The Rubaiyat: Quatrain XXXVI

Quatrain XXXVI is the third in a series of four linked quatrains, all referring to a drinking vessel that has a limited power of speech. The poet has queried the wise and the saintly in the past and now the earthly for knowledge, and at best he learns from the earthly that once gone he will never return--So Drink!



First Edition: Quatrain XXXVI

For in the Market-place, one Dusk of Day,
I watch'd the Potter thumping his wet Clay:
And with its all obliterated Tongue
It murmur'd--"Gently, Brother, gently, pray!"



Second Edition: Quatrain XL

For I remember stopping by the way
To watch a Potter thumping his wet Clay:
And with its all-obliterated Tongue
It murmur'd--"Gently, Brother, gently, pray!"



Fifth Edition: Quatrain XXXVII

For I remember stopping by the way
To watch a Potter thumping his wet Clay:
And with its all-obliterated Tongue
It murmur'd--"Gently, Brother, gently, pray!"


The second and fifth editions are identical, for the only changes FitzGerald made occurred between the first and second editions. The changes in the first line seem to move it from the present to the past. In the first edition, he says that he stopped to watch a potter while in the second edition he tells us that he remembered stopping to watch the potter. Also, in the first edition he says it was at Dusk while in later editions there is no mention of the time of day. The third and fourth lines are identical for all three editions, with the minor exception of the hyphen inserted between "all" and "obliterated" in the second and fifth editions.

The reference to clay, as I have mentioned in previous posts, echoes the creation stories in both the Bible and the Koran, with humans specifically pointed out as coming from clay or earth or even dust. The vessel is shown as having some limited speech ability, but it is hard to understand. In Quatrain XXXIV, it "murmur's," and in Quatrain XXXV, it speaks with "fugitive articulation" And, now in Quatrain XXXVI, it speaks with an all obliterated tongue, which could easily explain why it is hard to understand.

What's new in this quatrain is the reference to the Potter, an analogue to the creator? What's interesting here is that the pot calls the Potter "Brother," which is a significant comment in that the creator is normally referred to as the Father. This suggests a more equal relationship between the creator and its creation than one usually finds, or at least that I have found over the years.

Moreover, it seems to remonstrate with the creator and asks that it be more gentle, surely an unusual comment for a creation to make to its creator. Traditionally, the creator is depicted as being all powerful and free to do as it wishes with its creations and jealously insists on its freedom to do as it wishes. One only needs to read Job in the Old Testament for a very clear assertion of its rights.

I find it difficult to make any general comments bearing on the potter and the pot for this theme occurs again in several quatrains. It's not clear yet exactly what the point is, at least to me anyway. I shall have to wait for later quatrains for illumination.