Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0014292, Wed, 6 Dec 2006 06:42:23 EST

Subject
Re: Kinbote, zesty, verse: CHW to AB & WD?
Date
Body

In a message dated 06/12/2006 04:29:25 GMT Standard Time, mushtary@YAHOO.COM
writes:

Needless to say, the meaning of "kinbote" is not something someone has
attached to it, and I am certain VN was very much aware of its meaning. The
variant spelling "kinbot" is the perfect anagram of botkin, but the additional "e"
is intended to mislead and adds zest to the whole. And zesty, by the way,
which seems so offenseful to certain members on this list and which has
unrightfully been compared to "blooper" is not only very apt in the meaning of
"marked by spirited enjoyment," but the very sound of the word evokes the crisp
cold of frosty winter. VN's adjectival precision and aptness have no rival
imfb (in my firm belief).

A. Bouazza.






Respecting, though not necessarily agreeing with, the firmness of
A.Bouazza's beliefs, I would, in all humility, retract my inoffensive comment on
"zesty". Since making those comments I have been reading Sherbo's "English Poetic
Diction", 1975, and note, p.110, that adjectives ending in -y have been listed
fairly comprehensively by various literary critics, notably Proudfoot and
Arthos (dates to be checked), though "zesty" is not included among them.
Dryden's "forky" and "ridgy" caused me to smile. However, in this light, "zesty"
becomes more acceptable, though I still feel it has a schoolgirlish ring to it.
Only the obstinate bigot is unwilling to change his mind in the face of sound
argument, supported by clear evidence. I have to add, imho, that VN's
adjectival precision and aptness must, assuredly, have many rivals in the gamut of
English literature. Offhand, Milton, Marvel, Johnson come to mind. Moreover,
they did not have Webster to instruct them. The way to that aid had to be
paved by Johnson, although my understanding is that Johnson's principles are not
adopted by Webster.


In a message dated 06/12/2006 04:32:20 GMT Standard Time,
wdane30@HOTMAIL.COM writes:

The long thread on the distinction between verse and poetry has been
enlightening. I had always thought that verse was to poetry as prose is to short
story. I'm not sure if anyone has already quoted from VN's introduction to Poems
and Problems, where he says:

"The Russian poems represent only a small fraction--hardly more than one
percent--of the steady mass of verse which I began to exude in my early youth,
more than half a century ago, and continued to do so, with monstrous
regularity, especially during the twenties and thirties, then petering out in next two
decades, when a meager output of a score or so hardly exceeded the number of
poems I wrote in English."

Yet while referring to the early work as "verse" he does not seem to be
denigrating it.

"There is not much to say about the section of fourteen English poems, all
written in America and all published in The New Yorker. Somehow, they are of a
lighter texture than the Russian stuff..."

I never personally suggested that "verse" was to be denigrated, qua verse.
To re-cap, there is bad verse and superb verse. The mere fact that there are
two words implies that there is a distinction to be made, nevertheless, between
verse and poetry. In an attempt to worry out this distinction, yet again, I
would say that verse tends to be lighter, more suited to comic or satiric
themes. Poetry is more uniformly serious and elevated, and much more
concentrated in its intensity. It is easier to manufacture verse; poetry requires
inspiration.

I have also suggested that true poetry is ultimately the product of an
intimate love-affair between the poet and his mother-tongue. In VN's case I think
he felt very deeply this loss of his native language, and that he recognized
that the poetic achievement beckoning to him in Russian was, finally, barred
to him in English. The struggle he has in creating that sense of natural,
poetic inspiration in English is evident in his verse output, and, indeed, in
his self-assessment quoted above. True poetry is rare: VN remarks on his own
"meagre" production.

Charles

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