Tim Henderson: Anybody have a copy of Bend Sinister handy? There's a
poem I wanted to quote -- I remember it as some version of the Shakespeare Timon
of Athens passage from which the title of Pale Fire is drawn -- "The moon is an
arrant thief" -- but different. Can someone help me?
Thanks!
JM: I have a copy handy, but I fear
this is not all that is needed to find the quote. There's a lot on Ophelia,
Hamlet, Fortinbras which I could discern, not Timon of Athens,
though.
I tried to follow VN's hint in his Foreword but I'm not
informed enough to identify most of his allusions. What I read in Ch.3,
was: "The unfinished
translation of his favourite lines in Shakespeare's greatest play
—
follow the perttaunt
jauncing 'neath the rack
with her pale skeins-mate.
crept up
tentatively but it would not scan because in his native tongue 'rack' was
anapaestic. Like pulling a grand piano through a door. Take it to
pieces..."