# XCVII explained — The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

> Chapter companion for The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Omar Khayyám.

## What happens

The speaker yearns for even a dim glimpse of the Fountain in the desert, a source of relief for the fainting traveler, comparing the desperate hope to the resilience of trampled grass springing back.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Quest for Meaning

The yearning for a glimpse of the Fountain represents the search for spiritual or existential truth in a barren world.

### Skepticism and Doubt

The conditional 'Would but' and 'if dimly, yet indeed' express doubt about whether any revelation is possible.

## Key lines

> Would but the Desert of the Fountain yield One glimpse⁠—if dimly, yet indeed, reveal’d, To which the fainting Traveller might spring, As springs the trampled herbage of the field!

If only the barren desert would offer even a faint, true vision of the Fountain, so that the exhausted wanderer could leap toward it like crushed grass rising again.

_The Fountain symbolizes a source of life or truth; the trampled herbage suggests resilience and hope._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters/xcvii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rub_iy_t_of_omar_khayy_m_se/chapters