Subject
in a glass, darkly ( Pale Fire)
From
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sergej Aksenov" <sa354@cam.ac.uk>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (149
lines) ------------------
> Hello,
>
>
> It appears that there might be another dimension to appearance of 1
> Corinthians 12:13 in the Foreword to Pale Fire. Here I will draw on Jorge
> Luis Borges's essay "The Mirror of the Enigmas" (in "Other Inquisitions
> 1937-1952", Washington Square Press, New York, 1966, tr. by Ruth L. C.
> Simms). Borges says that this versicle inspired Leon Bloy in his view that
> the world posseses the symbolic meaning, hieroglyphical quality of divine
> writing, writtien in a language that humans have forgotten or can scarcely
> decipher. Several fragments by Leon Bloy seem appropriate (all tr. by
> Borges):
>
> "The sentence from St. Paul, "Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate",
> would be a skylight for plunging into the true Abyss, which is man's soul.
> The terrifying immensity of the abyss of the firmament is an illusion, an
> outward reflection of our abysses, perceived "in a mirror". We must invert
> our eyes and practice a sublime astronomy in the infinity of our hearts,
> the hearts God dies for... If we see the Milky Way, that is because it
> truly exists in our soul." (June 1894).
>
> "Everything is a symbol, even the most tortuous pain. We are sleepers who
> shout in our sleep. We do not know if the thing that afflicts us is the
> secret beginning of our future joy. We see now, St. Paul says, per
speculum
> in aenigmate, literally: "in enigma by means of a mirror" and we shall not
> see otherwise until the advent of the One Who is all in flames and must
> reveal all things to us." (December 1894).
>
> "Per speculum in aenigmate, says St. Paul. We see everything in reverse.
> When we think we are giving, we receive, etc." (May 1904).
>
> "A terrifying idea, that of Jeanne, about the text per speculum. The joys
> of this world would be torments of hell, seen in reverse, in a mirror. "
> (May 1908).
>
>
>
> In Latin version the versicle reads "per speculum in aenigmate" -- through
> the mirror in enigma. Of several English translation of the bible online
> (www.biblegateway.com) that I checked only King James versions read
> "glass", all the rest read "mirror". Worldwide English Translation (New
> Testament) by SOON Educational Publications reads "looking-glass". As I
> understand it, glass can mean anything made of glass, as well as a mirror.
>
> So I think the Portuguese translator was quite correct in using "mirror"
> (even if creating obstalces for peaple possessing King James versions of
> the Bible) because it captures the symbolic meaning of this versicle.
> Incidentally, Vera Nabokov translated this passage into Russian using
> "steklo" ("Blednyi Ogon", Ardis, Ann Arbor). In Russian glass (steklo) is
> different from mirror (zerkalo).
>
>
>
> I am not trying to infuse this quotation by Prof. Hurley with any mystic
> interpretation, but isn't it interesting that a rather minor character in
> the book, Prof. Hurley, seems to be seeing quite to the bottom of Shade's
> creation, in suggesting that "...it is not improbable that what he left
> represents only a small fraction of the composition he saw in a glass,
> darkly", meaning that Shade was using a kind of internal astronomy to
> explore the essence of things. Kindote dismisses this claim as "nonsense"
> and goes on to build up evidence that the poem is harmonious and complete
> structurally. But that was not the point of Prof. H.: the point was the
> immense nature of Shade's undertaking to decipher at least a "small
> fraction" of the hieroglyphic world.
>
>
> With best regards,
>
> Sergej Aksenov
>
>
> On Aug 26 2003, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 2:11 PM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: in a glass, darkly
> >
> >
> > Dear List,
> >
> > I would like to thank J. L. Olson for the correct reference ( first
> > letter to the Corinthians, 13:12) concerning the choices of: " in a
> > glass, darkly" ( VN) ; "through a glass, darkly " ( King James
> > translation, I think) or " see indistinctly, as in a mirror" ( The New
> > American Bible, as informed here).
> >
> > I was interested in the matter because of Kinbote´s foreword to Pale
> > Fire: " None can say how long John Shade planned his poem to be, but it
> > is not improbable that what he left represents only a small fraction of
> > the composition he saw in a glass, darkly" . I had come across a
> > translation of Pale Fire to Portuguese where the translator chose the
> > word "mirror" instead of "glass" and I had feared that this choice would
> > become an obstacle for the reader who would not associate it with the
> > corresponding biblical reference I thought fitted in the text ( who
> > knows?). Jansy Mello
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: D. Barton Johnson
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 4:15 PM
> > Subject: Fw: Fw: in a glass, darkly
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jamie L. Olson
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 11:15 AM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: in a glass, darkly
> >
> >
> > This is actually in the first letter to the Corinthians (precisely, at
> > 13:12). The New American Bible also has "mirror" for "glass": "At
present
> > we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I
> > know partially; then I shall know fully as I am fully known."
> >
> > Jamie
> >
> > At 07:32 PM 08/25/2003 -0700, you wrote:
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
> > I´ve found the reference concerning " in a glass, darkly" and it
> > is in the Bible, in the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
> > 13:1 and there are several references to the ability to use language and
> > to prophesy.
> > It begins with " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
> > angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
> > tinkling cymbal" [...] For me know in part and we prophesy in part. But
> > when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be
> > done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
> > child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish
> > things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
> > now I know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known [...]
> > I´ve checked one of the translations in Portuguese for the New
> > Testament and there the word for glass has been " mirror" !
> >
> > Through or "in a glass, darkly "? I wonder how it would appear
> > in Nabokov´s Russian Bible, or if it was meant as a quotation anyway.
