AN ANALYSIS OF EDWARD FITZGERALD'S TRANSLATION OF THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM (Fifth Edition) By EDWARD HERON-ALLEN (continued 2)
Edward FitzGerald translation
IN THE INTRODUCTION.[95]
Page 4.
Khayyam, who stitched the Tents of Science, Has fallen in Grief's furnace and been suddenly burned; The shears of Fate have cut the tent-ropes of his life, And the Broker of Hope has sold him for nothing!
The quatrain upon p. 4 is a literal translation by Prof. Cowell of O. 22.
Ref.: O. 22, C. 59, L. 74, B. 70, S.P. 81, P. 205, B. ii. 94, T. 307, P. iv. 65, P. v. 195.—W. 83, N. 81, V. 73.
Page 7.
Oh, Thou who burn'st in Heart for those who burn In Hell, whose fires thyself shall feed in turn; How long be crying, «Mercy on them, God!» Why, who art Thou to teach, and He to learn?
The quatrain upon p. 7 is FitzGerald's rendering of C. I.
O, burnt one (born) of the burnt! destined in turn to burn, And oh, thou! from whom the fires of Hell shall blaze,[96] How long wilt thou keep saying, «Have mercy upon Omar!» Wilt thou be a teacher of mercy to God?
Ref.: C. 1, L. 769, B. 755, S.P. 453, P. ii. 1, B. ii. 537, T. 1.—W. 488, N. 459, V. 821.
Page 7.
If I myself upon a looser Creed Have loosely strung the Jewel of Good deed, Let this one thing for my Atonement plead. That One for Two I never did misread.
The quatrain on p. 7 is FitzGerald's rendering of O. 1.
If I have never threaded the pearl[97] of thy service, And if I have never wiped the dust of sin from my face, Nevertheless, I am not hopeless of thy mercy, For the reason that I have never said that One was Two.[98]
Ref.: O. 1, C. 274, L. 423, B. 419, P. 4, S.P. 228, B. ii. 302, P. iv. 8.—W. 268, N. 229, V. 461.
IN THE NOTES.
XVIII.
The Palace that to Heav'n his pillars threw, And Kings the forehead on his threshold drew— I saw the solitary Ringdove there, And «Coo, coo, coo!» she cried, and «Coo, coo, coo.»
The quatrain in the note to quatrain No. 18 is translated from C. 419.
That palace that reared its pillars up to heaven, Kings prostrated themselves upon its threshold; I saw a dove that, upon its battlements, Uttered its cry: «Where, where, where, where?»[99]
Ref.: C. 419, L. 627, B. 619, S.P. 347, P. 140, B. ii. 459, P. iv. 13.—W. 392, N. 350, V. 677.
XC.
Be of Good Cheer—the sullen Month will die, And a young Moon requite us by and by: Look how the Old one, meagre, bent, and wan With Age and Past, is fainting from the Sky!
The quatrain in the note to quatrain No. 90 is translated from C. 218.
Be happy! for the moon of thy festival will come, The means of mirth will all be propitious; This moon has become lean, bent-figured and thin, Thou may'st say that it will sink under this trouble.
Ref.: C. 218, B. ii. 186.
IN THE FIRST EDITION.
XXXIII.
Then to the rolling Heav'n itself I cried, Asking, «What Lamp had Destiny to guide «Her little Children stumbling in the Dark?» And—«A blind Understanding» Heav'n replied.
XLV.
But leave the Wise to wrangle, and with me The quarrel of the Universe let be; And, in some corner of the Hubbub coucht, Make Game of that which makes as much of Thee.
XXXVII.
Ah! fill the Cup—what boots it to repeat How Time is slipping underneath our Feet? Unborn To-morrow and dead Yesterday. Why fret about them if To-day be sweet?
In the first edition we find quatrain No. 33, which, like its distant cousin in the fourth edition (No. 34), appears to have no near parallel in the texts. No. 45 is a quatrain in a like predicament, and it may be for this reason that FitzGerald dropped it out of all subsequent editions.
The only other quatrain peculiar to the first edition is No. 37. This would appear to have been inspired by ll. 3 and 4 of O. 20, quoted in the parallels to quatrain No. 57 and by O. 17, ll. 3 and 4.
Nothing thou canst say of yesterday, that is past, is sweet; Be happy and do not speak of yesterday, for to-day is sweet.
