Subject
Poetic variance
From
Date
Body
In a message dated 10/02/2007 02:17:49 GMT Standard Time, nabokv-l@UTK.EDU
writes:
MR: But the author of the poem is John Shade. Kinbote seems to think that
the question of the "e" is at least worth mentioning, which must mean that
a pronounced "e" is not out of the question. Indeed, Kinbote's "I am quite
certain" strikes me as one of those moments when we should be wary of his
certainty. All that aside, if we do need two syllables for the ---, not
one, the spondee "John Shade" is more likely than "Kinbote," who wouldn't
fit in the catalog of poets. I like "Kit Smart" too, and I would add "John
Clare," which would provide a nice chime with Baudelaire. Still, it's not
clear why Shade wouldn't have wanted to write out the name if it's just an
historical figure. Kinbote asks the right question: why couldn't Shade
write it out?
JF wrote:
My totally subjective impression is that Shade is proud
of making "poor" be both stressed and unstressed.
Isn't it possible that the rejected variant wasn't written by John Shade at
all, but by Charles Kinbote? Kinbote tends to find allusions to himself in
other allegedly "rejected variants". The preceding line reads: “And minds that
died before arriving there”, which applies to both Swift and Baudelaire. Would
Shade insert himself among these minds? If Shade did write the variant, he
might include Kit Smart or John Clare, but he might also have included
Kinbote (as an imbecile), the name being excised by Kinbote for publication. If
Kinbote wrote the variant himself, he might have wanted to include himself
among the eminent, but then had second thoughts. Doesn't he know, or at least
suspect, that he's mad? The question is, who is writing (or dreaming) about who?
Charles
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm