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Re: THOUGHTS: Poor old man Swift
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Jerry Friedman [to JM's "I'd always thought that the squat and frog-eyed emerald case (line 238) had been a cicada's but the empty hulk was found in cold March, on the day Hazel died. This suggested to me that this insect had recently emerged from it: is it possible?] I doubt it. The "case" would have lasted from the previous year, which I think is possible.
JM: There are two notes ( to lines 181-182 with the birthday July-cicada singing, and to line 238) where Kinbote employs a curious "present tense," in both cases. In the first one, he emphasizes the closeness of Shade's "waxwing/cicada,": "The bird of lines 1-4 and 131 is again with us. It will reappear in the ultimate line of the poem; and another cicada, leaving its envelope behind, will sing triumphantly at lines 236-244." For line 238, he'll describe the envelope left on a tree trunk by an adult cicada and, while he mentions Lafontaine he adds: "The cigale's companion piece, the ant, is about to be embalmed in amber."
From Kinbote's point of view, the cicada (in 238) has just emerged, inspite of the sleety March day and, somehow, it also sings!
It doesn't seem to me that he is considering the "cigale-fourmi" of the fable ( or "fabulating"), but finding himself in agreement with Shade that "dead is the mandible, alive the song."* (whose restauration is it? Hazel's? Shade's own?)
(btw)Walter Miale wrote ( in aswer to MR's lines on "poor old man Swift"): "As one would expect, the Dean had a more encompassing view of his own death. Here's a jolly bit of his poem on the subject..."
In the lines he quotes we read Swift's reference to Britain's Charles II as if the King belongs to the past:
"...And then their tenderness appears,/ By adding largely to my years:/ "He's older than he would be reckoned,/ And well remembers Charles the Second./ He hardly drinks a pint of wine;/And that, I doubt, is no good sign....."
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* Somehow I see a link with this line and CK's two variants, set down in a note to line 596: "Should the dead murderer try to embrace/ His outraged victim whom he now must face?" and, later, line 895: "In nature's strife when fortitude prevails/The victim falters and the victor fails." Yes, reader, Pope."
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JM: There are two notes ( to lines 181-182 with the birthday July-cicada singing, and to line 238) where Kinbote employs a curious "present tense," in both cases. In the first one, he emphasizes the closeness of Shade's "waxwing/cicada,": "The bird of lines 1-4 and 131 is again with us. It will reappear in the ultimate line of the poem; and another cicada, leaving its envelope behind, will sing triumphantly at lines 236-244." For line 238, he'll describe the envelope left on a tree trunk by an adult cicada and, while he mentions Lafontaine he adds: "The cigale's companion piece, the ant, is about to be embalmed in amber."
From Kinbote's point of view, the cicada (in 238) has just emerged, inspite of the sleety March day and, somehow, it also sings!
It doesn't seem to me that he is considering the "cigale-fourmi" of the fable ( or "fabulating"), but finding himself in agreement with Shade that "dead is the mandible, alive the song."* (whose restauration is it? Hazel's? Shade's own?)
(btw)Walter Miale wrote ( in aswer to MR's lines on "poor old man Swift"): "As one would expect, the Dean had a more encompassing view of his own death. Here's a jolly bit of his poem on the subject..."
In the lines he quotes we read Swift's reference to Britain's Charles II as if the King belongs to the past:
"...And then their tenderness appears,/ By adding largely to my years:/ "He's older than he would be reckoned,/ And well remembers Charles the Second./ He hardly drinks a pint of wine;/And that, I doubt, is no good sign....."
..........................................
* Somehow I see a link with this line and CK's two variants, set down in a note to line 596: "Should the dead murderer try to embrace/ His outraged victim whom he now must face?" and, later, line 895: "In nature's strife when fortitude prevails/The victim falters and the victor fails." Yes, reader, Pope."
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/