the fact that the torrent of the sultan’s palace or place of worship is the tallest object in
their community. Therefore it is the first thing that the sun illuminates as it raises from the east.
Alliteration can also be seen in the first rubai. It can be seen from the word flung, stone, stars,
and flight.

In the fourth rubai allusion was the figure of speech used. The phrase to the miracle that
Moses demonstrated before the children of Israel in which the placed his hand inside his clothing
by his breast and taking it out, it become white as snow because of the disease leprosy putting his
inside and putting it out it reverted to its healthy state. The line Jesus from the ground saspires, it
may refer to Jesus resurrection or to his ability to through his breath to produce life. The idea
inclined in this phrase is that the new year makes a person think and meditate from their life
whether from past or present. By meditating alone comes up with thought so wonderful they are
like miracles coming from the inside. And repetition, it has been seen to 23rd quatrain; there are
repetitions from the word dust and sans.

Themes

The themes of this poem are Crape Diem and nihilism. Crape Diem means to seize the
day or capturing the moment and make the best use of it because it will never return. And it can
be seen in quatrain numbers 3, 7,9,21,24,25,34 and 53. The poet wants to show or prove that we
don’t know our past even future. So in the present life we should focus on it. We should enjoy
every moment of life in a right way. It was not nice to waste time in an unnecessary works or
things. Nihilism is the concept of nothingness. In 41st quatrain, the poet mention “is” and “is-
not” which is related with the term “to be” and “not to be”. There is no guaranty of our future
and tomorrow. And at the end of the fay we may come to realized that we are nothing.

Symbolism

The symbolism used in the poem are wine, moving finger, heaven, and hell. Wine
symbolized life in the poem. It has been used as a water of life. And this can be seen in 42 and 43
quatrain of the poem. The moving finger symbolizes fate or destiny. It has been used in the 51st
rubai of the poem. Heaven symbolized fulfilled desire and the hell is the soul on fire. And it can
be seen in the 54th rubai.

Summary

To sum it up there are gods accepted rules and regulations by choice. And we are going
through a path either success or failure. And both of it require celebration, because even we fail
we should use it as an inspiration and not as a source of depression and sadness. And getting
drunk on a good path makes us certain about our future. We should enjoy every pleasures of life
while we are young because we will soon lose the ability to enjoy the physical pleasure of life.
And we need to be righteous, conserve our time efficiently and make ourselves do what should
be done. On contrary, getting wasted on choosing wrong path attracts temptation to create sin.
Learn from your failures, enjoy your life, and be happy before you cannot turn back the time.