Frank Coffman

Khayyam's Rubaiyat Frank Coffman

Frank Coffman has rendered 327 quatrains from the traditional "Rubáiyát" of Omar Khayyám into a new version in English verse. Differently phrased in many ways from the famous translation by Edward FitzGerald, Coffman's version is transposed from the great prose translation by Justin Huntly McCarthy. It presents the classic work by the famous Persian astronomer, mathematician, and poet in a new light for a new millennium of readers."Frank Coffman's renderings of Khayyam's 'Rubáiyát' are a poetic triumph: Here the classic Persian quatrains are transformed into clean and radiant stanzas, each of which sparkles like a gemstone neatly cut and polished. Coffman's masterful prosodist's touch acts as a clarifying agent, drawing out the beauty inherent in the poetry as if through some form of lapidary alchemy. More than this technical achievement (and perhaps more importantly), Coffman's 'Rubáiyát' is simply a pleasure to read. The verse pours from the page deliriously, like the ruby red wine to which so many of Khayyam's stanzas refer." Oliver Sheppard, poet and author of "Thirteen Nocturnes""Englishing the 'Rubáiyát' after FitzGerald might be viewed as a light inteliectual game, but Frank Coffman brings to the task the craft and rigor of real work. Fortunately, however, he has not left out the ludic, playful aspects of Khayyam's Persian verses. This is a new translation for a new century." Steven Withrow, poet and author of "The Sun Ships & Other Poems"