The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XX

Quatrain XX seems rather apt for this time of the year--the beginning of the New Year.


First Edition: Quatrain XX

Ah, my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears
To-day of past Regrets and future Fears--
To-morrow?--Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.




Second Edition: Quatrain XXI

Ah, my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears
To-day of past Regret and Future Fears:
To-morrow?--Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.



Fifth Edition: Quatrain XXI

Ah, my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears
To-day of Past Regrets and Future Fears:
To-morrow?--Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousand Years.



As you can see, FitzGerald made very few changes to this quatrain, and none that I would consider significant. In the Second Edition, he drops the "s" from "Regrets," changes the dash at the end of the line to a colon, and capitalizes the "F" in "future." I wonder if the lost "s" is really an error that happened with the setting of the type for the Second Edition. The colon could suggest that the third and fourth lines explain the second line--that there's no need for regrets and fears for tomorrow he may be dead himself, and therefore beyond regret and fear.

The only differences I can see between the Second and Fifth Editions are the restoration of the "s" after "Regret" so that it is now the same as the First version and the capitalization of the "p" in Past. In the first version, it was "past Regrets and future Fears." This became "past Regret and Future Fears" in the second and, finally, "Past Regrets and Future Fears" in the fifth. This may be more for the appearance of the phrase than for any significant change in meaning.

The quatrain seems to be a celebration of wine, that which gladdens the heart by helping us to forget the past and to become indifferent about the future. In fact, when asked about the future, he exclaims that he himself might be dead tomorrow, another variation on the theme of enjoying oneself today for tomorrow we may die and, therefore, become part of the past.