Edward FitzGerald

FitzGerald, Edward (1809–83), English poet and scholar, translator of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat. FitzGerald's version of this Persian poet's quatrains (4-line rhymes) is not a literal and exact translation, but instead captures the spirit of the original to create a masterpiece of English poetry. The Rubaiyat, FitzGerald's only significant work, first appeared in 1859, and its tone of gentle melancholy had an important influence on later English poets.