Penny Dreadfuls, 1900 · page 42 of 142
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the Salaman and Absal of Jami — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Content Description This is a page of running poetry text from what appears to be a Victorian adaptation or parody of the *Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam*. The page presents four numbered quatrains (LX through LXIII) in English verse. The poems address themes of divine power, the nature of blessing and curse, renunciation of worldly pleasures, and mortality—specifically, the certainty of death and the transience of life. The decorative floral border and page number (16) indicate this is interior text from a bound volume rather than a cover or title page.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
RUBAIYAT OF LX. The mighty Mahmid, Allah-breathing Lord, That all the misbelieving and black Horde Of Fears and Sorrows that infest the Soul Scatters before him with his whirlwind Sword. LXI. Why, be this Juice the growth of God, who dare Blaspheme the twisted tendril as a Snare P A Blessing, we should use it, should we not ? And if a Curse—why, then, Who set it there ? DXIT. I must abjure the Balm of Life, I must, Scared by some After-reckoning ta’en on trust, Or lured with Hope of some Diviner Drink, To fill the Cup—when crumbled into Dust! LXIIl. Oh threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise ! One thing at least is certain—This Life flies; One thing is certain and the rest is Lies ; : The Flower that once has blown for ever dies. (C(O) anil OOO SS, CO)