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[ NABOKOV-L} P.Meyer:Shade's poem, Swift and Pope
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Dear List,
I was following a lead on English eighteenth century writers, after Samuel Johnson's writings on John Dryden. Later I decided to return to "Restoration" in P.Meyer. A chance route took me to VN's criticism of Swift and Pope.
Priscilla Meyer, pages 154/5 ("Find What the Sailor Has Hidden") writes:
"The satires of Swift and Pope and not placed very high on the literary scale by Nabokov (...) Shade's interest in Pope's work...appears to be based less on literary appreciation than on how the satires reflect their times: " See the blind beggar dance, the cripple sing"/ Has unmistakably the vulgar ring/ Of its preposterous age. "
She continues: V.P. Botkin, who played a role in Russian literature similar to Swift's and Pope's in English, wrote in his essay on English literature before Shakespeare that the retrieval of Shakespeare from oblivion was the distinctive achievement of the eighteenth century (...)
Only then did I remember an old German beer-song, about a doctor that could help blindmen to walk and cripples to see, set in a similar spirit. There was a real doctor named Johann Andreas Eisenbarth (also Eisenbart, Eysenbarth, Eysenparth) born in March 27. 1663 in Oberviechtach; ? 11. November 1727 in Hannoversch Münden). The song bearing his name began to spread from the early nineteenth century up to our days: It is a "Student's song". I have no idea if VN was familiar with it (from his Berlin experience) or had read a 1929 German novel about this doctor...
Shade's sentence is similar in spirit to the German satire:
"Ich bin der Doktor Eisenbarth,
Kurir die Leut nach meiner Art,
Kann machen, daß die Blinden gehn, I can help the blind to walk
Und daß die Lahmen wieder sehn. and the cripples to see
Es hatt einmal ein alter Mann
Im Rachen´einen hohlen Zahn,
Ich schoß ihn raus mit der Pistol,
Ach Gott, wie ist dem Mann so wohl.
Drauf rief mich stracks der große Zaar,
Er litt schon lang am grauen Staar,
Ich stach ihm beede Augen aus,
Jetzt ist der Staar wohl auch heraus."
(this version came from the Wikipedia)
.........................................................................
Doktor Eisenbart
Ich bin der Doktor Eisenbarth,
Zwilliwilliwick, bumbum!
Kurier' die Leut' nach meiner Art
Zwilliwilliwick, bumbum!
Kann machen daß die Blinden geh'n
Und daß die Lahmen wieder seh'n
Zwilliwilliwick, bumbum!
Gloria, Viktoria
Zwilliwilliwick, jucheirassa
Gloria, Viktoria
Zwilliwilliwick, bumbum!
In Ulm kuriert' ich einen Mann,
Daß ihm das Blut vom Beine rann,
Er wollte gern gekuhpockt sein,
Ich impft's ihm mit dem Bratspieß ein.
Des Küsters Sohn in Dudeldum,
Dem gab ich zehn Pfund Opium,
Drauf schlief er Jahre, Tag und Nacht,
Und ist bis jetzt noch nicht erwacht.
Zu Wien kuriert' ich einen Mann,
Der hatte einen hohlen Zahn,
Ich schoß ihn 'raus mit dem Pistol,
Ach Gott, wie ist dem Mann so wohl!
(this is the song as I remembered it)
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I was following a lead on English eighteenth century writers, after Samuel Johnson's writings on John Dryden. Later I decided to return to "Restoration" in P.Meyer. A chance route took me to VN's criticism of Swift and Pope.
Priscilla Meyer, pages 154/5 ("Find What the Sailor Has Hidden") writes:
"The satires of Swift and Pope and not placed very high on the literary scale by Nabokov (...) Shade's interest in Pope's work...appears to be based less on literary appreciation than on how the satires reflect their times: " See the blind beggar dance, the cripple sing"/ Has unmistakably the vulgar ring/ Of its preposterous age. "
She continues: V.P. Botkin, who played a role in Russian literature similar to Swift's and Pope's in English, wrote in his essay on English literature before Shakespeare that the retrieval of Shakespeare from oblivion was the distinctive achievement of the eighteenth century (...)
Only then did I remember an old German beer-song, about a doctor that could help blindmen to walk and cripples to see, set in a similar spirit. There was a real doctor named Johann Andreas Eisenbarth (also Eisenbart, Eysenbarth, Eysenparth) born in March 27. 1663 in Oberviechtach; ? 11. November 1727 in Hannoversch Münden). The song bearing his name began to spread from the early nineteenth century up to our days: It is a "Student's song". I have no idea if VN was familiar with it (from his Berlin experience) or had read a 1929 German novel about this doctor...
Shade's sentence is similar in spirit to the German satire:
"Ich bin der Doktor Eisenbarth,
Kurir die Leut nach meiner Art,
Kann machen, daß die Blinden gehn, I can help the blind to walk
Und daß die Lahmen wieder sehn. and the cripples to see
Es hatt einmal ein alter Mann
Im Rachen´einen hohlen Zahn,
Ich schoß ihn raus mit der Pistol,
Ach Gott, wie ist dem Mann so wohl.
Drauf rief mich stracks der große Zaar,
Er litt schon lang am grauen Staar,
Ich stach ihm beede Augen aus,
Jetzt ist der Staar wohl auch heraus."
(this version came from the Wikipedia)
.........................................................................
Doktor Eisenbart
Ich bin der Doktor Eisenbarth,
Zwilliwilliwick, bumbum!
Kurier' die Leut' nach meiner Art
Zwilliwilliwick, bumbum!
Kann machen daß die Blinden geh'n
Und daß die Lahmen wieder seh'n
Zwilliwilliwick, bumbum!
Gloria, Viktoria
Zwilliwilliwick, jucheirassa
Gloria, Viktoria
Zwilliwilliwick, bumbum!
In Ulm kuriert' ich einen Mann,
Daß ihm das Blut vom Beine rann,
Er wollte gern gekuhpockt sein,
Ich impft's ihm mit dem Bratspieß ein.
Des Küsters Sohn in Dudeldum,
Dem gab ich zehn Pfund Opium,
Drauf schlief er Jahre, Tag und Nacht,
Und ist bis jetzt noch nicht erwacht.
Zu Wien kuriert' ich einen Mann,
Der hatte einen hohlen Zahn,
Ich schoß ihn 'raus mit dem Pistol,
Ach Gott, wie ist dem Mann so wohl!
(this is the song as I remembered it)
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/