Daily Sip - The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Ok, so that last poem attempt turned out to be longer and less interesting than anticipated, so now I'm sticking with something I've actually read before. Here is the beginning of the Edward Fitzgerald English translation of the Rubaiyat.

I'd be interested to see if anyone has read other translations. Or, hey, if there are any Persian speakers out there, tell me how this matches up! Clearly it rhymes, so I'm expecting that there was some liberty taken with the translation.

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1 Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night
Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:
And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught
The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light.

2 Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry,
"Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry."

-Oman Khayyam (1048-1131)

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Interpretations?

I can't get passed trying to figure out why they wrote certain words with capitalization. It's such a pet peeve of mine lol.

I do like the last two lines though. Make the most of your life, live life to its fullest, etc.

I think I wrote an old poem based on that last line. I've always liked it.

The nouns are capitalized. It's kind of an archaic thing in English... some languages still do it. Not sure why it was done in the Fitzgerald translation. Possibly he was trying to evoke a more antiquated mood?