The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXI

This quatrain seems to be the first in a series of three linked quatrains: XXI, XXII, and XXIII. They, to me anyway, make more sense if read together than if read separately.


First Edition: Quatrain XXI

Lo! some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to Rest.



Second Edition: Quatrain XXII

For some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That from his Vintage rolling Time has prest,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to rest.



Fifth Edition: Quatrain XXII

For some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That from his Vintage rolling Time has prest,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to rest.


What changes were made were limited to the first two lines and the last word in the second edition. The fifth edition is identical to the second. In the first edition, the quatrain begins with the exclamation "Lo" whereas in the second and fifth editions, FitzGerald substitutes the more prosaic "For" for "Lo." In the second edition, "Fate" no longer plays a role with "Time" in producing "the loveliest and the best." The last change is using a lower case "r" in the second and subsequent editions, in place of the upper case "R" found in the first edition.

The first change seems to follow the pattern FitzGerald established earlier of changing the poetic expressions and terms to more prosaic formulations.

Why did he drop the reference to "Fate" after the first edition? One possibility may be that "Fate" might have negative connotations. Would readers see "Fate" as suggesting something good or would the implication be something bad or unpleasant? On the other hand, "Fate" could also bring in ideas of determinism or a fixed future which he may have felt inappropriate here, even though there's a clear reference to this in a later quatrain. The use of "rolling" now imparts movement to Time. It is not just Time but "rolling Time," which indirectly brings in a reference to Fate. "Rolling" can suggest wheels, possibly the Wheel of Fate.

The last change also is an example of another pattern of changes: FitzGerald had changed the first letter of many nouns from the upper case in the first edition to the lower in subsequent editions. The change in meaning is subtle, from a static place or condition "to Rest" to the more active verb, "to rest." Of course, it could simply have been a typographical error in the first edition which he was simply correcting for the later editions.

I like the first line of the first edition better than the second through the fifth editions. "Lo" gets my attention better and suggests more strongly that a point is being made. "For" is weaker and moreover suggests that an explanation is to follow--but what is being explained?

However, this quatrain is a observation, one that has been made before. All must die eventually, even those of a superior vintage. Again, we see the theme of wine and wine-making brought up. The "loveliest and the best" are a vintage of time and fate, although only time is given the credit in the later editions. And this vintage, superior though they may be, now have "crept silently to rest"--the Fate of all.