Subject
Re: Myers poem in Vane Sisters
From
Date
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You may call that a "little find", but I think it is wonderful.
Congratulations.
Anhtony Stadlen
In a message dated 12/02/2014 16:03:20 GMT Standard Time, mroth@MESSIAH.EDU
writes:
One more little find. Way back in 1997, our list founder asked whether or
not the poem ascribed to FWH Myers in “The Vane Sisters” was genuine or a
Nabokovian invention.
https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=nabokv-l;4d8825b8.9710
The answer is a little of both. Here is part of a paragraph from Myers in
Volume 7 of the Proceedings of the S.P.R:
“What is this power,” he will say, “from which no organ and no thought is
exempt or free? which can charm away the pangs of childbirth, and shed
sleep around the surgeon’s knife? What is this which can summon the
secretions, and retard the pulses, and arrest the breath? which can check the
perilous habit and dispel the dolorous dream? which can turn loathing and
abhorrence into desire, and sway with an impalpable dominance the very tides of the
human heart?” (Proc. SPR, V. 7, p. 348)
http://books.google.com/books?id=8DJYAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA348&ots=cnJMVThVhF&dq=%2
2dispel%20the%20dolorous%20dream%22&pg=PA348#v=onepage&q=%22dispel%20the%20d
olorous%20dream%22&f=false
And here is the poem in “The Vane Sisters”:
What is this—a conjuror’s rabbit,
Or a flawy but genuine gleam—
Which can check the perilous habit
And dispel the dolorous dream?
The particular subject of the Myers quotation is that of hypnosis. I
wonder if that last sentence doesn’t have some relationship to the narrator’s
situation. His descriptions of both Sybil and Cynthia display abhorrence,
yet some desire for them compels him.
Best,
Matt Roth
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Congratulations.
Anhtony Stadlen
In a message dated 12/02/2014 16:03:20 GMT Standard Time, mroth@MESSIAH.EDU
writes:
One more little find. Way back in 1997, our list founder asked whether or
not the poem ascribed to FWH Myers in “The Vane Sisters” was genuine or a
Nabokovian invention.
https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=nabokv-l;4d8825b8.9710
The answer is a little of both. Here is part of a paragraph from Myers in
Volume 7 of the Proceedings of the S.P.R:
“What is this power,” he will say, “from which no organ and no thought is
exempt or free? which can charm away the pangs of childbirth, and shed
sleep around the surgeon’s knife? What is this which can summon the
secretions, and retard the pulses, and arrest the breath? which can check the
perilous habit and dispel the dolorous dream? which can turn loathing and
abhorrence into desire, and sway with an impalpable dominance the very tides of the
human heart?” (Proc. SPR, V. 7, p. 348)
http://books.google.com/books?id=8DJYAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA348&ots=cnJMVThVhF&dq=%2
2dispel%20the%20dolorous%20dream%22&pg=PA348#v=onepage&q=%22dispel%20the%20d
olorous%20dream%22&f=false
And here is the poem in “The Vane Sisters”:
What is this—a conjuror’s rabbit,
Or a flawy but genuine gleam—
Which can check the perilous habit
And dispel the dolorous dream?
The particular subject of the Myers quotation is that of hypnosis. I
wonder if that last sentence doesn’t have some relationship to the narrator’s
situation. His descriptions of both Sybil and Cynthia display abhorrence,
yet some desire for them compels him.
Best,
Matt Roth
_Google Search _
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_the archive_
(http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&hl=en
) _Contact_ (mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu)
_the Editors_ (mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu) _NOJ_
(http://www.nabokovonline.com/) _Zembla_
(http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm) _Nabokv-L _ (http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm)
_Policies_ (http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm) _Subscription
options_ (http://listserv.ucsb.edu/) _AdaOnline_ (http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/)
_NSJ Ada Annotations_ (http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html) _L-Soft
Search the archive_ (https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L)
_VN Bibliography Blog_ (http://vnbiblio.com/)
All private editorial communications 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/