The Rubaiyat: Quatrain LXXI

This is the fifth linked quatrain that focuses on wine.  It refers back directly to LXIX in which he laments that his devotion to the grape has done his "Credit in Men's Eyes much wrong."


First Edition:  Quatrain LXXI

And much as Wine has play'd the Infidel,
And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour--well,
    I often wonder what the Vinters buy
One half so precious as the Goods they sell.


Second Edition:  Quatrain CIII
And much as Wine has play'd the Infidel,
And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour--Well,

    I often wonder what the Vinters buy
One-half so precious as the ware they sell.


Fifth Edition:  Quatrain XCV
And much as Wine has play'd the Infidel,
And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour--Well,
    I often wonder what the Vinters buy
One half so precious as the stuff they sell.



FitzGerald has made only minimal changes in this quatrain over the five editions.   In the first three lines he has made only one minor change, that of capitalizing "Well" in the second line of the second and fifth editions.  He added a hyphen to "One-half" in the second edition but had removed it by the fifth edition.  He seemed to have difficulty in deciding just what to call what the Vinters sold over the various editions as he went from "Goods" to "ware" to "stuff."  My preference is for "Goods," perhaps because it was the first one I read.  "Ware" would be improved somewhat if he had made it "wares they sell."  But, "stuff," no, that just doesn't work for me.  The "stuff" they sell is wine, and he has praised it so much throughout the 70+ quatrains, that calling it "stuff" is derogatory and doesn't convey the significance it has had for him.

 As I have mentioned previously, I have read several commentaries in which the author has tried to "save" Khayyam and place him within the mystic tradition which would preclude the use of alcohol.  In some quatrains, I can see where references to the grape or wine could be interpreted as God's grace or divine inspiration, but there are numerous references which just don't seem to fit, and this quatrain and Quatrain LXIX are two of the many.  It is hard to see that divine grace could have done his "Credit in Men's Eyes much wrong" or "robb'd [him] of [his] Robe of Honour."

Also, consider the first line of the stanza in which he says that "Wine has play'd the Infidel."  Again, I don't see how this could be a reference to divine grace.  If I find two interpretations and one can be seen to apply consistently while the other only seems partially valid, then I would definitely go with the one that seemed appropriate most often.

Like several other quatrains or couplets, I had come across the last two lines--
                         
                                I often wonder what the Vinters buy
                            One half so precious as the Goods they sell.

long before I was even aware of the existence of The Rubaiyat.  It was an  epigraph or a quotation that came at the very beginning of a short story, an SF story to be precise.  I do not remember the author, the title, or even the plot of the story, but those two lines have stayed with me for decades now.