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Re: THOUGHTS: Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat; Eberthella Hurley
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Dear Jansy,
Nabokov's emphatic comments on FitGerald's renditions of Khayyam is to be
found in his article 'Reply to my critics': *Anthony Burgess in *Encounter *has
suddenly and conclusively abolished my sentimental fondness for FitzGerald
by showing how he falsified the *"witty metaphysical tent-maker's" *actual
metaphors in *Awake! for morning in the bowl of Night....
Needless to say: 'tent-maker' is what the name Khayyam means.
Sincerely,
Hafid
2009/2/15 jansymello <jansy@aetern.us>
> *Hafid Bouazza *[ to JM "*We know VN was disappointed after he realized
> Fitzgerald's was not true to the original poems."]: **I do not know
> whether "you are aware that Nabokov was dissapointed in Fitgeralds
> adaptation after reading Burgess' article 'Omar and Graves', which is to be
> found in his Urgent Copy. Arberry has made a more faithful rendering, but
> not in quatrains, as did John Payne before him of Khayyams poetry."*
> **
> *Stan Kelly-Bootle* [toSA/JM]: *'could "left" here also have an echo of
> the Latin "sinister?" This meaning persists in derog. Brit. Slang:
> "left-hander" (and "left-footer") applied (rather irrationally?) to both
> Roman Catholics AND Homosexuals. For what it's worth, in the Gay context,
> "Turning [over] a new leaf" is an idiom that immediately recalls the Oscar
> Wilde anecdote [...] I've always taken Khayyam/Fitzgerald's "dawn's left
> hand" to mean the "false dawn" that played an important prayer-timing role
> in Islam[...] I can't see that either Borges or Nabokov have the
> linguistic/cultural CREDENTIALS to judge the merits of Fitzgerald's
> "Englishing."[...]'*
> **
> *JM*: Hafid, I don't recall where I found VN's emphatic comments about
> Fitzgerald. One more reason to get Burgess' "Urgent Copy", thanks for the
> indication. I understand that you and Abdel Bouazza have wide experience
> with distinct translations of Khayyam in various languages. My ability to
> judge is limited. I'm unable to contest Stan K-B's conclusion on Borges'
> and Nabokov's linguistic/cultural credentials, but it's not impossible to
> assume that VN's objection had been to Fitzgerald's having recreated, not
> translated, Khayyam's poetry.
>
> In relation to "left-handed" and homosexuality, there are other allusions
> which shall probably remain undecided. For example, we know that Kinbote
> rated Housman highly. Therefore when, in *Pale Fire,* we read:"*since both
> Alfreds *[ Housman and Tennyson] *certainly used an Ordinary Razor, and
> John Shade an ancient Gillette, the discrepancy may have been due to the use
> of different instruments,*" Kinbote's stress on "Gilette" ( a double-edged
> razor-blade) may be indicatitve of his familiarity with its sexual
> innuendoes: ie: was Kinbote thereby suggesting that Shade was a bisexual?
> *btw*: I tried to figure out P.Meyer's additional comments on Kinbote's "*
> wod*" and VN's use of the word (PM writes that Eadbald, son of Aethelbert,
> caused "much damage to the church by his faithlessness and fornication with
> his father's wife"), because the motive for this chastisement is unrelated
> to Kinbote's own sexual inclinations and to John Shade's history: is there a
> link I missed?
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com/> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
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Nabokov's emphatic comments on FitGerald's renditions of Khayyam is to be
found in his article 'Reply to my critics': *Anthony Burgess in *Encounter *has
suddenly and conclusively abolished my sentimental fondness for FitzGerald
by showing how he falsified the *"witty metaphysical tent-maker's" *actual
metaphors in *Awake! for morning in the bowl of Night....
Needless to say: 'tent-maker' is what the name Khayyam means.
Sincerely,
Hafid
2009/2/15 jansymello <jansy@aetern.us>
> *Hafid Bouazza *[ to JM "*We know VN was disappointed after he realized
> Fitzgerald's was not true to the original poems."]: **I do not know
> whether "you are aware that Nabokov was dissapointed in Fitgeralds
> adaptation after reading Burgess' article 'Omar and Graves', which is to be
> found in his Urgent Copy. Arberry has made a more faithful rendering, but
> not in quatrains, as did John Payne before him of Khayyams poetry."*
> **
> *Stan Kelly-Bootle* [toSA/JM]: *'could "left" here also have an echo of
> the Latin "sinister?" This meaning persists in derog. Brit. Slang:
> "left-hander" (and "left-footer") applied (rather irrationally?) to both
> Roman Catholics AND Homosexuals. For what it's worth, in the Gay context,
> "Turning [over] a new leaf" is an idiom that immediately recalls the Oscar
> Wilde anecdote [...] I've always taken Khayyam/Fitzgerald's "dawn's left
> hand" to mean the "false dawn" that played an important prayer-timing role
> in Islam[...] I can't see that either Borges or Nabokov have the
> linguistic/cultural CREDENTIALS to judge the merits of Fitzgerald's
> "Englishing."[...]'*
> **
> *JM*: Hafid, I don't recall where I found VN's emphatic comments about
> Fitzgerald. One more reason to get Burgess' "Urgent Copy", thanks for the
> indication. I understand that you and Abdel Bouazza have wide experience
> with distinct translations of Khayyam in various languages. My ability to
> judge is limited. I'm unable to contest Stan K-B's conclusion on Borges'
> and Nabokov's linguistic/cultural credentials, but it's not impossible to
> assume that VN's objection had been to Fitzgerald's having recreated, not
> translated, Khayyam's poetry.
>
> In relation to "left-handed" and homosexuality, there are other allusions
> which shall probably remain undecided. For example, we know that Kinbote
> rated Housman highly. Therefore when, in *Pale Fire,* we read:"*since both
> Alfreds *[ Housman and Tennyson] *certainly used an Ordinary Razor, and
> John Shade an ancient Gillette, the discrepancy may have been due to the use
> of different instruments,*" Kinbote's stress on "Gilette" ( a double-edged
> razor-blade) may be indicatitve of his familiarity with its sexual
> innuendoes: ie: was Kinbote thereby suggesting that Shade was a bisexual?
> *btw*: I tried to figure out P.Meyer's additional comments on Kinbote's "*
> wod*" and VN's use of the word (PM writes that Eadbald, son of Aethelbert,
> caused "much damage to the church by his faithlessness and fornication with
> his father's wife"), because the motive for this chastisement is unrelated
> to Kinbote's own sexual inclinations and to John Shade's history: is there a
> link I missed?
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com/> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
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/