RSGwynn: “Nabokov's "ex ponto" is a clear allusion to Virgil's Epistulae  ex Ponto (Letters from the Black Sea).  Since Shade had presumably never been on the Black Sea (Latin: ponto) but VN (and CK or VB) presumably had, might VN not be saying that through the  Index runs the  theme of exile?  I.e., a "gentle wind" that both VN and CK share?  But not JS.

 

JM: Yesterday I observed that “Although I seem to remember sentences where Nabokov denies any similarity between Zembla and Russia in Strong Opinions, as a metaphor of what he feels towards his childhood home and infant fantasies, Zembla seems to fit in perfectly with the importance he will ascribe to “the index” and to the gentle winds that reach him at his an “ex ponto” exile. We should remember that “index” means a finger, a pointing finger… “ and there are more elements to add.

Ex ponto might indicate (ie: point with an index finger) Vergil, Pushkin, Nabokov, even a letter to Tamara.  

Ponto ( punctus) can stand for the “point” in Euclydean space, or some other dot or full stop, referring to something that is “ex” (outside) it.

Index and point are almost overdetermined, as images and signs go (indication, pointer, ex ponto, index). 

The final verse, with the rose in lieu of “I suppose” sounds better to my ears. In Speak Memory names were substituted, but not its “point.”  Probably Nabokov’s composition was not as ready in his mind as he once let it transpire in one or two interviews… but, then, there’s a lot of Kinbote in Nabokov!

 

Btw: I never before related the ending sounds of “Botkin and Pushkin.” I’ve been reading about the influence of Shakespeare, various Roberts, Swift and Pope in Pale Fire.  I wonder if the carrier-sheath, the bare botkin, the ghostly ambassator wouldn’t be related to the ghost of Pushkin..,