The Rubaiyat: 2nd Edition, Quatrain XLVIII

This is another quatrain that FitzGerald introduced in his Second Edition and which remained through the succeeding editions.


Second Edition:  Quatrain XLVIII

When You and I behind the Veil are past,
Oh, but the long long while the World shall last,
     Which of our Comings and Departures heeds
As much as Ocean of a pebble-cast.



Fifth Edition:  Quatrain XLVII 

When You and I behind the Veil are past,
Oh, but the long, long while the World shall last,
     Which of our Comings and Departures heeds
As the Sea's self should heed a pebble-cast.


Aside from a comma added in line 2, perhaps correcting a printing error, the major change occurred in the fourth line where the term "the Ocean"  became "the Sea's self."  My opinion is that he should have left that line alone.  The "Ocean" is perfectly clear whereas I'm not sure about what is meant by "the Sea's self."

The meaning, as far as I can see, is still the same.  In the World, which will last long after we have died, our arrival and departure will have about as much effect as a pebble thrown into the Ocean.   This carries forth the theme introduced in the previous quatrain, that of our insignificance in the Universe:  there are millions just like us and we were not especially noticed when we appeared nor will we be missed when we leave.  In other words, we are not the center of the universe nor is the universe created solely as a testing device.