"With me along some Strip of Herbage Strown:" Edward FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:10

"With me along some Strip of Herbage Strown:" Edward FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:10

The tenth quatrain in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám continues the theme of the irrelevance of political power to happiness, which lies instead in love. The Persian originals make clear the meaning here, which is a little cryptic in FitzGerald’s rendering. X. With me along some Strip of Herbage strown That just divides the desert from the sown,     Where name of Slave and Sultán scarce is known, And pity Sultan…