Tuesday 22 May 2012

influences: ball toss


Baluch Persian Rug ~ Khayyam's Poetry

Rhubayait of Omar Khayyam: Fitzgerald translation

LXX.

The Ball no question makes of Ayes and Noes,
But Here or There as strikes the Player goes;
And He that toss'd you down into the Field,
He knows about it all--HE knows--HE knows!

~

Halfling Spring, a poem called "Delving"

iii.

i am like a ball pitched
by a bored god

pulled from a ragged
pocket, and tossed

i find myself travelling
with purpose, at speed

unerring and true
i am aimed at you

(c) Joanne Arnott


The tent-maker is one of those unifying forces, the ongoing responses to his works in manifold fields bring much beauty to the world in an ongoing way. 

The only French folk song that I learned from my family, that my grandmother translated for me, was about rolling one's ball along, and finding all forms of adventure and trouble.

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 

 رباعیات عمر خیام

from Shahriar Shahriari's blog

A friend told me that he carried this book on his travels, in his youth, and I liked to imagine that: I mentioned it to my son, who responded that this was the book he chose to accompany him on his most recent journey. 

Persian lit in english: a few links


Sources:
Image: "Baluch rugs are tribal hand-woven rugs made in the southern part of Iran by nomadic Baluch tribes.... The Baluch people are very kind and simple and weave these rugs mainly to express themselves and follow an ancient Persian tradition, which dates back thousands of years. Colors of Baluch rugs are usually predominantly a rich burgundy with some very dark navy blue and accents of ivory. They frequently have either an overall pattern, or a prayer rug design. Any Baluch Persian rug is one of a kind and has absolutely no duplicates anywhere in the world."  
http://www.farsinet.com/persianrug/saghi.html 
+ http://www.farsinet.com/persianrug/history.html
+ http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/learning/khayyam.html 

 Lovely online Rubáiyát source:
http://www.netnik.com/khayyam/ruby35.html

Shahriar Shahriari's Rubáiyát site, http://www.okonlife.com/poems/page5.htm 




Poetry is not the only way that humans have for synthesizing reality & tidying up the world; also see,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/57049/Quadrilateral-of-Omar-Khayyam-Omar-Khayyam-constructed-the-quadrilateral-shown 

No comments: