Show new verses verse s of omar unearthed early has more quatrains Qua trains than fitzgerald translation washington another book of verses to be read underneath the bough with a loaf of bread and a thermos bottle of well lemonade way may be the product odthe of the discovery in a calcutta bookshop of an early volume of omar rull Kubal aly yat a I 1 containing more quatrains qua trains than fitzgerald translated only tile the volume in the library at oxford Is older than the newly found illustrated manuscript which according to news from india hears bears the date 1505 omar the tentmaker fast in his grave on which the peach petals blow at Nisha pur continues to be despite the yap gap of years persian Per sias best ambassador to english speaking countries says a bulletin of the national geographic society yet he be who sang I 1 sometime think that never blows so 0 o red the tt no ROB aj where some burled bled Is little known as a poet in his own country abu 11 l fath omar son of ibrahim the tentmaker of Nisha pur for such was his name holds in persia some modest fame as a mathematician an ancient wise man who about the time william the conqueror was conquering england assisted in revising the persian calendar but omar a poet I 1 we have far better poets than lie he the persians say tile the western world will never believe it reasons for persian neglect if omar khayyam Is a poet w out hobor in his own country i are certain geographic reasons for i neglect as well as for ills his accept acceptant an by moderns persians were in omars day and are to this day dominated by mohammedan mysticism which omar who was as much a doubter and a realist as most twentieth century scientists flouted with verses omar verses ran against the tide of opinion in persia of his bis day and still run against the tide ile he was a heretic ills his verses are stilt still heretical so persia continues ainu es to think that omar as a poet was a good mathematician much of the geography the climate the flowers tile the products and customs custom a of persia can be found inlaid in omars verses which have become so familiar to io english readers ills most famous quatrain A book of verses verse underneath the bough A jug of wine wind a loaf of bread and thou de beside id m losing in tho lh wilderness ah ob wl IT were P paradise dl eoa enow I 1 supplies a thumbnail picture of what passes for a picnic and the last word in holiday enjoyment throughout moslem north africa the near east and persia excepting the wine which la Is still forbidden from tripoli to Cairo Calro to bagdad to teheran and tashkent Tash kent miles it a bough and the shade it gives are luxuries in a land of eternal sun grass Is in even rarer than trees no such thing as an american or english lawn exists so when a holiday comes the people leave the seclusion of their towns wander down to the bank of a stream where there may be a few trees and there star scattered on the grass as omar writes they rest and gossip women picnic in cemeteries often the greenest spots are the cemeteries to visit the graves women of the harem are sometimes permitted to go out once a week ar an 0 opportunity port unity they seldom bass pass by not so much to pay tribute to the dead as tor for an outing under the trees graveyards are the favorite picnic grounds of the neni near east omar sings ot of ro roses ses tulips ands and the hyacinths of the garden the peach and the pear trees to ID bloom the brushes of artists have added some very definite ideas for us about persian giLr gardens dens yet tet a traveler to persia reports that although he fie searched high and low he has yet to find a persian grden garden on that dry plateau there Is no such thing as a garden in the american or english A garden to a persian Is it a grove of trees kept alive by irrigation ditches that receive precious water from some creek fed by mountain snows persia Is like a saucer high mountains rim it close to the rim rise the principal cities hugging the mountains because of their dependence on the highlands for witter water the center Is an upland desert the dead heart of persia crossing persia requires crossing the desert so to a parched and sun beaten traveler an auy y bit of green lie he comes upon tow toward ard the end of his journey seems a vision of paradise a garden of unparalleled beauty to be praised and exalted in poetry |