Omar Khayyam's quatrain 69 from the Rubaiyat reads:
But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Checker-board of Nights and Days;
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.
Let's first discuss Khayyam's quatrain. What is he suggesting? You may want to become acquainted with Khayyam--his poetry, his contributions to society, and his famous poetry.
Second, do you agree with Khayyam's view? Why or why not?
I sort of agree with Khayyam's view. I think that to an extent God does have a plan for everyone and that there is a plan set for everyone in the begining, but while the plan may be set in motion there is always a little wiggle room. Like some things aren't completly able to be planned. You can make decisions in your own life that affect you and only you. Those decisions could be spur of the moment and not planned or even aware to anyone else until they appear to you. In a way there is a plan already set for everyone but i think thats mostly like for when they're little, because when you're little you don't really have a good judge of what will work out and what could end in disaster. The plan is there to guide you in the right direction and give you a good sense of what's right and what's wroong. However, once you get older you have a better grasp of reality and have the ability to make succesful choices. In a way Khayyam does have a very valid point that god has a plan for everyone, but i think that each individual person is in control of their own lives.
ReplyDeleteMary, thanks for initiating our dialogue. Like you, I do believe there is a plan, but as a part of this plan, there is choice. We choose to speak and act and think. And all our choices have consequences--whether positive or negative. I think that I disagree with Khayyam's perspective that we're "helpless" and we're moved "hither and thither." That seems to negate the idea of choice--yet we have it and exercise it each day. But there is a part of Omar's poem that I can't seem to reconcile with my beliefs--the idea that our time span on earth is something "He" only knows. It's something I accept. But does that make "Him" cold and calculating and uncaring as Omar depicts him?
ReplyDeleteI would happen to disagree in a sort of fashion. I see the view he expresses, and I understand it, and as a Catholic, I am supposed to believe it that way, that our lives are set by a plan that God has, but I don't necessarily believe that. Here's why, why would God set someone's life plan to be so short? Why does God let some of the Innocent die and some of the Guilty live? Why does he give some premature children a Plan of 1 or 2 days "upon the checkerboard of night and days" then checkmate's them. I believe God has a plan that he may want us to follow, but he gives us free will. Free will to choose which path to follow, his, or our own.
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of the argument, let's say that I believe in God. Alright, now I guess I can say that I somewhat agree with Khayyam. In the core sense of the poem, God controls who lives and who dies. He plays His games with our lives. I think most of all, I can find some agreement in what Allen said; do children really deserve to die? You can say they're in a better place, but there's a lot of great things in life, why deprive ANYONE of that? It just doesn't seem fair. And I think Khayyam is focus most on the control God has on our lives, he compares what God does to a game. That pretty much tells you right there: God is just toying with our lives like it's nothing at all to Him, or at least thats what I believe Khayyam is saying. It's nothing more than that. We can't control when we die, that's up to Him. Why? I don't know. But, this is merely me taking a stand point I don't necessarily believe only for the sake of this discussion. To me, the point is moot since I have no religious ties.
ReplyDeleteDiscussion is going well so far. Allen and Nick, thanks for your thoughtful contributions. For an added twist, check out Khayyam's bio(his beliefs).
ReplyDeleteSo he contradicts himself? In another piece he writes, "Enjoy wine and women and don't be afraid, God has compassion" (which is now another one of my favorite quotes). I read that he thinks that laws of nature completely explain life. I can agree with that, though I can't agree with THIS piece. Thanks for suggesting we look this up.
ReplyDeleteNick has a very valid point about Khayyam's focus on humanity as a game to God."He plays His games with our lives." I quite agree with it. However I feel I must point out a few errors in Khayyam's poem. First of all Khayyam's God is playing the wrong game. You check pieces in Chess not checkers, although one could argue that the since both boards feature a checkered print that the statement is still accurate. This could possibly reference that God isn't completely without fault; that he is mistaken in what he's doing. Certainly I believe every entity to be capable of error, divine or not.
