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Re: QUERY: Pale Fire Line 992
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The last horseshoe tossed, the one that went "clunk" in the previous line, and now leans against it stake as if against a lamppost. I like the loud "clunk"-"drunk" rhyme that links them.
Yes, "lampost" is Penguin's error.
Brian Boyd
On 16/03/2013, at 7:57 AM, Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU<mailto:nabokv-l@UTK.EDU>> wrote:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Pale Fire Line 992
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2013 03:44:41 -0700
From: Barrie Akin <ba@TAXBAR.COM><mailto:ba@TAXBAR.COM>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU><mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
CC: Barrie Akin <ba@TAXBAR.COM><mailto:ba@TAXBAR.COM>
Can anyone shed some light on this line for me? "(Leaning against its lampost like a drunk.)" Apart from the fact that my Penguin Modern Classics edition of PF uses the above spelling - "lampost" - which I take to be a typographical error for "lamppost", the oddity of this line for me is that I can't see the referent for "its". The full stop at the end of the line seems to rule out the dark vanessa of the next line - and anyway it would make no sense in the context if "its" referred to a butterfly in flight. And I can't see anything in the preceeding lines that could be doing the drunken leaning. This has irritated me for a long time - a seemingly superfluous line in the middle of (for me at least) some sublime verse. Can somebody put me out of my misery here - what am I missing?
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Yes, "lampost" is Penguin's error.
Brian Boyd
On 16/03/2013, at 7:57 AM, Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU<mailto:nabokv-l@UTK.EDU>> wrote:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Pale Fire Line 992
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2013 03:44:41 -0700
From: Barrie Akin <ba@TAXBAR.COM><mailto:ba@TAXBAR.COM>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU><mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
CC: Barrie Akin <ba@TAXBAR.COM><mailto:ba@TAXBAR.COM>
Can anyone shed some light on this line for me? "(Leaning against its lampost like a drunk.)" Apart from the fact that my Penguin Modern Classics edition of PF uses the above spelling - "lampost" - which I take to be a typographical error for "lamppost", the oddity of this line for me is that I can't see the referent for "its". The full stop at the end of the line seems to rule out the dark vanessa of the next line - and anyway it would make no sense in the context if "its" referred to a butterfly in flight. And I can't see anything in the preceeding lines that could be doing the drunken leaning. This has irritated me for a long time - a seemingly superfluous line in the middle of (for me at least) some sublime verse. Can somebody put me out of my misery here - what am I missing?
Google Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact the Editors<mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"<http://www.nabokovonline.com/> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View Nabokv-L Policies<http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage subscription options<http://listserv.ucsb.edu/> Visit AdaOnline<http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/> View NSJ Ada Annotations<http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> Temporary L-Soft Search the archive<https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L&X=58B9943B29972AFF64&Y=nabokv-l%40utk.edu>
All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
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
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/