Ref.: O. 17, C. 84, L. 193, B. 190, P. 126, B. ii. 59, T. 65 and 352, P. iv. 68, P. v. 62.—W 112, E.C. 6, V. 189.
IN THE SECOND EDITION.
The quatrains peculiar to the second edition are as follows:
XIV.
Were it not Folly, Spider-like to spin The Thread of present Life away to win— What? for ourselves, who know not if we shall Breathe out the very Breath we now breathe in!
This quatrain is inspired by O. 136.
How long shall I grieve about what I have or have not, And whether I shall pass this life light-heartedly or not? Fill up the wine-cup, for I do not know That I shall breathe out the breath that I am drawing in.
Ref.: O. 136, C. 504 and 427, L. 740, B. 726, S.P. 362, P. 207, B. ii. 484, P. v. 64.—W. 411, N. 366, V. 730.
XXVIII.
This was replaced by No. 63 in the fourth and fifth editions, taken from the same original.
XLIV.
Do you, within your little hour of Grace, The waving Cypress in your Arms enlace, Before the Mother back into her arms Fold, and dissolve you in a last embrace.
The sentiment of this quatrain is traceable in C. 189, ll. 1 and 2, and in C. 195.
Be happy! for the time will come (When) all bodies will be hidden in the earth.
Ref.: C. 189, L. 393, B. 389, S.P. 160, B. ii. 203.—N. 160, V. 390.
My whole mood is in sympathy with rosy cheeks, My hand is always grasping the wine cup; I exact from every part (of me) its allotted function, Ere that those parts (of me) be mingled with the all.
Ref.: C. 195, L. 349, B. 345, S.P. 163, P. 287, B. ii. 206, T. 122.—W. 181, N. 163, V. 349.
LXV.
If but the Vine and Love-abjuring Band Are in the Prophet's Paradise to stand, Alack, I doubt the Prophet's Paradise Were empty as the hollow of one's Hand.
This quatrain is inspired by O. 127 and by C. 60.
To drink wine and consort with a company of the beautiful Is better than practising the hypocrisy of the zealot; If the lover and the drunkard are doomed to hell, Then no one will see the face of heaven.
Ref.: O. 127, L. 608, B. 601, S.P. 339, P. 330, B. ii. 453, P. v. 151.—W. 381, N. 342, V. 655.
FitzGerald was evidently «reminded of» this by N. 64 which is C. 60.
They say that drunkards will go to hell, It is a repugnant creed, the heart cannot believe it; If drunken lovers are doomed to hell, To-morrow heaven will be bare like the palm of one's hand.
Ref.: C. 60, L. 158, B. 155, S.P. 64, T. 308, P. v. 29.—W. 67, N 64, V. 156.
LXXVII.
For let Philosopher and Doctor preach Of what they will, and what they will not,—each Is but one Link in an eternal Chain That none can slip, or break, or over-reach.
For this quatrain I can find neither authority nor inspiration.
LXXXVI.
Nay, but, for terror of his wrathful Face, I swear I will not call Injustice Grace; Not one Good Fellow of the Tavern but Would kick so poor a Coward from the place.
I think the inspiration for this must have been C. 8.
No man is he whom his fellow men spurn, And (at the same time) for fear of his malice number among the good; If a drunkard shows reluctance in generosity, All his fellow drunkards hold him to be a mean fellow.
Ref.: C. 8, L. 3, B. ii. 15, T. 9.—V. 416.
XC.
And once again there gather'd a scarce heard Whisper among them; as it were, the stirr'd Ashes of some all but extinguisht Tongue, Which mine ear kindled into living Word.
This was a fourth quatrain evolved out of O. 103. Vide quatrains Nos. 82, 83, and 87 ante.
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, interpolated after No. 91 of the fourth edition (= No. 98 of the second edition), is an elaboration founded upon the story told by Nizam ul-Mulk and recorded by FitzGerald in his Introduction.
CVII.
Better, oh better, cancel from the Scroll Of Universe one luckless Human Soul, Than drop by drop enlarge the Flood that rolls Hoarser with Anguish as the Ages roll.
This quatrain, interpolated after the quatrain which became No. XCVIII. in the fourth edition, was no doubt inspired by N. 457 (q.v. sub No. 98 ante) and by O. 54.
What the Pen has written never changes, And grieving only results in deep affliction; Even through all thy life thou weepest tears of blood, Not one drop becomes increased beyond what it is.
Ref.: O. 54, B. ii. 144.