The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXII

This is the second quatrain in what I see as a linked series of three quatrains.


First Edition: Quatrain XXII

And we, that now make merry in the Room
They left, and Summer dresses in new Bloom,
Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth
Descend, ourselves to make a Couch--for whom?


Second Edition: Quatrain XXIII

And we, that now make merry in the Room
They left, and Summer dresses in new bloom,
Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth
Descend--ourselves to make a Couch--for whom?


Fifth Edition: Quatrain XXIII

And we, that now make merry in the Room
They left, and Summer dresses in new bloom,
Ourselves must we beneath the Couch of Earth
Descend--ourselves to make a Couch--for whom?


The changes over the five versions are minor: "Bloom" which has a upper case "B" now has a lower case "b" for the second and the fifth editions. The comma in the first edition following "Descend" in the fourth line is changed to a dash for succeeding editions. In fact, the second and fifth versions are identical.

I think the linkage to the previous quatrain is quite clear. In the second line, the "They" who left refers back to Quatrain XXI: the "some we loved, the loveliest and the best . . . [who] crept silently to Rest." We have taken their place , but eventually we also must "Descend, ourselves to make a Couch . . ."

As we read in "Ecclesiastes"

"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh:
but the earth abideth for ever."

One more point should be made, I think. Previous quatrains had referred to Spring, but this quatrain mentions Summer, which provides a subtle hint that time is passing. If it is now Summer, Autumn and Winter are rapidly approaching.

Quatrains XXI and XXII point out that even as the "loveliest and the best" must go on, so shall we ourselves one day make room for another, and that other will be unknown to us. But, this doesn't seem quite adequate, for something is missing from these two observations, perhaps some conclusion to be drawn here. This is why I think Quatrain XXIII is linked to XXI and XXII.