author
J. L. (James Leo) Duff
1891–1987
A witty early-20th-century poet, J. L. Duff turned the famous Rubáiyát tradition into playful satire with The Rubáiyát of Ohow Dryyàm. His surviving work also includes Little Pat and Other Poems, reflecting the lively literary culture surrounding Stanford in the 1910s.
1 Audiobook
The Rubaiyat of Ohow Dryyam With Apologies to Omar
by J. L. (James Leo) Duff
About the author
J. L. Duff—James Leo Duff (1891–1987)—was an American poet whose work appeared in Stanford literary circles during the 1910s. He contributed poems to The Stanford Book of Verse and published Little Pat and Other Poems in 1916.
His best-known work is The Rubáiyát of Ohow Dryyàm, published in 1913. Written as a playful parody of Edward FitzGerald’s famous Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the book combines formal verse with humor and social satire. The available record on Duff is limited, but his publications show a distinctive comic voice and a strong connection to Stanford’s early literary community.