The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: Quatrain LVII

This quatrain also touches on the theme of predestination which has appeared in several of the last five quatrains.


First Edition: Quatrain LVII

Oh, Thou, who didst with Pitfall and with Gin
Beset the Road I was to wander in,
     Thou wilt not with Predestination round
Enmesh me, and impute my Fall to Sin?



Second Edition: Quatrain LXXXVII

Oh, Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin
Beset the Road I was to wander in,
     Thou wilt not with Predestined Evil round
Enmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin!



Fifth Edition:  Quatrain LXXX

Oh, Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin
Beset the Road I was to wander in,
     Thou wilt not with Predestined Evil round
Enmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin!

FitzGerald made several changes to the Second Edition but no more after that.  The Fifth Edition is identical to the Second.  In the first edition, "Pitfall" and "Gin" are capitalized, but he changes to lower case in subsequent editions. He has done this fairly regularly for earlier quatrains, although not consistently so, as can be seen in lines three and four in this quatrain.  He also substituted "Predestined Evil" for "Predestination." This seems to be FitzGerald's attempt to make sure that "pitfall" and "gin" were seen as evils, whereas "Predestination" is morally neutral for it simply means something was destined to happen, which could be good or evil. 

In the last line, FitzGerald changes "Enmesh me, and impute.  .  ."  to  "Enmesh, and then impute .  .  ."  I'm guessing here,  but perhaps he felt the "me" was redundant or unnecessary since later in the line it is his Fall to sin that is referred to. The last change was the substitution of the exclamation point for the question mark at the very end of the quatrain.  In the first edition, the Poet asks if he will be blamed for his sins whereas in the subsequent editions, it's a definite statement that he can't be blamed.

The Poet in this quatrain points out that the divinity is responsible for alcohol and all the sources of vice since these are all His creations.  Since these irresistible traps are put in his path, he is bound to fall, and therefore he should not be held responsible if he stumbles into the traps that were deliberately placed in his way.  After all, they were there, and he did not go out of his way to find them.

It's hard to say, for me anyway, whether the Poet is being ironic in this quatrain.  If he isn't being ironic, then he is attacking the basis for our creation on this planet--a test of our moral character that will result in eternal happiness in heaven or eternal pain and agony in hell.