A Romantic Re-Reading of Khayam Neyshaburi’s Rubaiyat

Romanticism is an intellectual, artistic and social movement which appeared in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Europe in the wake of a short period of Enlightenment. Much like all other revolutions, this literary-artistic movement initially faced oppositions. However, romanticists eventually managed to promote their principles and values in European societies via their own artistic genius and originality. In Iran, in the wake of Constitutionalism, Romanticism inspired many intellectuals and poets. This study purports to address the life of Khayam Neyshaburi, the fifth and sixth centuries poet, and trace Romantic ideas and thoughts in his poetry. One of the main tenets of Romanticism is the spontaneous overflow of individual emotions. In like manner, Khayam’s poetry also reflects his personal feelings about the universe, life, death, despair and cynicism, all of which are represented minimalistically in Rubayi stanzaic form.