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Fwd: Lolita: Nymphet? Or Larvalet?
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-----Original Message-----
From: ahsfolkapl@aol.com
To: KatyaBelousBoyle@aol.com
Sent: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 1:39 am
Subject: Re: Lolita: Nymphet? Or Larvalet?
In response to your query:
An answer in need of a question; perhaps yours.
Note Raleigh’s “nymph” (see below) gives a response that suggest a sophistication and maturity mature beyond her years. I suspect Nabokov would have been familiar with Raleigh’s poem. Shakespeare's using "Nymph" in the sense of "girl" or possibly nature divinity, since Ophelia and her flowers all wind up in the stream. I could envision her as a Nymph of nature. But as Hamlet's an honest Christian, I think he's using "nymph" to mean "girl."
Hamlet to Ophelia at the end of his soliloquy, Act 3 Scene 1
“…Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.”
MARLOWE'S SONG.
THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE.
(Before 1593.)
COME live with me, and be my love;
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies;
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair-lined slippers fo
r the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
A belt of straw and ivy-buds,
With coral clasps and amber-studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.
The shepherd-swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
1 Dyce's "Marlowe," iii. 299. An imperfect copy was
printed in the "Passionate Pilgrim" in 1599, and it is
quoted in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," iii. 1. It was
printed at length with Marlowe's name in "England's
Helicon," 1600; and also in Walton's "Compleat Angler,"
1653, as "that smooth song which was made by Kit Mar-
low, now at least fi fty years ago." Marlowe died sixty
years before,—in 1593.
Source:
Hannah, J., Ed. The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1891. 10.
Sir Walter Ralegh
Reply To Marlowe
(Before 1599.)
[The nymph's reply to the shepherd]
IF all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields:
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.
The gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and
thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,—
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To20come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Source:
Hannah, J., Ed. The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1891. 11-12.
Webster’s Seventh Collegiate defines Nymph as:
1. one of the minor deities of nature in ancient mythology
2. GIRL
3. Any of various immature insects & etc.
I suppose “nymphet” might be a diminutive form of nymph.
Under “Nymphomania” one finds nymphae inner lips of the vulva (who knew?) fr. L. plural of nympha …: excessive sexual desire by a female.
Best wishes,
Anthony Henry Smith
ahsfolkapl@aol.com
845-485-7864
30 Adriance Avenue,
Poughkeepsie, New York,
12601
ahsfolkapl@aol.com
845-485-7864
30 Adriance Avenue,
Poughkeepsie, New York,
12601
(Before 1599.)
[The nymph's reply to the shepherd]
IF all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains o
f cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields:
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.
The gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,—
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To20come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Source:
Hannah, J., Ed. The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1891. 11-12.
Webster’s Seventh Collegiate defines Nymph as:
1. one of the minor deities of nature in ancient mythology
2. GIRL
3. Any of various immature insects & etc.
I suppose “nymphet” might be a diminutive form of nymph.
Under “Nymphomania” one finds nymphae inner lips of the vulva (who knew?) fr. L. plural of nympha …: excessive sexual desire by a female.
Best wishes,
Anthony Henry Smith
ahsfolkapl@aol.com
845-485-7864
30 Adriance Avenue,
Poughkeepsie, New York,
12601
ahsfolkapl@aol.com
845-485-7864
30 Adriance Avenue,
Poughkeepsie, New York,
12601
No wish to bug Nabokovians, but a question in need of an answer.
0
Why did Nabokov, a lepidopterist, call Lolita a nymphet? Lepidoptera do not have nymphs, they have larvae.
Only ancient insects, primitive insects if you will, such as the Plecoptera (stoneflies) and the Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) have nymphs.
Should Lolita have been a larvalet instead of a nymphet?
Or was VN thinking of Lolita as a damselfly and thus a nymphet? Please, a definitive entomological/etymological answer. Thank you,.
RHB
-----Original Message-----
From: KatyaBelousBoyle@aol.com
To: AHSFOLKAPL@aol.com
Sent: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 8:43 pm
Subject: Fwd: Lolita: Nymphet? Or Larvalet?
New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making headlines.
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COME live with me, and be my love;
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies;
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered al
l with leaves of myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair-lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
A belt of straw and ivy-buds,
With coral clasps and amber-studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.
The shepherd-swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
1 Dyce's "Marlowe," iii. 299. An imperfect copy was
printed in the "Passionate Pilgrim" in 1599, and it is
quoted in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," iii. 1. It was
printed at length with Marlowe's name in "England's
Helicon," 1600; and also in Walton's "Compleat Angler,"
1653, as "that smooth song which was made by Kit Mar-
low, now at least fi fty years ago." Marlowe died sixty
years before,—in 1593.
Source:
Hannah, J., Ed. The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1891. 10.
Sir Walter Ralegh
Reply To Marlowe
(Before 1599.)
[The nymph's reply to the shepherd]
IF all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields:
A honey tongue, a heart o
f gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.
The gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,—
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To20come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Source:
Hannah, J., Ed. The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1891. 11-12.
Webster’s Seventh Collegiate defines Nymph as:
1. one of the minor deities of nature in ancient mythology
2. GIRL
3. Any of various immature insects & etc.
I suppose “nymphet” might be a diminutive form of nymph.
Under “Nymphomania” one finds nymphae inner lips of the vulva (who knew?) fr. L. plural of nympha …: excessive sexual desire by a female.
Best wishes,
Anthony Henry Smith
ahsfolkapl@aol.com
845-485-7864
30 Adriance Avenue,
Poughkeepsie, New York,
12601
ahsfolkapl@aol.com
845-485-7864
30 Adriance Avenue,
Poughkeepsie, New York,
12601
(Before 1599.)
[The nymph's reply to the shepherd]
IF all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Time dri
ves the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields:
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.
The gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,—
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To20come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Source:
Hannah, J., Ed. The Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh.
London: George Bell and Sons, 1891. 11-12.
Webster’s Seventh Collegiate defines Nymph as:
1. one of the minor deities of nature in ancient mythology
2. GIRL
3. Any of various immature insects & etc.
I suppose “nymphet” might be a diminutive form of nymph.
Under “Nymphomania” one finds nymphae inner lips of the vulva (who knew?) fr. L. plural of nympha …: excessive sexual desire by a female.
Best wishes,
Anthony Henry Smith
ahsfolkapl@aol.com
845-485-7864
30 Adriance Avenue,
Poughkeepsie, New York,
12601
ahsfolkapl@aol.com
845-485-7864
30 Adriance Avenue,
Poughkeepsie,=2
0New York,
12601
No wish to bug Nabokovians, but a question in need of an answer.
Why did Nabokov, a lepidopterist, call Lolita a nymphet? Lepidoptera do not have nymphs, they have larvae.
Only ancient insects, primitive insects if you will, such as the Plecoptera (stoneflies) and the Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) have nymphs.
Should Lolita have been a larvalet instead of a nymphet?
Or was VN thinking of Lolita as a damselfly and thus a nymphet? Please, a definitive entomological/etymological answer. Thank you,.
RHB
-----Original Message-----
From: KatyaBelousBoyle@aol.com
To: AHSFOLKAPL@aol.com
Sent: Fri, 2 Jan 2009 8:43 pm
Subject: Fwd: Lolita: Nymphet? Or Larvalet?
New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making headlines.
Get a free MP3 every day with the Spinner.com Toolbar. Get it Now.
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