The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám · Chapter
XCVIII explained
The speaker wishes for a winged angel to intervene before it is too late, to alter or erase the unrolled record of fate, expressing a desire to change the predetermined course of destiny.
What happens
The speaker wishes for a winged angel to intervene before it is too late, to alter or erase the unrolled record of fate, expressing a desire to change the predetermined course of destiny.
Themes in this chapter
Determinism and Fate
The chapter directly addresses the unrolling of Fate and the desire to alter the predetermined record.
Mortality and Transience
The plea for intervention 'ere too late' underscores the urgency of mortality and the fleeting chance to change one's destiny.
Key passages
“Would but some wingèd Angel ere too late Arrest the yet unfolded Roll of Fate, And make the stern Recorder otherwise Enregister, or quite obliterate!”
If only a winged angel would stop the unfolding scroll of destiny before it's too late, and force the stern recorder to rewrite or completely erase it.
The speaker yearns for divine intervention to alter the irreversible course of fate.