Penny Dreadfuls, 1900 · page 37 of 142
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the Salaman and Absal of Jami — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Description This is a text page from what appears to be a Victorian edition of *The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam*. The page contains four numbered quatrains (XL-XLIII) in English verse translation. The verses use extended metaphors of tulips, wine, and cups to meditate on mortality, pleasure, and acceptance of fate—themes central to the Persian poet's work. The page is ornately bordered with decorative flourishes typical of Victorian printing. This is running poetry text rather than prose fiction, making it atypical for a penny dreadful.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
af OMAR KHAYYAM. 11 XL. As then the Tulip for her morning sup Of Heav’nly Vintage from the soil looks up, Do you devoutly do the like, till Heav’n To Earth invert you-—like an empty Cup. XLI. Perplext no more with Human or Divine, To-morrow’s tangle to the winds resign, And lose your fingers in the tresses of The Cypress-slender Minister of Wine. XLII. And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press, End in what All begins and ends in—Yes; Think then you are To-pay what YESTERDAY You were—To-mMorROW you shall not be less. XLIII. So when the Angel of the darker Drink At last shall find you by the river-brink, And, offering his Cup, invite your Soul Forth to your Lips to quaff—you shall not shrink. COMmicoooks.con