The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXIX

Quatrain XXIX is the third in a series of four linked quatrains: XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, and XXX.


First Edition: Quatrain XXIX

Into this Universe, and why not knowing,
Nor whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing,
And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
I know not whither, willy-nilly blowing.



Second Edition: Quatrain XXXII

Into this Universe, and Why not knowing,
Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing;
And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing.



Fifth Edition: Quatrain XXIX

Into this Universe, and Why not knowing,
Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing;
And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing.

FitzGerald made minimal changes which, surprisingly, go in the opposite direction of some that he has made so far. In the past, he has occasionally changed the capitalization of words from upper case to lower case. Here he does the opposite: He changes the lower case "w' in "why." "whence," and "whither" in the First Edition to the upper case "W" in the Second Edition. The Fifth Edition is identical to the Second, including the substitution of a semicolon at the end of the second line for the comma in the First Edition.

Perhaps he wishes to emphasize those words; if not, I can't come up with another plausible explanation. Those are significant words for the theme of this linked set of quatrains. FitzGerald brings forward from the last quatrain the reference to water and wind and also ignorance. In the last quatrain he said he had no answers except that he comes like water and goes like the wind.

In this quatrain he further defines this Seed of Wisdom, or perhaps better defined as the Seed of Ignorance, that he sowed among the wise. FitzGerald uses three terms here very precisely.

Whence means "from where"
Whither means "to where"
Willy-nilly means "willingly or not willingly"

In the previous quatrain, he tells us that all he knows is that he comes like water and goes like wind. In this quatrain, he now tells us that he doesn't know why he is here, that he doesn't know where he came from, and that he doesn't know where he is going when he leaves. Moreover, he has no choice in being here: he is here, willingly or not, and he eventually will leave, willingly or not.

The Taoists make a similar point for they say that all things come from Tao and return to Tao, but just what the Tao is nobody knows. Other terms sometimes used are the Void or emptiness. Furthermore, even to give it a name is misleading , for names suggest that we know something about what is being named, and we know nothing about the Tao, and therefore we know nothing about where we came from and where we are going.