Subject
ginkgo biloba
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In his Commentary (note to line 49) Kinbote quotes a quatrain from Shade's poem "The Sacred Tree":
The ginkgo leaf, in golden hue, when shed,
A muscat grape,
Is an old-fashioned butterfly, ill-spread,
In shape.
Here is Goethe's poem "Ginkgo Biloba" from "The West-Eastern Divan":
Dieses Baumes Blatt, der von Osten
Meinem Garten anvertraut,
Gibt geheimen Sinn zu kosten,
Wie's den Wissenden erbaut.
Ist es ein lebendig Wesen,
Das sich in sich selbst getrennt?
Sind es zwei, die sich erlesen,
Da? man sie als eines kennt?
Solche Fragen zu erwidern
Fand ich wohl den rechten Sinn.
Fuhlst du nicht an meinen Liedern,
Da? ich eins und doppelt bin?
This leaf from a tree in the East,
Has been given to my garden.
It reveals a certain secret,
Which pleases me and thoughtful people.
Does it represent One living creature
Which has divided itself?
Or are these Two, which have decided,
That they should be as One?
To reply to such a Question,
I found the right answer:
Do you notice in my songs and verses
That I am One and Two?
At the end of the same note Kinbote remarks that 'tree' in Zemblan is grados. Note that tri (pronounced rather like tree) is Russian for "three" (S, K, G?) and radost' means "joy".
Btw., ginkgo + grape + hybrid = king + geography + bird
Alexey Sklyarenko
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The ginkgo leaf, in golden hue, when shed,
A muscat grape,
Is an old-fashioned butterfly, ill-spread,
In shape.
Here is Goethe's poem "Ginkgo Biloba" from "The West-Eastern Divan":
Dieses Baumes Blatt, der von Osten
Meinem Garten anvertraut,
Gibt geheimen Sinn zu kosten,
Wie's den Wissenden erbaut.
Ist es ein lebendig Wesen,
Das sich in sich selbst getrennt?
Sind es zwei, die sich erlesen,
Da? man sie als eines kennt?
Solche Fragen zu erwidern
Fand ich wohl den rechten Sinn.
Fuhlst du nicht an meinen Liedern,
Da? ich eins und doppelt bin?
This leaf from a tree in the East,
Has been given to my garden.
It reveals a certain secret,
Which pleases me and thoughtful people.
Does it represent One living creature
Which has divided itself?
Or are these Two, which have decided,
That they should be as One?
To reply to such a Question,
I found the right answer:
Do you notice in my songs and verses
That I am One and Two?
At the end of the same note Kinbote remarks that 'tree' in Zemblan is grados. Note that tri (pronounced rather like tree) is Russian for "three" (S, K, G?) and radost' means "joy".
Btw., ginkgo + grape + hybrid = king + geography + bird
Alexey Sklyarenko
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/