Oh threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise! 
One thing at least is certain -- This Life flies: 
One thing is certain and the rest is lies;
The Flower that once is blown for ever dies.

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Text Authorship:

• by Edward Fitzgerald (1809 - 1883), no title, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Second Edition, no. 66, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Third Edition, no. 63, appears in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Fourth Edition, no. 63, first published 1868 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

• a text in Persian (Farsi) by Hakim Omar Khayyám (c1048 - c1122) [text unavailable]
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Oh threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise!", published 1906 [ soli, chorus, and orchestra ], from Omar Khayyám, Part I, no. 63, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963), "Oh, threats of hell", published 1947 [ vocal quartet a cappella ], canon ; NY : Music Press, Inc. ; in the collection "Modern Canons" [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Elisabeth Charlotta Henrietta Ernestina Sonntag (1866 - 1950), "I sent my Soul through the Invisible", published 1925, first performed 1925 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Vanitas Vanitatum, song-cycle from "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" in the translation of Edward Fitzgerald, no. 3, as Else Headlam-Morley
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Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Elsa Olivieri Sangiacomo Respighi.
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-13
Line count: 4
Word count: 35