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