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From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
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Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 11:53 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3604
>
> pynchon-l-digest Tuesday, October 14 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3604
>
>
>
> Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> Re: VLVL 98-103
> Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> Re: VLVL 98-103
> NPPF: Some Notes for p. 171-174
> RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> RE: NPPF: Summary Line 286
> RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> RE: NPPF: Summary Line 347
> RE: NPPF: Summary Line 347
> On Belief
> RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> NPPF: Humming as You Pack
> VLVL(7) Vocabulary
> DeLillo in New Yorker
> Re: TRP on The Simpsons
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:56:41 +0300 (EEST)
> From: Heikki Raudaskoski <hraudask@sun3.oulu.fi>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> Well, there is a tomb in Virgil's fifth eclogue, that much
> is true, but you cannot find the words "et in Arcadia ego"
> anywhere in the poem. The shepherd Mopsus sings to shepherd
> Menalcas in #5, lamenting Daphnis's death:
> ........................
> From the Gutenberg site [translator not announced):
>
> 'Now, O ye shepherds, strew the ground with leaves,
> And o'er the fountains draw a shady veil-
> So Daphnis to his memory bids be done-
> And rear a tomb, and write thereon this verse:
> 'I, Daphnis in the woods, from hence in fame
> Am to the stars exalted, guardian once
> Of a fair flock, myself more fair than they.'
> ftp://sailor.gutenberg.org/pub/gutenberg/etext95/bucoe10.txt
> .........................
> Originally:
>
> Spargite humum foliis, inducite fontibus umbras,
> pastores, mandat fieri sibi talia Daphnis;
> et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen:
> DAPHNIS EGO IN SILVIS HINC VSQUE AD SIDERA NOTVS
> FORMONSI PECORIS CVSTOS FORMONSIOR IPSE.
> ftp://sailor.gutenberg.org/pub/gutenberg/etext95/bucol10.txt
> .....................................
>
> The shepherds are requested to "rear a tomb" - they don't
> find a tomb in the poem.
>
> It is my impression that the phrase "Et in Arcadia Ego" was
> introduced much much later. Anyone?
>
> Well, Death does loom in Virgil's Arcady, after all, but,
> unlike in the "Bengt Ekerot / Maria CasarХs Film Festival"
> (GR 755), is given no lines of Its own.
>
>
> Heikki
>
> P.S. The topic brings to mind Stoppard's wonderful, thermodynamic
> Arcadia. The phrase in question is not left untouched by TS...
>
>
> On Mon, 13 Oct 2003, Mary Krimmel wrote:
>
> > At 07:39 PM 10/13/03 -0400, Paul Mackin wrote:
> > ...
> > >In Latin it's Et in Arcadia ego Virgil
> > >
> > >
> > >Also the name of a Poussin painting. (shepherds discovering a tomb)
> >
> > Can you or anyone tell us the context of Virgil's use of that phrase? Or
> > tell us what work it is found in? Was Virgil quoting someone else?
> >
> > I have understood (from I don't know what sources) that the words are or
> > were inscribed on a tombstone and that they are the earliest known
written
> > Latin; is that correct? The Poussin painting suggests the tombstone, but
> > which came first - the fact or generally accepted idea of the tomb, or
the
> > painting?
> >
> > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the phrase
is
> > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone, that
> > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is the
speaker.
> >
> > Also, I have understood (again, no back-up) that Arcady has the
reputation
> > of being an idyllic Eden-like spot; is that correct? I.e., does it have
> > such a reputation? If so, and if Death is the speaker, the phrase makes
a
> > poignant point. But it looks to me as though it's often interpreted in
> > order to suggest the point, without any real justification.
> >
> > Mary Krimmel
> >
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 14 Oct 2003 08:34:31 -0400
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin@verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> On Tue, 2003-10-14 at 06:56, Heikki Raudaskoski wrote:
> >
> >
> > Well, there is a tomb in Virgil's fifth eclogue, that much
> > is true, but you cannot find the words "et in Arcadia ego"
> > anywhere in the poem. The shepherd Mopsus sings to shepherd
> > Menalcas in #5, lamenting Daphnis's death:
>
>
> I also looked in vain for it. The Latin sentence is usually mentioned
> in connection with the paintings in the Louvre and only then is the
> source of the name said to be one of the eclogues.
>
> Also there's a famous essay by that name. I forget the author. Will try
> to look it up.
>
> P.
> > .......................
