Omar Khayyam, the Poet of Wine

I doubt many food products exist - or food of any kind, for that matter - products born from human experience that are comparable to wine as far as literary aura and age-old appeal are concerned. Bread, perhaps? Much like wine, bread is a basic component of our diet as well as an important element in Christian liturgy. Going through life without bread would be difficult, especially for those of us who enjoy it with every meal! But bread, unlike wine, only nourishes our body, which is nothing to scoff at, of course. Even so, if we compare bread and wine, we could say that the latter not only nourishes our body, but also our soul. Admittedly, the concept of a soul is extremely elusive and difficult to grasp, but you know what I mean. If you ask me, wine, with as long a tradition as bread, has had a far more interesting run. At least as far as literature is concerned.

I remember discovering the poetry of Omar Khayyam, his celebrated Rubaiyat, in the 1980s. I remember the impact the Persian poet's verse had on me. Nine hundred years of life and history had gone by since he wrote these poems, which seemed so immediate, so moving, so modern, as though they had just sprung from the author's imagination.

History is full of poets who serenaded wine. Put another way: what poet, who has penned a verse or two, whether good or bad, hasn't thought or felt the need to write about this divine drink crafted by human hand? If we sat down to list all of the names of all of the poets who ever wrote about wine, one name per paper, regardless of language, culture or tradition, we would probably fill vat after vat with paper and still end up needing more. But amongst all of the bards to celebrate the wonders of wine, none comes close to Omar Khayyam, the classic Persian poet, who crafted a colossal edifice with his quatrains that remains steadfast in the face of the contingent and fleeting nature of human life. "The crystal cup laughs bubbling over, / like a tear that hides the bosom's blood."

We do not know if Omar Khayyam was as fond of wine as his poems seem to suggest. But it doesn't matter. He once wrote, "I live by the principle of drinking wine and living happily." Who wouldn't agree with that? What is important for us, as readers, is that the poet knew how to capture the spirit of wine and had the skill and talent to pour it into poems that, at times, seem almost brazen in their directness: "So much wine I will have drunk that its perfume / shall stream from my tomb once I am laid to rest. / And when a true believer passes by / the aroma shall overwhelm him with drunkenness." In other instances, his verse, expressed sarcastically in a manner verging on hyperbole, serves as the backbone of a solid as well as proud ideological discourse: "A glass of wine is worth more than the entire kingdom of China." But more often than not, his poems simply celebrate the immediacy of the moment: "Before death springs upon you unannounced / make sure to ask for the finest of vintages."

The subject of wine, which is none other than happiness and seizing every moment of this life, is without a doubt one of the most recurring themes in the timeless, classic and unforgettable work of this giant of Persian verse who, centuries later, continues to move us with his words and inspires us to keep drinking wine.