ReplyDeleteAnother point of reference I'd like to bring up is that God alone is referenced as playing the game, yet chess or checkers require to individuals to play. So who exactly is God's opponent in this game of life, and what's at stake?
Hey Willy good point about the checkers and chess, funny observation. Well I disagree with Khayyam's poem. Like a lot of you have already said he thinks God controls us, but I don't think we're helpless. We move around the playing board, some of us can be influenced by God, but we do the playing.
ReplyDeleteNick- I really agree with your point on how Khayyam contradicts himself. Does he struggle with the same confusion with a "higher power" like others do?
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Ms. Holloways statement about each of us having a choice. Being a christian, in the bible it says God will give you the freedom to make your own choices, and you deal with the consquences. I dont think i necessarily agree with the point that Khayyam is making about God just moving us around in life, because there is a purpose in everything he does. I see why he chose the checkered board, because in chess or checkers each move in the game has a purpose, just like God has a purpose for everyone. I feel like this poem has a negative attitude towards God, but it makes a strong point.
I really like the question Willy asked. I didn't think of it before. Who IS God facing in this chess game. Is it Evil, it it just us, as humanity, a weaker opponent. This also brings up a new point. Couldn't who God is facing win? Knock off His pawns? "Every entity to be capable of error, divine or not."
ReplyDeleteI thought the same question as Willy: Who is “he” playing? Is it the devil? Is that why horrible things occur, because the devil made a move that affected the lives of people? Just a thought to throw out there.
ReplyDeleteI believe, however, that Khayyam is trying to state that we have no say in choices we think we decide in life; I agree. I think are destiny is already predetermined before we were even conceived. It’s hard for me to fathom a superior being controlling and affecting everyone’s lives on a daily basis. Since he is deemed “holy” and “righteous”, then why would he decide that a mother should have her child’s life snatched from her or that a woman should be raped? If his morals are so ethical, why would this happen? If to him we are just chess/checker pieces why should we worship him, if we mean nothing to him in his “game”?
I agree with everyone so far, I believe as a catholic, that god has a plan for each of us. We are given free will however, to do whatever we want. If we choose to worship him, or blow him off completely is up to us. I also believe that god is sometimes a cruel god. I say that in reference to what Allen said about him letting the guilty live and innocent die. It is not right or even fair, But god always has a plan behind what he does.For instance, A little church boy and his non- church friend are playing outside when church boy falls into a coma from getting hit in the head,(extreme I know) and his friend is at his side day and night wondering what he can do to help get his friend back. So he decides to pray. Now god Hurt the church boy, but only to get his non- church friend to turn to him for guidance and to believe in him. Because maybe that non- church boy is meant to do something great in life, like become a priest and he needed that incident to happen. God could not force that boy to become a priest because of free will, but he showed the boy his plan for him, if he chose to take it. To sum it up I believe that god has a plan and may go to extreme measures to lead us there but it is up to us to accept what he wants.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this poem the main thing that struck me was how easily and accurate life can be compared to one big chess game. Some people have a higher power than others, like a king compared to a pawn, and some people survive in the "game" of chess longer. Reading what Nick and Allen said about the good dying young and the evil living full lives, made me think that somehow that is all just part of God's entire plan. Suppose a child dies of cancer and then his/her parents raise money and awareness for the cause and ends up saving millions of other kids in that same position. If that child hadn't died, many others would. I think that the purpose of this poem is that it can be seen in many different lights, positive or negative. The main thing that matters is that the poem is getting us to think about God's motives, or lack of, and maybe even see things in a new light.
