Penny Dreadfuls, 1900 · page 38 of 142
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the Salaman and Absal of Jami — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a text page from what appears to be a Victorian edition of *The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam*, showing stanzas XLIV through XLVII. The page contains philosophical poetry in quatrains contemplating the soul's separation from the body, the brevity of human existence compared to eternity, and the insignificance of individual human lives within the vast sweep of time. The content reflects themes of mortality, divine creation, and cosmic indifference rather than sensation fiction—this appears to be a literary work, not a penny dreadful as initially suggested.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
: | ly RUBAIYAT OF ALIY. _ Why, if the Soul can fling the Dust aside, And naked on the Air of Heaven ride, Wer’t not a Shame—wer’t not a Shame for him In this clay carcase crippled to abide? ‘Tis but a Tent where takes his one day’s rest A Sultan to the realm of Death addrest ; The Sultan rises, and the dark Ferrash Strikes, and prepares it for another Guest. XLVI. And fear not lest Existence closing your __ Account, and mine, should know the lke no more; The Eternal Saki from that Bowl has pour’d _ Millions of Bubbles like us, and will pour. XLVII. When You and I behind the Veil are past, Oh, but the long, long while the World shall last, | Which of our Coming and Departure heeds t As the Sea’s self should heed a pebble-cast. oS (C(O) MIGDoOo <S 4(CO) in