> >
> > Best wishes, Jansy
> >
> >
>
From: "Sergej Aksenov" <sa354@cam.ac.uk>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (149
lines) ------------------
> Hello,
>
>
> It appears that there might be another dimension to appearance of 1
> Corinthians 12:13 in the Foreword to Pale Fire. Here I will draw on Jorge
> Luis Borges's essay "The Mirror of the Enigmas" (in "Other Inquisitions
> 1937-1952", Washington Square Press, New York, 1966, tr. by Ruth L. C.
> Simms). Borges says that this versicle inspired Leon Bloy in his view that
> the world posseses the symbolic meaning, hieroglyphical quality of divine
> writing, writtien in a language that humans have forgotten or can scarcely
> decipher. Several fragments by Leon Bloy seem appropriate (all tr. by
> Borges):
>
> "The sentence from St. Paul, "Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate",
> would be a skylight for plunging into the true Abyss, which is man's soul.
> The terrifying immensity of the abyss of the firmament is an illusion, an
> outward reflection of our abysses, perceived "in a mirror". We must invert
> our eyes and practice a sublime astronomy in the infinity of our hearts,
> the hearts God dies for... If we see the Milky Way, that is because it
> truly exists in our soul." (June 1894).
>
> "Everything is a symbol, even the most tortuous pain. We are sleepers who
> shout in our sleep. We do not know if the thing that afflicts us is the
> secret beginning of our future joy. We see now, St. Paul says, per
speculum
> in aenigmate, literally: "in enigma by means of a mirror" and we shall not
> see otherwise until the advent of the One Who is all in flames and must
> reveal all things to us." (December 1894).
>
> "Per speculum in aenigmate, says St. Paul. We see everything in reverse.
> When we think we are giving, we receive, etc." (May 1904).
>
> "A terrifying idea, that of Jeanne, about the text per speculum. The joys
> of this world would be torments of hell, seen in reverse, in a mirror. "
> (May 1908).
>
>
>
> In Latin version the versicle reads "per speculum in aenigmate" -- through
> the mirror in enigma. Of several English translation of the bible online
> (www.biblegateway.com) that I checked only King James versions read
> "glass", all the rest read "mirror". Worldwide English Translation (New
> Testament) by SOON Educational Publications reads "looking-glass". As I
> understand it, glass can mean anything made of glass, as well as a mirror.
>
> So I think the Portuguese translator was quite correct in using "mirror"
> (even if creating obstalces for peaple possessing King James versions of
> the Bible) because it captures the symbolic meaning of this versicle.
> Incidentally, Vera Nabokov translated this passage into Russian using
> "steklo" ("Blednyi Ogon", Ardis, Ann Arbor). In Russian glass (steklo) is
> different from mirror (zerkalo).
>
>
>
> I am not trying to infuse this quotation by Prof. Hurley with any mystic
> interpretation, but isn't it interesting that a rather minor character in
> the book, Prof. Hurley, seems to be seeing quite to the bottom of Shade's
> creation, in suggesting that "...it is not improbable that what he left
> represents only a small fraction of the composition he saw in a glass,
> darkly", meaning that Shade was using a kind of internal astronomy to
> explore the essence of things. Kindote dismisses this claim as "nonsense"
> and goes on to build up evidence that the poem is harmonious and complete
> structurally. But that was not the point of Prof. H.: the point was the
> immense nature of Shade's undertaking to decipher at least a "small
> fraction" of the hieroglyphic world.
>
>
> With best regards,
>
> Sergej Aksenov
>
>
> On Aug 26 2003, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 2:11 PM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: in a glass, darkly
> >
> >
> > Dear List,
> >
> > I would like to thank J. L. Olson for the correct reference ( first
> > letter to the Corinthians, 13:12) concerning the choices of: " in a
> > glass, darkly" ( VN) ; "through a glass, darkly " ( King James
> > translation, I think) or " see indistinctly, as in a mirror" ( The New
> > American Bible, as informed here).
> >
> > I was interested in the matter because of Kinbote´s foreword to Pale
> > Fire: " None can say how long John Shade planned his poem to be, but it
> > is not improbable that what he left represents only a small fraction of
> > the composition he saw in a glass, darkly" . I had come across a
> > translation of Pale Fire to Portuguese where the translator chose the
> > word "mirror" instead of "glass" and I had feared that this choice would
> > become an obstacle for the reader who would not associate it with the
> > corresponding biblical reference I thought fitted in the text ( who
> > knows?). Jansy Mello
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: D. Barton Johnson
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 4:15 PM
> > Subject: Fw: Fw: in a glass, darkly
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jamie L. Olson
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 11:15 AM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: in a glass, darkly
> >
> >
> > This is actually in the first letter to the Corinthians (precisely, at
> > 13:12). The New American Bible also has "mirror" for "glass": "At
present
> > we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I
> > know partially; then I shall know fully as I am fully known."
> >
> > Jamie
> >
> > At 07:32 PM 08/25/2003 -0700, you wrote:
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
> > I´ve found the reference concerning " in a glass, darkly" and it
> > is in the Bible, in the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
> > 13:1 and there are several references to the ability to use language and
> > to prophesy.
> > It begins with " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
> > angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
> > tinkling cymbal" [...] For me know in part and we prophesy in part. But
> > when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be
> > done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
> > child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish
> > things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
> > now I know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known [...]
> > I´ve checked one of the translations in Portuguese for the New
> > Testament and there the word for glass has been " mirror" !
> >
> > Through or "in a glass, darkly "? I wonder how it would appear
> > in Nabokov´s Russian Bible, or if it was meant as a quotation anyway.
> >
> > Best wishes, Jansy
> >
> >
>