> > >From the Gutenberg site [translator not announced):
> >
> > 'Now, O ye shepherds, strew the ground with leaves,
> > And o'er the fountains draw a shady veil-
> > So Daphnis to his memory bids be done-
> > And rear a tomb, and write thereon this verse:
> > 'I, Daphnis in the woods, from hence in fame
> > Am to the stars exalted, guardian once
> > Of a fair flock, myself more fair than they.'
> > ftp://sailor.gutenberg.org/pub/gutenberg/etext95/bucoe10.txt
> > ........................
> > Originally:
> >
> > Spargite humum foliis, inducite fontibus umbras,
> > pastores, mandat fieri sibi talia Daphnis;
> > et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen:
> > DAPHNIS EGO IN SILVIS HINC VSQUE AD SIDERA NOTVS
> > FORMONSI PECORIS CVSTOS FORMONSIOR IPSE.
> > ftp://sailor.gutenberg.org/pub/gutenberg/etext95/bucol10.txt
> > ....................................
> >
> > The shepherds are requested to "rear a tomb" - they don't
> > find a tomb in the poem.
> >
> > It is my impression that the phrase "Et in Arcadia Ego" was
> > introduced much much later. Anyone?
>
>
> this seem likely. Perhaps Virgil's Greek source had a phrase that might
> have been translated into Latin in that way. (though not by Virgil)
>
>
> >
> > Well, Death does loom in Virgil's Arcady, after all, but,
> > unlike in the "Bengt Ekerot / Maria CasarХs Film Festival"
> > (GR 755), is given no lines of Its own.
>
>
> Death loomed in another Arcadia (Santa Anita Racetrack) yesterday with
> the death of Bill Shoemaker at 72.
>
>
> >
> >
> > Heikki
> >
> > P.S. The topic brings to mind Stoppard's wonderful, thermodynamic
> > Arcadia. The phrase in question is not left untouched by TS...
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 13 Oct 2003, Mary Krimmel wrote:
> >
> > > At 07:39 PM 10/13/03 -0400, Paul Mackin wrote:
> > > ...
> > > >In Latin it's Et in Arcadia ego Virgil
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >Also the name of a Poussin painting. (shepherds discovering a tomb)
> > >
> > > Can you or anyone tell us the context of Virgil's use of that phrase?
Or
> > > tell us what work it is found in? Was Virgil quoting someone else?
> > >
> > > I have understood (from I don't know what sources) that the words are
or
> > > were inscribed on a tombstone and that they are the earliest known
written
> > > Latin; is that correct? The Poussin painting suggests the tombstone,
but
> > > which came first - the fact or generally accepted idea of the tomb, or
the
> > > painting?
> > >
> > > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the phrase
is
> > > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone,
that
> > > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is the
speaker.
> > >
> > > Also, I have understood (again, no back-up) that Arcady has the
reputation
> > > of being an idyllic Eden-like spot; is that correct? I.e., does it
have
> > > such a reputation? If so, and if Death is the speaker, the phrase
makes a
> > > poignant point. But it looks to me as though it's often interpreted in
> > > order to suggest the point, without any real justification.
> > >
> > > Mary Krimmel
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 09:19:41 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> >Will try to look it up.
>
> Erwin Panofsky?
>
> http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/english/bgoldens/RANDALL.htm
>
> > Date: 14 Oct 2003 10:21:43 -0400
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin@verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> On Tue, 2003-10-14 at 09:19, Terrance wrote:
> > >Will try to look it up.
> >
> > Erwin Panofsky?
> >
> > http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/english/bgoldens/RANDALL.htm
>
> Thanks.
>
> P
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 10:32:42 -0400
> From: "Scott Badger" <lupine@ncia.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> Mary:
> > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the phrase
is
> > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone, that
> > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is
> > the speaker.
>
> As I mentioned in the notes, there is an alternate version, erroneously
> quoted in a _Pale Fire_ Cliff-like notes, attributed to Dementia (chained
to
> her gray column), which is suggestive of both Kinbote and Jack Grey. I
also
> found this same version at
> http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~laa16/prevexams/Makeup_Final_1997.htm
.
> Does anyone know the source?
>
> Scott Badger
>
>> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 11:17:28 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF: Some Notes for p. 171-174
>
> Trying to catch up after a brief flirtation with a different obsession....
