Elihu Vedder and the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

My girls and I took a ride to the Brandywine River Museum today. We had planned it for a while and took advantage of this gorgeous Saturday to take a drive. The main purpose was to see the exhibit, Elihu Vedder and the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Omar Khayyam was a Persian mathematician and astronomer who wrote this ancient text of quatrains that was first translated in 1859 by Edward Fitzgerald. Elihu Vedder illustrated Fitzgerald's translations in 1884. The best way I can describe the content of the Rubaiyat is -Life and its contradictions - but that’s way too simplistic. As I was going through the exhibit I noted that certain words used over and over again - potter, cup, wine - struck me as obvious metaphors. I thought the museum bookstore would have printed versions of the original works on display, but I only found one tiny version of the text only. I wanted Vedder's gorgeous illustrations as well. The Rubaiyat took on much more meaning for me, with the illustrated interpretations. Vedder used lots of Greek Mythology in his illustrations. It was wonderful having a 12 year old, who having just learned Greek Mythology, added her own interpretations, and upon reading the accompanying posted information, found out she was right! Of course, as I should have known, the Rubaiyat, takes on the same themes I'm seeing everywhere right now.

From http://www.okonlife.com/life/philosophy.htm: "Khayyam understood that it was our fate, our destiny, something beyond our control to be born into this world. He also understood that death was an inevitable fate for anyone who was ever born. He understood that our bodies come from dust and clay, and return to clay. He understood the fantasy of concerning ourselves with the future, as well as the neurosis of staying in our past. He saw that all we have is this ever slipping moment, this now, which itself has a timeless quality. And he understood that in life what is important is that deeper joy and love for which we have infinite yearning, as well as capacity to both receive and emanate. His Rubaiyat force us to ask those ultimate existential questions, and lead us down a path that, unless we are lost along the way or are destabilized by the abyss which we must traverse, must inevitably reach the same answer. Those ultimate truths that in life all that matters is love and joy. All else is fantasy and fallacy."

When I returned home, I went straight to Amazon to order a copy and found out that the only editions they had were hardcover and $200! I should note that my knowledge of Omar stemmed from a TV show (embarrassing I know) and I happened to see an advertisement for this exhibit soon after. The museum grounds offered a pretty trail along the Brandywine River. I've already decided my next trip down that way will include the Delaware Art Museum for the Botero exhibit and the Brandywine Battlefield Park. Of course, no trip down Wilmington Pike is complete without stopping at Jimmy Johns' for a hot dog and a bite of nostalgia.