Subject
Monuments, Monoceros, Menton, mandibles, maws, and Moby
From
Date
Body
Kinbote described "a bulky monument, with difficulty embraced by the
breeze, had been erected, but not yet unshrouded, to replace the one the
Germans had taken away. Rather pathetically, the eager horn of her pet
monoceros protruded through the shroud" (...)
Don B. Johnson comments that his "curiosity was aroused by the last couple
of sentences, especially the Queen's "pet monoceros."
The lines in PF read: " That Englishman in Nice,/ A proud and happy
linguist: je nourris/ Les pauvres cigales - meaning that he/ Fed the poor
sea gulls!" and the poem continues..."Lafontaine was wrong:/ Dead is the
mandible, alive the song."
This selection exhibits a marvellous condensation of allusions, meanings,
pain and satire. The creation of the image of a "monoceros" shrouded the "rhinoceros" ( and
these animals may carry as their nasal protuberance a single horn: as the
"Rhinoceros unicornis" - or two, like the redundant "Diceros bicornis" ).
The wordplay brings to my mind another critical comment by VN, this time in
"Lolita", when he substitutes the existent "Camel" cigarettes ( that in
their advertising and packet bear only one hump - like dromedaries) for
"Dromes".
"Monoceros" may also be seen as a criticism on the aesthetic aspect of the
actual monoceral monument and even a play with "horns" following the
wonderful sexual images for manly arousal ( a bulky monument...erected and
protuding through the shroud ). Perhaps as in VN´s quip in his 1938
autographed picture recently posted, Mentone (Menton?) could metamorphose
into a Men-Town.
And yet the passage in the actual poem refers to the day when Hazel died to
conclude that Lafontaine was wrong: "Dead is the mandible,alive the song".
Digressing a bit further I was reminded of a sonnet by John Donne inspired
by the biblical "O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55), which was followed by John Donne's "Death be not Proud" (Holy Sonnets: X), where he concluded in lines that spoke about the death of Death: "Death be not proud, though some have called thee/ Mighty and
dreadful, for thou art not so (...) One short sleep past, we wake
eternally,/ And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die." "Mandible" also suggests the biblical "opening maw of hell" (in the story of
Jonah and, of course, in this quote from Melville's "Moby Dick").
Jansy Mello
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archive/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
breeze, had been erected, but not yet unshrouded, to replace the one the
Germans had taken away. Rather pathetically, the eager horn of her pet
monoceros protruded through the shroud" (...)
Don B. Johnson comments that his "curiosity was aroused by the last couple
of sentences, especially the Queen's "pet monoceros."
The lines in PF read: " That Englishman in Nice,/ A proud and happy
linguist: je nourris/ Les pauvres cigales - meaning that he/ Fed the poor
sea gulls!" and the poem continues..."Lafontaine was wrong:/ Dead is the
mandible, alive the song."
This selection exhibits a marvellous condensation of allusions, meanings,
pain and satire. The creation of the image of a "monoceros" shrouded the "rhinoceros" ( and
these animals may carry as their nasal protuberance a single horn: as the
"Rhinoceros unicornis" - or two, like the redundant "Diceros bicornis" ).
The wordplay brings to my mind another critical comment by VN, this time in
"Lolita", when he substitutes the existent "Camel" cigarettes ( that in
their advertising and packet bear only one hump - like dromedaries) for
"Dromes".
"Monoceros" may also be seen as a criticism on the aesthetic aspect of the
actual monoceral monument and even a play with "horns" following the
wonderful sexual images for manly arousal ( a bulky monument...erected and
protuding through the shroud ). Perhaps as in VN´s quip in his 1938
autographed picture recently posted, Mentone (Menton?) could metamorphose
into a Men-Town.
And yet the passage in the actual poem refers to the day when Hazel died to
conclude that Lafontaine was wrong: "Dead is the mandible,alive the song".
Digressing a bit further I was reminded of a sonnet by John Donne inspired
by the biblical "O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55), which was followed by John Donne's "Death be not Proud" (Holy Sonnets: X), where he concluded in lines that spoke about the death of Death: "Death be not proud, though some have called thee/ Mighty and
dreadful, for thou art not so (...) One short sleep past, we wake
eternally,/ And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die." "Mandible" also suggests the biblical "opening maw of hell" (in the story of
Jonah and, of course, in this quote from Melville's "Moby Dick").
Jansy Mello
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archive/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu