new-omar
by Chesterton · Cluster: Satire of Society · Epigram · Satire
Abstract
A short parody of FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, mocking the modern teetotal, unfermented-wine puritan whose ‘Paradise’ is a wilderness; a satirical epigram against prohibition and joyless reform.
Testo / Text
Connections
Archetypes: Prophet
Settings: Desert
Characters: Omar Khayyam
Topoi: Carpe Diem, World Upside Down Motifs: Wine and Drink, Bread and Wine Eucharist Themes & Concepts: Satire of Society, Critique of Progress, Joy, Reform, Paradox Forms & Genres: Parody, Epigram, Satire Historical References: Eastern Religion Comparative Religion, Puritanism
Testo integrale / Full text
THE NEW OMAR
A Book of verses underneath the bough,
Provided that the verses do not scan,
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and Thou,
Short-haired, all angles, looking like a man.
But let the wine be unfermented, Pale,
Of chemicals compounded, God knows how—
This were indeed the Prophet’s Paradise,
O Paradise were Wilderness enow.