Subject
Edsel Ford and conjuring nebulae in two lungs
From
Date
Body
1. Has anyone (here on the list or elsewhere) tracked down the Edsel
Ford
poem excerpted by Kinbote?
2. In lines 615-616, Shade is describing "the exile, the old man / Dying
in
a motel" and says: "He suffocates and conjures in two tongues / The
nebulae
dilating in his lungs." My questions: Does "two tongues" refer to
languages? Medically speaking, what are nebulae and how do they dilate
in
the lungs? What does it mean to "conjure" them?
With gratitude,
Matthew Roth
--------------------------
It's funny how, once deep in the thickets of PF, everything I
read seems to relate to it somehow. I've been reading some
Edsel Ford and came upon this beautiful little sonnet called
"Serenade." It made me think of Kinbote there alone in his
motor lodge in Cedarn.
Serenade
I have sat here for God knows how long
While eight o'clock dripped into a green bowl
And the wet dusk released its humid song
And an unnamed bird with a throatful of soul
Broke its heart open in the myrtle bush.
I have grown nearly friendly with the hush,
As I grew nearly friendly once with God
Until he wished for me to go apart
To teach in a strange tongue, and there I trod
An unfamiliar earth that had no heart,
Whose peoples knew me not (for they were holy).
Now I sit where eight o'clock drips slowly
Into a bowl, and where a bird is wringing
Silence like damp fabric from the bush where he was singing.
(The Stallion's Nest, 1952)
Matthew Roth
[EDNOTE. A few more thoughts on the name "Edsel Ford." Would his name
have appeared alphabetically before Frost's in the index to some
contemporary volume of American poetry? Is the alphabetical sequence of
the first name followed by the surname important? SES]
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Ford
poem excerpted by Kinbote?
2. In lines 615-616, Shade is describing "the exile, the old man / Dying
in
a motel" and says: "He suffocates and conjures in two tongues / The
nebulae
dilating in his lungs." My questions: Does "two tongues" refer to
languages? Medically speaking, what are nebulae and how do they dilate
in
the lungs? What does it mean to "conjure" them?
With gratitude,
Matthew Roth
--------------------------
It's funny how, once deep in the thickets of PF, everything I
read seems to relate to it somehow. I've been reading some
Edsel Ford and came upon this beautiful little sonnet called
"Serenade." It made me think of Kinbote there alone in his
motor lodge in Cedarn.
Serenade
I have sat here for God knows how long
While eight o'clock dripped into a green bowl
And the wet dusk released its humid song
And an unnamed bird with a throatful of soul
Broke its heart open in the myrtle bush.
I have grown nearly friendly with the hush,
As I grew nearly friendly once with God
Until he wished for me to go apart
To teach in a strange tongue, and there I trod
An unfamiliar earth that had no heart,
Whose peoples knew me not (for they were holy).
Now I sit where eight o'clock drips slowly
Into a bowl, and where a bird is wringing
Silence like damp fabric from the bush where he was singing.
(The Stallion's Nest, 1952)
Matthew Roth
[EDNOTE. A few more thoughts on the name "Edsel Ford." Would his name
have appeared alphabetically before Frost's in the index to some
contemporary volume of American poetry? Is the alphabetical sequence of
the first name followed by the surname important? SES]
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