Penny Dreadfuls, 1900 · page 29 of 142
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the Salaman and Absal of Jami — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a text page from a Victorian edition of *Omar Khayyám*, presenting quatrains (four-line stanzas) VIII through XI in English translation. The page contains philosophical verse reflecting on mortality and the passage of time—the Wine of Life oozing away, roses that bloom and fade, and the transience of even great rulers like Kaikobad. The final stanza offers an alternative vision of escape from worldly concerns, seeking peace in nature and oblivion to distinctions of power and servitude. This appears to be running prose rather than a penny dreadful; it is likely from a Victorian literary edition rather than serialized sensation fiction.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OMAR KHAYYAM. Vill. Whether at Naishaptir or Babylon, Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run, The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop, The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one. IX. Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say ; Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday ? And this first Summer month that brings the Rose Shall take Jamshyd and Kaikobad away. X. Well, let it take them! What have we to do With Kaikobad the Great, or Kaikhosrti ? Let Zal and Rustum bluster as they will, Or Hatim call to Supper—heed not you. XI. With me along the strip of Herbage strown That just divides the desert from the sown, Where name of Slave and Sultan is forgot— And Peace to Mahmid on his golden Throne ! } 2 * ee ——_——— 283 COMICMOoOoks.conn