News at Eleven: Two generations ago every educated person

could have continued from memory any of these lines from The Rubaiyat:

"Awake, for Morning in the Bowl of Night . . .

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough . . .

The Moving Finger Writes; and, having writ . . .

Myself when young did eagerly frequent . . .

Ah, Moon of my Delight that know'st no wane . . ."

But something has gone wrong. [Edward] FitzGerald, far from being recognised as a leading poet, has been disregarded by the literary establishment. There could be several reasons for this. Has the poem proved too popular for its own good? Is it perhaps lightweight doggerel quickly seen through by experts? Does its origin (in translation) invalidate it as an independent work? Is The Rubaiyat affected by the way poetry is taught nowadays, with a ban on learning anything by heart?

from Telegraph: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Edward FitzGerald

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