who authored the poem - "life is but a checkerboard of dreams...."

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Clarification of Question by jsergent-ga on 19 Mar 2003 05:34 PST

in addition to finding the author i am trying to find the complete poem of:
"Life is but a checkerboard of nights and days
With destiny for pieces plays
He moves, he mates, he slays
And one by one........."

Need the rest of the poem & the author

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Request for Question Clarification by leli-ga on 19 Mar 2003 06:08 PST

Hello

This was not originally written in English and has been translated by
many different people, each with a slightly different variation.
Unfortunately, I can't find the exact translation which you quote
anywhere on the net.

Would you be happy with an answer which includes a somewhat different
version of the poem?

Leli

Hello

Thanks for the interesting poetry question.

Although the words you quote are slightly different from the best
known version, there is no doubt that they come from Omar Khayyam's
"Rubaiyat", a Persian poem which is about nine hundred years old.

The most widely published English translation is by Edward Fitzgerald.
He produced five different versions, one of which contains the lines:

"'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days 
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays: 
Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, 
And one by one back in the Closet lays."

Your quotation is so similar that it is almost certainly a reworking
of Fitzgerald's translation.

You will be able to read Fitzgerald's versions of the Rubaiyat if you
use the arabiannights.org website and make your choices from the menu
on the left. You can even choose different illustrations!

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
http://www.arabiannights.org/rubaiyat/index2.html

Alternatively, you can read the Rubaiyat here:
http://members.rediff.com/eventhorizon/rubaiyat4.html

I did find one quote matching yours, which someone has used to
introduce a poem of his own. Unfortunately, he doesn't give any more
than this:

"Life is but a checkerboard of nights and days 
 With Destiny for pieces plays
 He moves, he mates, he slays 
 And one by one 
 Back in the box he lays"

"Homage to Omar Khayyam"
http://listserv.ac.il/~ada/love.html

As I said earlier, this must surely be an adaptation of Fitzgerald's
work. If you read the verses of other translators (see below under
'further information'), they are nowhere near as close.


Fitzgerald himself tried out various alternatives. The "Chequer-board"
quote above is verse 49 in his first edition but his fifth and final
edition gives this as verse 69:

"But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days;
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays."

Fifth edition (select option from menu)
http://www.arabiannights.org/rubaiyat/index2.html




FURTHER INFORMATION


"The Rubaiyat is not a single poem, but is rather a collection of
verses written by or attributed to Omar Khayyam, the Persian
mathematician, philosopher and astronomer who lived from ca. 1048 -
1122."

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
http://www.arabiannights.org/rubaiyat/index2.html


If you want to know more about Khayyam, try this article:

Omar Khayyam
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Khayyam.html


You will be able to track down references to the many different
translations by using this Google search:
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=khayyam+translation+OR+translator&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N


Amazon will give you an idea of which translations are currently
available for purchase:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-0461197-3057714


Here are some other online versions of the chess/checkerboard verse:

"We are but chessmen, destined, it is plain, 
That great chess-player, Heaven, to entertain; 
It moves us on life's chess-board to and fro, 
And then in death's dark box shuts up again. "

from Whinfield's translation (v.270)
http://www.blissbat.net/rambles/rubaiyat_whin.html

"We are the pieces, Heaven plays the game:
A childish game upon the board of Life, "

Talbot's translation
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:-V_ZXfRShmcC:www.fitzgeraldsrubaiyat.com/talbot.html+khayyam+talbot&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

"Life's basic Facts this Chess Match parallel:
Some merely Pawns, yet others Kingly; yea,
Both transient indeed, yes, and anon
Both vanquished or dethroned and hid away."

Brodie's translation
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:r1idn_m6HCAC:www.fitzgeraldsrubaiyat.com/brodie.htm+Life%27s+basic+Facts+this+Chess+Match+parallel:%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8


 
I hope this gives you enough information. Please let me know if
anything is unclear, or if any links fail, and I will do my best to
help.


Leli


search terms:
Rubaiyat
Khayyam checkerboard
Khayyam chess
Khayyam board

Fantastic, this was one of my mother's favorite poetry quotes & I can
remember her refernce to the Rubaiyat & other such verses. Also one of
her favorites was the "one eyed god ...." and could recited it
completly at the age of 99 & 4 mo. just before her death. Thank you
again for your answer.

Could it be this one?

The Calligrapher of Space

He's gone to play a losing game
on the chessboard of dreams
which resembles the world's
theater like its shadow. 

etc
Andre Velter
http://www.dialoguepoetry.org/mountain_velter.htm

Thank-you very much for the tip and rating.

Your mother must have been a wonderful lady and I'm glad to have
helped you with tracking down some of her favorite poetry.

Leli