The Rubáiyát of a Bachelor

A bachelor welcomes spring with bright clothes, flirtation and a determination to keep his freedom. Helen Rowland gives his arguments the form of humorous quatrains, turning the language of Omar Khayyam into jokes about courtship, wedding rings and household bills. Suppers, Broadway strolls and comfortable evenings beside different young women furnish the pleasures he wants, while marriage becomes the expense and obligation he hopes to escape.

His confident advice keeps exposing his own vanity. He fears growing older, makes resolutions that vanish after a headache passes, and imagines that a wife will still be available whenever he chooses to settle down. Later verses bring broken promises, newspaper publicity, wealthy admirers and costly attachments into the comedy. Readers interested in literary parody or old-fashioned social wit will find a compact verse portrait of a man whose claims to good sense sit uneasily beside his fondness for easy pleasures.