Echoes Of Khayyam
BHISHAM SAHNI
THE QUEST by S P Bakshi A Writer's Workshop Red Bird Book, Calcutta, 1989, 127 pp., 80
March-April 1989, volume 13, No 2

When I first opened the book and read through some of Bakshi’s verses, I felt that there was a familiar ring about them of Fitzgerald’s rendering of Omar Khayyam’s verse. As I proceeded further, I came across references to Khayyam also. The structure of the verses too, though not identical, appeared to be a variation of the same basic structure. The underlying sentiment—the transitoriness of life, the unknown beyond, the wistfulness, the sense of nothingness combined with the craving to make the best of what we have, to ‘drink life to the lees’, ‘to fill another cup that cheers’ since to some ‘the life is a vale of tears’ etc., were very familiar.

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