Returning to the August 4 posting where, thanks to
the link offered by C.Wallace, I could reach the hymn that inspired the son "Old
Soldiers Never Die", I would like to note a strange coincidence. The hymn
mentions " a happy land far far away" and the solider's song changes it to "There is an old
cookhouse, far far away".
I had joked saying "Kinbote would
note that in the beer song there is a mention of "gradus" ( "we are gradually
fading away") and identify Zembla in the "happy land far,
far away".
On Kinbote's commentary to line 741 (
page 255 EL) where he describes Gradus' progress ( and the "Purloined letter"
from Queen Disa is here anachronically placed ) he describes the
assassin's activities:
" He was in
his room working on the nespaper with a safety razor blade when there was a
bright rap-rap at the door. Gradus admitted an unexpected visitor - one of the
greater Shadows, whom he had thought to be onhava-onhava ( "far, far
away"), in wild, misty, almost legendary Zembla! What stunning
conjuring tricks our magical mechanical age plays with old mother space and old
father time!"
Jansy