The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXVIII

This is the second quatrain in what I see as a linked series of four quatrains. In Quatrain XXVII, the narrator tells us that he listened to the Doctors and Saints, but learned nothing from them. In this quatrain, we now learn that he taught them something.


First Edition: Quatrain XXVIII

With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with my own hand labour'd it to grow;
And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd--
"I came like Water, and like Wind I go."



Second Edition: Quatrain XXXI

With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with my own hand wrought to make it grow;
And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd--
"I came like Water, and like Wind I go."



Fifth Edition: Quatrain XXVIII

With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow;
And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd--
"I came like Water, and like Wind I go."


I could find only minor changes among the three versions. Lines 1, 2, and 4 are identical, with the only changes occurring in the second line.

First Edition: And with my own hand labour'd it to grow;
Second Edition: And with my own hand wrought to make it grow;
Fifth Edition: And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow;

The First Edition's "labour'd it to grow" becomes "wrought to make it grow." I guess the second version flows a bit more smoothly than the first. I'm not sure why he changed it from "my" to "mine" except perhaps for a bit of internal rhyme when "my own hand" becomes "mine own hand."

Instead of learning from the wise, the young narrator teaches them. I don't know if this is a coincidence or an interpolation by FitzGerald, for this reminds me of the incident in Luke, Chapter 2, when Christ as young child was found in the temple and "all that heard him were astonished by his wisdom and his answers." And the "Seed of Wisdom" also has echoes in the Gospels, for several times we find that Christ uses the analogy of a seed and his words.

His "Harvest" suggests the transitoriness of life, for he comes like water and goes like the wind. Both are natural forces and while a river flows and the wind blows, it is never the same wind and water. He also comes and eventually will go, for he is of this world and subject to its laws. And, others will come after him and take their turn here, before they too will go on, for this is not a unchanging situation that is being depicted, but one that is filled with movement and change.