Saturday, July 1, 2017

Edward FitzGerald's The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: the Final Quatrain

 I've cheated a bit here, for this is a repeat of a previous post.  However, since this is the last post I will make on the Rubaiyat (as far as I know right now), I thought it appropriate.  These are the last quatrains for the First, Second, and Fifth Editions.




First Edition:  Quatrain LXXV

And when  Thyself with shining Foot shall pass
Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass,
     And in thy joyous Errand reach the Spot
Where I made one--turn down an empty Glass!

                    TAMAM SHUD



Second Edition:  Quatrain CX

And when Yourself with shining Foot shall pass
Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass,
     And in your joyous Errand reach the Spot
Where I made One--turn down an empty Glass!

                    TAMAM



Fifth Edition:  Quatrain CI
  
And when like her, oh, Saki, you shall pass
Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass,
     And in your joyous Errand reach the Spot
Where I made One--turn down an empty Glass!

                    TAMAM



Fitzgerald made only minor changes over the five editions, and most of them occurred in the first line.  In the first edition we see  "Thyself" which becomes the less poetic  "Yourself" in the second edition.  Also, "shining foot" is changed to "silver Foot" in the second edition.  "Silver" is much more specific in that it denotes a white foot more clearly than does "shining."


In the fifth edition, we find the most drastic change to the first line.  The references to her personal appearance disappear and she is named Saki.  In addition, we find a reference--"like her"-- to the previous quatrain where the Moon is depicted as shining down on those in the garden.  The tie to the previous quatrain is much stronger in this edition than in the earlier versions in which the quatrain began with "And," which also ties this quatrain to previous one.  In other words, he substitutes a direct reference for a conjunction.

The second, third, and fourth lines of the various editions are identical except for a change that occurs in the second edition, when "thy" becomes "your" to match a similar change in the first line.

The sense of the quatrain seems quite clear--remember me with an empty glass, which refers back to earlier quatrains concerning the scene in the pottery shop in which a pot suggests that filling it with wine might restore it.  However, there seems to be no possibility of that happening here, for death is the final emptying of the glass.


 I started this project on September 26, 2008 and never realized that it would last for almost nine years.  I have now posted entries on all seventy-five quatrains in the First Edition and related quatrains in the Second and Fifth Editions.  I have also posted on all quatrains that were added by Edward FitzGerald in the Second Edition.  All quatrains in the Fifth Edition are identical to or are modified versions of quatrains in the First and Second Editions.   As far as I can tell, no new quatrains were added in the Third or Fourth Editions, or if any were, FitzGerald dropped them when the Fifth Edition came out.

This, therefore, will be the last posting I will make on Edward FitzGerald's version of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.   It is with mixed feelings that I say this. 

Someone, I think, once said that endings were really opportunities for new beginnings.  





NOTE:
"The Arabic word sāqī ساقی (also written as saqi or saki) literally means wine-server or wine-pourer and is frequently used in Persian poetry to describe the glorious Server who continually pours out the wine everlasting to all of mankind, while implying that only a completely empty bowl is truly ready to be filled with such a fine wine. For the Sufi, the greatest task of life is to become empty enough, selfless enough, to be a suitable receptacle for the wine which the Sāqī  pours.

In some cases, the word sāqī   may be used as a reference to a specific spiritual teacher, but in the grand scheme of things, a spiritual teacher is merely a worldly symbol for the presence of the Beloved, the One and Only One."

16 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Fred. I am so very impressed by (and envious of) your project. Well done! Now what?

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    1. Tim,

      Thank you. I didn't plan on this. I just began with nothing really definite in mind. I was just going to post until I lost interest.

      Now what? I don't know. I'm not actively looking for another project, but I am open for something that comes along and interests me.

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    2. Projects intimidate me because of my OCD vascillations, but I am this morning because of posting about Strunk & White and high quality writing considering a Jonathan Swift excursion. But I'm undecided and intimidated.

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    3. Tim,

      Jonathan Swift? That sounds interesting. I haven't read much by him at all: Gulliver's Travels, of course, and "A Modest Proposal" is another. I think I read another essay by him, but I"m not sure about that.

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  2. What if death is not the emptying but the beginning?

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    1. Tim,

      That's the question humans have been struggling to answer for thousands of years now. Khayyam/FitzGerald's response is that nobody really knows.

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  3. Congratulations Fred. This is a very impressive achievement. I think that it is safe to say that you are an expert on this work. Though I have only come across your blog in recent months, I have learned enough about this work from your posts that I would like to take the time to read this verse myself.

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    1. Brian,

      Thank you for your kind words. I hope you do get a chance to be able to read it yourself. What's convenient about it is that, even though it's a bit long, one doesn't have to read it all in one sitting.

      I would recommend reading just one or possibly a few related quatrains at a time and savor them. Many of the quatrains can be read alone, while others are linked by a theme that covers three or even four quatrains.

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    2. Fred: on a different note, you might check my reply to your comment on the latest blog of "in so many words".... tx...

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    3. Mudpuddle,

      Got it. There's an email on its way to you now.

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  4. it's been pleasurable reading these poems and your analyses; i can't say i understood them all, but it's been an elevating experience... tx a lot... if your open to suggestions, i might mention Skelton, a sometime personal favorite...

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    1. Mudpuddle,

      Thanks. Kind words are always appreciated. I can't say that I understand all of them either. Some I found were ambiguous and some confusing.

      Tell me more about Skelton. I know next to nothing about him.

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    2. his poems were pithy to the point of epithet; but clever and quirky at the same time... if i remember right, he wrote one long one, metaphorical, about a sparrow... there's a pretty good article on him on wiki...
      john skelton, 1463-1526

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    3. Mudpuddle,

      OK, thanks for the information. I'll take a look at him, maybe not for a project but to look at his poetry, which I've never read, as far as I can remember.

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  5. I am impressed by the scope and analysis of your Rubaiyat project, Fred. I did not know who he was talking about in the first edition quatrain, whether he was talking to a supernatural being or a person or a metaphor.

    Because H. H. Munro created a pen name for himself from this poem (Saki) I had assumed that Saki was a wine and therefor he was speaking metaphorically. But you say it is a woman...?

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    1. Sharon,

      Thanks for the kind words. I did not realize how extensive a project this was going to be when I posted my first comment some nine years ago.

      I also was not certain about Saki, so I had to do some digging around. One copy of the Rubaiyat has the following note: SAKI, cupbearer. I also found another reference to Saki which I just added to the post at the bottom. You might want to check that out.

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