La sotto i giorni nubilosi e brevi
Nasce una gente a cui il morir non dole.
 
(Where the days are cloudy and short
a tribe is born for whom dying is not painful).*
 
The lines above (from one of Petrarch's canzonas) were chosen by Pushkin as an epigraph to Canto Six of "Eugene Onegin" (the Onegin-Lensky duel). Petrarch is of course the famous author of "Sonnets to Laura" (by the way, was there the original of Petrarch's Laura, or the poet invented her?).
On the other hand, we know that the subtitle (or an alternative title?) of VN's unfinished novel is "Dying is Fun" (somehow echoing the quoted lines). So, may be, Petrarch's Laura is meant, not Dante's?
 
Alexey
 
*I apologize for bad translation   
----- Original Message -----
From: Donald B. Johnson
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 11:43 PM
Subject: Fwd: Dante & Laura..



----- Forwarded message from chaiselongue@earthlink.net -----
    Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 12:21:33 -0800
    From: Carolyn Kunin <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
Reply-To: Carolyn Kunin <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
 Subject: Dante & Laura..
      To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum

The name Laura too - - any Dante association there?


There do turn out to be links connecting Laura, Dante, peacocks and possibly
Can Grande. Unfortunately I won't have the time to pursue them for a while,
but for others who are interested I can refer you to a book by Mark Mirsky,
"Dante, Eros, & Kabbalah" - - particularly pages 166-167 and possibly ff.

Carolyn

----- End forwarded message -----
EDNOTE. Could be. What re the classic noir film "Laura" (1944) based on, I
think, Very Caspary's novel?




The name Laura too - - any Dante association there?


There do turn out to be links connecting Laura, Dante, peacocks and possibly Can Grande. Unfortunately I won't have the time to pursue them for a while, but for others who are interested I can refer you to a book by Mark Mirsky, "Dante, Eros, & Kabbalah" - - particularly pages 166-167 and possibly ff.

Carolyn