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Complete graphs in the Rubáiyát

Complete graphs in the Rubáiyát. D.P. May.
Journal of mathematics and the arts, 8 (2014), nrs. 1-2, p. 59-67.

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám has fascinated readers for centuries, and it has been translated and interpreted many times. In this paper, we will describe a few basic graph theory concepts, and discuss how graph theory can be used to explore the connections between the various quatrains contained in Edward FitzGerald’s several translations of the Rubáiyát. We will explain the process of searching for certain complete subgraphs of the full graph of the Rubáiyát, and will briefly discuss how these ideas may be relevant in other areas. These applications include analysing other collections of poetry, teaching certain types of incidence geometry and poetic forms for composing short collections of poetry.

FitzGerald and the Rubaiyat, in and out of time

FitzGerald and the Rubaiyat, in and out of time. Erik Gray.
Victorian Poetry, 46 (2008), nr 1, p. 1-14.

This issue of Victorian Poetry commemorates a double anniversary: March 31, 2009 marks both the bicentennial of the birth of Edward FitzGerald and the sesquicentennial of his Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which was published (give or take a few days) on the poet’s fiftieth birthday. It is quite fitting that we should celebrate this occasion and at the same time quite ironic. FitzGerald’s poem, after all, seeks to do away with commemoration, and even with time itself: it enjoins the reader to think only of today, abjuring all consideration of past and future.