FitzGerald, Edward

FitzGerald, Edward
born March 31, 1809, Bredfield, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, Eng.
died June 14, 1883, Merton, Norfolk

British writer.

After graduating from Cambridge University, he lived chiefly in seclusion. He is best known for The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859), a free adaptation from Omar Khayyam's verses that is itself a classic of English literature. Many of its images, such as "A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou" and "The moving finger writes, and, having writ, moves on" have passed into common currency. He also freely translated Six Dramas of Calderón (1853).

* * *

▪ British author
born March 31, 1809, Bredfield, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, Eng.
died June 14, 1883, Merton, Norfolk
 English writer, best known for his Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, which, though it is a very free adaptation and selection from the Persian poet's verses, stands on its own as a classic of English literature. It is one of the most frequently quoted of lyric poems, and many of its phrases, such as “A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou” and “The moving finger writes,” passed into common currency.

      FitzGerald was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he formed a lifelong friendship with William Makepeace Thackeray. Soon after graduating in 1830, he retired to the life of a country gentleman in Woodbridge. Though he lived chiefly in seclusion, he had many intimate friends, including Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Thomas Carlyle, with whom he kept up a steady correspondence.

      A slow and diffident writer, FitzGerald published a few works anonymously, then freely translated Six Dramas of Calderón (1853) before learning Persian with the help of his Orientalist friend Edward Cowell. In 1857 FitzGerald “mashed together,” as he put it, material from two different manuscript transcripts (one from the Bodleian Library, the other from Kolkata [Calcutta]) to create a poem whose “Epicurean Pathos” consoled him in the aftermath of his brief and disastrous marriage.

      In 1859 the Rubáiyát was published in an unpretentious, anonymous little pamphlet. The poem attracted no attention until, in 1860, it was discovered by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and soon after by Algernon Swinburne. FitzGerald did not formally acknowledge his responsibility for the poem until 1876. Its appearance in the same year as Darwin's Origin of Species, when the sea of faith was at its ebb, lent a timely significance to its philosophy, which combines expressions of outright hedonism (“Ah take the Cash, and let the Credit go”) with uneasy ponderings on the mystery of life and death. See also Omar Khayyam.

Additional Reading
Christopher Decker (ed.), Edward FitzGerald, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: A Critical Edition (1997); Robert Bernard Martin, With Friends Possessed: A Life of Edward FitzGerald (1985); Joanna Richardson, Edward FitzGerald (1960).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fitzgerald, Edward — (1809 1883)    He was born at Bredfield House, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, into a wealthy family. After King Edward the Sixth s Grammar School, Bury St. Edmunds, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, from where he graduated in 1830. Lord Tennyson… …   British and Irish poets

  • Fitzgerald, Edward — (31 mar. 1809, Bredfield, cerca de Woodbridge, Suffolk, Inglaterra–14 jun. 1883, Merton, Norfolk). Poeta y traductor británico. Tras graduarse en la Universidad de Cambridge, llevó una vida de reclusión. Se lo conoce sobre todo por su traducción… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • FitzGerald,Edward — Fitz·Ger·ald (fĭts jĕrʹəld), Edward. 1809 1883. British poet and noted translator of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859). * * * …   Universalium

  • FITZGERALD, EDWARD —    English scholar, born in Suffolk; at Cambridge, where he graduated in 1830, he formed close friendships with James Spedding and Thackeray, and afterwards was on intimate terms with Carlyle and Tennyson; his life was quietly spent in his… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • FitzGerald, Edward —  (1809–1883) English scholar and poet, translator of Omar Khayyām’s Rubāiyāt …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Fitzgerald, Edward —    B On agricultural possibilities of North West Territories. 214 …   The makers of Canada

  • Fitzgerald, Edward — (1809 1883)    Translator and letter writer, was b. near Woodbridge, Suffolk, s. of John Purcell, who took his wife s surname on the death of her f.. in 1818. He was ed. at Bury St. Edmunds and Camb. Thereafter he lived in retirement and study… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Edward FitzGerald (poet) — Edward Marlborough FitzGerald (31 March 1809 ndash; 14 June 1883) was an English writer, best known as the poet of the first and most famous English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam .It should be noted that, in this article, FitzGerald …   Wikipedia

  • Edward FitzGerald — oder auch Edward Fitzgerald (* 31. März 1809 in Woodbridge, Suffolk; † 14. Juni 1883 in Merton, Norfolk ) war ein britischer Schriftsteller und Übersetzer. Berühmtheit erlangte er durch seine erste englischsprachige Übersetzung der Rubaiyats… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Edward FitzGerald (Schriftsteller) — Edward FitzGerald Signatur Edw …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”