In a message dated 10/02/2007 02:17:49 GMT Standard Time, nabokv-l@UTK.EDU
writes:
MR: But the author of the poem is John Shade. Kinbote
seems to think that
the question of the "e" is at least worth mentioning,
which must mean that
a pronounced "e" is not out of the question. Indeed,
Kinbote's "I am quite
certain" strikes me as one of those moments when we
should be wary of his
certainty. All that aside, if we do need two syllables
for the ---, not
one, the spondee "John Shade" is more likely than
"Kinbote," who wouldn't
fit in the catalog of poets. I like "Kit Smart" too,
and I would add "John
Clare," which would provide a nice chime with
Baudelaire. Still, it's not
clear why Shade wouldn't have wanted to write
out the name if it's just an
historical figure. Kinbote asks the right
question: why couldn't Shade
write it out?
JF wrote:
My totally subjective impression is that Shade is
proud
of making "poor" be both stressed and unstressed.
Isn't it possible that the rejected variant wasn't written by John Shade at
all, but by Charles Kinbote? Kinbote tends to find allusions to himself in other
allegedly "rejected variants". The preceding line reads: “And minds that died
before arriving there”, which applies to both Swift and Baudelaire. Would
Shade insert himself among these minds? If Shade did write the
variant, he might include Kit Smart or John Clare, but he might also have
included Kinbote (as an imbecile), the name being excised by Kinbote for
publication. If Kinbote wrote the variant himself, he might have wanted to
include himself among the eminent, but then had second thoughts. Doesn't he
know, or at least suspect, that he's mad? The question is, who is writing
(or dreaming) about who?
Charles