ReplyDeleteI do believe Khayyam is writting about a higher power having control over life. I agree with Khayyam in the sense that I believe there is a higher power who has a plan for all. And just as Mrs. Holloway said, I don't agree with him when he says the pieces are "helpless"- we have the ability to make choices that effect us in different ways. The choices we make and paths we take offer different outcomes giving us the freedom of option. But I believe there is a higher power, with a plan. I believe there is a higher power that makes us who we are. So when faced with a decision we are more likely to make a choice that is "part of the plan" because its who we are. And perhaps these decisions create chain reactions that effect others in ways we can not control, as part of "the plan".
ReplyDeleteI really like Merissa's scenario that she brought up. I do believe that God has control on us, and that everything that happens to us happens for a reason. On the other hand, I don't believe that we're "helpless" or that God always has the absolute highest power. Like Cameron said, if something goes horribly wrong or not part of the plan, is it God's fault? But when things go our way we don't necessarily give God the credit that he deserves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the previous posters when it comes to the poem's meaning. I think that the message Khayyam was trying to send was that there is a higher power who has control over everything we do.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I disagree with this message entirely. Personally, I don't think I believe in God. I am not completely sure what my beliefs are at this point in my life. I do think I believe in some kind of balance in the universe if that makes sense. But I can't really give my opinion on a God that I'm not sure I believe in.
If I did believe in God, I would say that I do not believe he controls every aspect of our lives. Much like Emily said, I would think that the choices we make reflect who we are and that might be part of "God's Plan."
** While I normally get a thrill from upsetting the innocent people around me, I wish all of you to know that while discussing this topic I wish to earn no enemies. I strongly dislike religious debate, and I consider this an apology in advance to the vast multitude of those who disagree with me **
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious enough that this is a poem regarding our most popular spiritual icon. I strongly disagree with the message conveyed in this piece; I firmly grasp onto the idea that I am in sole control of my actions and thoughts. The concept that no matter what I choose to do, the end result remains the same, makes me wonder why I am here. rather than continue to agree with the long list above me, I wish now to introduce a new point.
Khayyam closes his poem with the line "And one by one back in the Closet lays." the capitalization of the word closet implies that he is speaking of the glorified "final destination," if you will. My question is, why did he choose the word closet? such diction is related to a stifling and solitary environment. Closets are generally associated with hiding something, or tossing something aside when you are finished with it/ have forgotten it. Humans generally like to think of heaven as the complete opposite of a closet. is Khayyam trying to say that God throws us aside after he is finished toying with us? moving from game to game, ending our lives when he grows restless of this particular puppet? This is the statement that stood out to me the most, and the one that completely closes my thoughts on the topic.
I disagree with what this poem is trying to convey. I do agree that God made us; however I disagree that he controls us. Everyone makes thier own decisions, and God can not be held accountable for them. Sure people, who are religious pray to God, and thank Him when good things happen; however, I belive that we make our own future; we make or own luck.
ReplyDeletePeople use the excuse that God didnt give them the same advantages as others, (ex. growing up in a bad neighborhood, growing up poor). However, some people with these same disatvantages do more with thier life than people of a higher social class. God does not control what you do with your life. The line "But helpless pieces of the game He plays" implies that people are helpless, and that we are merely pupets on strings being controled by the hands of God. Like I said before, people make thier own decisions. If God controled us, why would he make people commit sins?
One question I had was why are certain words of each line capitalized? Do the words posses specific meaning?
Let me begin by saying how angry I am. I typed out this really long thing and went to post it and the internet window just closed out. So here is my attempt at recreating my first thoughts...
ReplyDeleteI feel like my thoughts on this aren't really up to par with the rest of the comments. Currently, I consider myself to be agnostic atheist, and although i don't believe in a God, I do believe in some sort of righteousness. I also believe that everything that happens, is meant to happen. However, I do not believe that it is pre-determined or always happens for a reason. Khayyam suggests that we are not in control--that our "fate" is already planned out for us. I disagree. As humans, I believe we have free will, not only from a God, but also from rules set up by society and ourselves. We make choices everyday and if our decision mean nothing and there is a God or government or other authority figure controlling all of it, I am ashamed of having been alive at all.