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Edward FitzGerald

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Poet

The Resume

    (March 31, 1809-June 14, 1883)
    Born in Bredfield, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
    Birth name was Edward Purcell
    Translated 'The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam' (1859)

Why he might be annoying:

    He said that his entire family was insane and that he, too, was mad, but at least he was aware of the fact.
    He wrote 'I am an idle fellow of a very ladylike disposition.'
    His original works were less remembered than his translations.
    His translation of Khayyam took so many liberties with the original text that some critics dubbed it 'The Rubiyat of FitzOmar.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He admitted that in translating the 'Rubiyat,' he chose poetic effect over fidelity, noting 'Better a live Sparrow than a stuffed Eagle.'
    The 'Rubiyat' was so popular that 43 of its 107 stanzas were quoted in full in 'The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.'
    Tennyson dedicated 'Tiresias' to his memory.
    A.S. Byatt wrote, 'FitzGerald's verse is insiduously memorable. It sings in the mind.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 18 Votes: 72.22% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 70 Votes: 68.57% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying