Monday, May 1, 2017

The Rubaiyat: Second Edition, Quatrain XCIX

Quatrain XCIX links back to the previous quatrain, especially the last two lines of that Quatrain:  And lay me, shrouded in the living Leaf,/By some not unfrequented Garden-side.



Second Edition:  Quatrain XCIX

Whither resorting from the vernal Heat
Shall Old Acquaintance Old Acquaintance greet,
     Under the Branch that leans above the Wall
To shed his Blossom over head and feet. 


This quatrain was removed and does appear in the Fifth Edition.  Just why he removed it is not known.  However, Quatrains XCIIIX and XCIX are prophetic, according to an anecdote related by one of Khayyam's pupils, Khwajah Nizami:

"I often used to hold conversations with my teacher, Omar Khayyam, in a garden; and one day he said to me, "My tomb shall be in a spot where the north wind may scatter roses over it.'  I wondered at the words he spake, but I knew that his were no idle words.  Years after, when I chanced to revisit Naishapur, I went to his final resting place, and lo! it was just outside a garden, and trees laden with fruit stretched their boughs over the garden wall, and dropped their flowers upon his tomb, so that the stone was hidden under them."

 from Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Illustrations by Edmund Dulac
Garden City Books  



What's a bit unusual in this quatrain occurs in line two where "Old" is capitalized.  That "Acquaintance" is capitalized is not unusual for FitzGerald usually capitalizes nouns, but this is the only time, as far as I can remember, that an adjective was capitalized.  For example, "vernal,"  an adjective in the first line is in lower case.  I don't know if this is true for other readers, but the first thought that entered my mind when I read "Old Acquaintance" was of Robert Burns' first lyric to his very popular song that appears every New Year's Eve: "Auld Lang Syne.   The problem, of course, is that Burns wrote "auld acquaintance,"  not "old acquaintance."

Just a thought. 





20 comments:

  1. these were most likely originally written in Sanskrit, don't you think? i really wonder how close Fitz's translations were to Omar's intentions... is there any other translations?

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    Replies
    1. Mudpuddle,

      According to what I've read, Khayyam wrote them in Persian, his native tongue.

      Most accounts do not call FitzGerald's version a translation--some of his quatrains are close, while many others are "interpretations."

      In the Introduction to the text I'm using, the editor comments that FitzGerald "dealt on the whole with the 'Rubaiyat' as though he had the license of absolute authorship, changing, transposing, and manipulating the substance of the Persian quatrains with a singular freedom."

      To call it "FitzGerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" is far more accurate than most readers, I suspect, believe.


      Here are two sites with translations of the Rubaiyat. I have heard of others, and I think there's at least two more in print.

      Enjoy.

      http://tinyurl.com/jkwamoe

      http://tinyurl.com/k4t7obx

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    2. oh tx... i'll check those out...

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    3. Mudpuddle,

      I hope you come back and let us know what you think.

      Delete
  2. Very interesting observations on this Quatrain.

    It is interesting how meaning can be conveyed by just capitalizing words. I also found your observations regarding the translation to be insightful, particularly the difference between a translation and an interpretation.

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    Replies
    1. Brian,

      Yes, that's especially true for us, for we don't normally capitalize nouns, and when it occurs, the normal reaction, I think, is that the writer wished us to take note.

      Delete
  3. Idiosyncratic typography can vex readers; witness, for example, Emily Dickinson. But do we veer into intentional fallacy territory with such vexations?

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    Replies
    1. Tim,

      Emily Dickinson is the perfect example. It's fun to speculate, but I realize that without more evidence, that's all it is--speculation.

      But, speculation is the generator of ideas and fancies and connections, so I'm not giving it up.

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  4. Very interesting post, Fred. I noticed you have the Edmund Dulac version. I would love to find that because I love his illustrations. Mine, I think, are traditional from an unknown illustrator.
    That's a provocative thought about knowing where one will be buried. I haven't considered it, but a peaceful corner under a tree in an out of the way cemetery would be nice. Of course, cremation is cheaper and probably more practical. Just put me on a fireplace mantle (insert morbid chuckle here).

    I wonder who or what Old Acquaintance is, death?

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  5. Sharon,

    Yes, the illustrations are really illuminating, in more than one sense of the word. It's a used copy, purchased many years ago, and it's beginning to show its age. The spine has fallen off. I will keep it until I find another Dulac in better shape.

    Old Acquaintance might be death, but I prefer to think of it as a long time friend who has stopped by for a chat.

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  6. Were this Rumi, and were the translation a real translation rather than a fantasia, I would conjecture that the two Old Acquaintances are actually Lover and Beloved--God and the Soul, which given the anecdote about the graveyard s provacyive. However Khayyam tends more to the secular side of the scale--sometimes sounding almost atheistic. (N Fitzgerald's fantasia, at least.)

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    1. Steven,

      I have read that Khayyam was occasionally in trouble with the fundamentalists of his day. They apparently disturbed by some of his views. So, FitzGerald may have picked up on that in his renderings of the Rubaiyat into English.

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  7. I tried to acces the tinyurl sites but it just directed me back to you; l'm not too competent at this computer thing i.e...

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    1. Mudpuddle,,

      What did you do? Both worked for me.

      Delete
    2. I just typed in the jkwamoe & k4t7obx and Fred's place came up... I'm pretty incompetent at this computer stuff, so l may have missed something... I'm a geologist, musician, mechanic, welder, and general jack of all trades, but most definitely not a computer type person... Getting better, tho, a little...

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    3. Mudpuddle,

      You need the entire address. Highlight it with your mouse and copy it--then paste it in the address slot. Or type in the entire address

      http://tinyurl.com/jkwamoe

      http://tinyurl.com/k4t7obx

      Delete
  8. I'm practicing now: the endochronic properties of resublimated thiotimoline: what is the phrase from? The answer will appear shortly...

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    Replies
    1. Mudpuddle,

      Isn't that from a short story by Isaac Asimov?

      Delete
    2. Ha... I should have known you'd pick up on it right away... I love the phrase-it's so "tripping lay off the tongue"... I'l get back re that. Address thing... Sometime soon

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    3. Mudpuddle,

      No rush. No deadlines or due dates.

      Delete