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dreaming of Sirin
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According to a critic, one of the writers who influenced Van Veen (the young author of Letters from Terra) was Ben Sirine, "an obscene ancient Arab, expounder of anagrammatic dreams." (Ada, 2.2)
In Merezhkovski's "Peter and Alexey" (Book Five "Abomination of Desolation", chapter II) tsarevich Alexey dreams of Sirin, the bird of paradise that lives in the East, in the gardens of Eden. The song of Sirin foretells to righteous men the joy that Lord promises them. Nobody can hear Sirin's voice in the waking life - and if one does hear it, one is captivated by it, follows it and dies. In his dream Alexey follows the singing Sirin and dies, takes his last sleep, listening to the sweet song:
Снится ему также Сирин птица райская, что поёт песни царские, на востоке, в Эдемских садах пребывает, праведным радость возвещает, которую Господь им обещает; всяк человек, во плоти живя, не может слышать гласа её, а ежели услышит, то весь пленяется мыслью и, шествуя вслед, и слушая пение, умирает. И кажется Алёше, что идёт он за поющим Сирином и, слушая сладкую песню, умирает, засыпает вечным сном.
Before he dreams of Christ riding on a donkey in the Moscow Kremlin (see my recent post "Christ, Antichrist & Sirin"), tsarevich Alexey falls asleep to the sweet songs of Sirin: И Сирин, птица райская, поёт песни царские. И слушая сладкое пение, он, точно умирает, засыпает вечным сном без сновидений. (ibid., chapter III)
One of several fictional characters in "Peter and Alexey" is Tikhon Zapol'ski, a runaway student (shkolyar) from Moscow. His name reminds one of Tikhon Zadonsky (Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, an Orthodox bishop and spiritual writer, 1724-83). I mention another Tikhon in my post "Goluba University".
Btw., Lomonosov (the author of "The Khotin Ode," 1739, and "Peter the Great," a heroic poem, 1756-61) = Solomonov (of, pertaining to Solomon)
Alexey Sklyarenko
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In Merezhkovski's "Peter and Alexey" (Book Five "Abomination of Desolation", chapter II) tsarevich Alexey dreams of Sirin, the bird of paradise that lives in the East, in the gardens of Eden. The song of Sirin foretells to righteous men the joy that Lord promises them. Nobody can hear Sirin's voice in the waking life - and if one does hear it, one is captivated by it, follows it and dies. In his dream Alexey follows the singing Sirin and dies, takes his last sleep, listening to the sweet song:
Снится ему также Сирин птица райская, что поёт песни царские, на востоке, в Эдемских садах пребывает, праведным радость возвещает, которую Господь им обещает; всяк человек, во плоти живя, не может слышать гласа её, а ежели услышит, то весь пленяется мыслью и, шествуя вслед, и слушая пение, умирает. И кажется Алёше, что идёт он за поющим Сирином и, слушая сладкую песню, умирает, засыпает вечным сном.
Before he dreams of Christ riding on a donkey in the Moscow Kremlin (see my recent post "Christ, Antichrist & Sirin"), tsarevich Alexey falls asleep to the sweet songs of Sirin: И Сирин, птица райская, поёт песни царские. И слушая сладкое пение, он, точно умирает, засыпает вечным сном без сновидений. (ibid., chapter III)
One of several fictional characters in "Peter and Alexey" is Tikhon Zapol'ski, a runaway student (shkolyar) from Moscow. His name reminds one of Tikhon Zadonsky (Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, an Orthodox bishop and spiritual writer, 1724-83). I mention another Tikhon in my post "Goluba University".
Btw., Lomonosov (the author of "The Khotin Ode," 1739, and "Peter the Great," a heroic poem, 1756-61) = Solomonov (of, pertaining to Solomon)
Alexey Sklyarenko
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/