A Different Slant of Light

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

This book was translated into English by Edward FitzGerald in the late 1800s. It became an instant hit in both England and the United States. The poem was written in the 13th century by a Sufi (Muslim) philosopher, Omar Khayyam. The verses can be read as a call for a carpé diem philosophy (eat, drink, and be merry) or as a metaphor for spiritual union with God. Many different editions, illustrated by many people, have been printed over the years. Almost all are illustrated with drawings. Certainly in 1905 no other version used photographs to illustrate the verses.

Its frontal nudity and the direct gaze of the woman make this image stand out from those of other art photographers of the period.

True to her Pictorialist traditions, Hanscom altered the image to make it fulfill her vision. She drew the wings on the woman's head onto the glass negative.

The model may be Gertrude Boyle.
Detail of the top of this photo.

I

Wake! For the Sun who scatter'd into flight
The Stars before him from the Field of
       Night,
  Drives Night along with them from Heav'n,  and strikes
The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light.

Note how Adelaide air brushed the negative and used a second negative to add a faint image on the bottom right.

IV

Now the New Year reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires,
  Where the WHITE HAND of MOSES on the Bough
Puts out, and Jesus from the ground suspires.

The model is George Sterling
The magnolia branch came from the tree in the Hanscom front yard. The tree is still there.

VII

Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter--and the Bird is on the Wing.

The model is probably xxx.
Note the details--toes
and her face

Hanscom used traditional forms in some of her work, like this tryptich. She also used tondos and, especially in her Sonnets illustrations, models set in Renaissance poses.

VIII

Whether at Naishapur or Babylon,
Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run,
The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop,
The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.