>
> p. 171
> "Irondell"
>
> Hirondelle is French for swallow (another bird that is, from the family
> Hirundinidae). The name "swallow" comes (by way of the Old Saxon swala)
> from the Old Norse "svale," which sort of means "cheer up," and which a
bird
> of this sort (according to Danish folklore) cried to Christ while on the
> cross. The swallow is the harbinger of summer, and (according to English
> folklore) said to be good luck if it flies into your home. Another common
> superstition held by farmers is that disturbing a swallow's nest will
result
> in a poor harvest (Kinbote should have heeded that one).
>
> The proximity to the King Alfred reference suggests another of the King's
> translations: in Bede's _Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation_,
one
> of King Eadwine's counselors, in reference to the old religion, describes
> life as a swallow (or sparrow depending on translation) that flies into a
> house from a winter's storm through one door and then back out through
> another, living only for the "twinkling of an eye and a moment of time"
and
> unaware of "what goes before or what comes after."
>
> http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/Bede_Miller.pdf
> http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book2.html
>
> In that same work, the word Swallow turns up in reference to the river
where
> the bishop Paulinus baptized the people of the Deira province.
>
>
> p. 171
> "Canadian stock"
>
> The Canadian Zone of Appalachia (see p. 169).
>
>
> p. 171-172
>
> "she used to call me 'an elephantine tick; a king-sized botfly; a macaco
> worm; the monstrous parasite of a genius'."
>
> King-sized botfly linking Kinbote to Botkin, as well as a tick and a
> parasite. The macaco worm is the parasitic larva of the South American
> botfly. The Index has under Botkin: "king-bot, maggot of extinct fly that
> once bred in mammoths and is thought to have hastened their phylogenetic
> end."
>
>
> p. 172
> "/Van/homrigh, /Es/ther"
>
> Esther Vanhomrigh (1690-1723), who was infatuated with Swift, but who
> rejected her. She was said to have died of a broken heart. Swift called
> her Vanessa; and the quote on p. 172 is from Swift's "Cadenus and Vanessa"
> (1713), in which he describes his feelings for her (excerpted):
>
> The goddess thus pronounced her doom,
> When, lo, Vanessa in her bloom,
> Advanced like Atalanta's star,
> But rarely seen, and seen from far:
> In a new world with caution stepped,
> Watched all the company she kept,
> Well knowing from the books she read
> What dangerous paths young virgins tread;
>
> http://www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/alumni/swift.htm
> http://www.literatureclassics.com/etexts/476/6746/
>
> See also "Vanessa Van Ness," the "fat, powdered" mother of Annabel Leigh
in
> _Lolita_.
>
>
> p. 172
> "[A] recognizable figure of [The Red Admiral] is borne in the escutcheon
of
> The Dukes of Payn"
>
> Charles' wife Disa is the Duchess of Payn (see p. 173). Thus a link
between
> Disa and Esther Vanhomrigh, casting Charles as Jonathan Swift (I can hear
> him rolling in his grave), reinforced on p. 173: "I notice a whiff of
Swift
> in some of my notes."
>
>
> p. 172
> "Michaelmas Daisies"
>
> /Aster novi-belgii/, introduced to Britain from North America in the early
> 1700's. "They continue blooming until autumn and provide late-flying
> butterflies such as peacocks and small tortoiseshells with a good source
of
> nectar."
>
> Sept. 29th is "St. Michaelmas Day." This saint was the "warrior saint of
> all angels."
>
> http://www.uksafari.com/michaelmas.htm
>
>
> p. 173
> "/fou rire/"
>
> Impish (or insane) laughter.
>
>
> p. 173
> "rough alderkings who burned for boys"
>
> Add to the set of alder references (p. 116, etc). Alderking = ErlkЖnig; I
> suppose "burn[ing] for boys" is one way of reading Goethe's poem....
>
>
> p. 173
> "wanted him to do what an earlier and even more reluctant Charles had
done:
> take a night off and lawfully engender an heir"
>
> Charles II of England never managed to produce a "lawful" heir, causing a
> multitude of problems toward the end of the 17th century.
>
>
> p. 173
> "He saw nineteen-year-old Disa for the first time [...] at a masked ball"
>
> Romeo and Juliet.
>
>
> p. 173
> "She had come in male dress, as a Tirolese boy"
>
> Explaining why Charles was interested in the first place. The Zemblan
> gender swapping persists with "two guardsmen disguised as flowergirls" in
> the same paragraph.
>
> p. 173
> "fackeltanz"
>
> German: "torch dance"
>
> Note the proximity of "fireworks" and "pale upturned faces"
>
>
> p. 173-174
> "He procrastinated for almost two years but [...] finally gave in [to
> marriage]."
>
> I find it interesting that there is no mention of any courtship, much like
> in the biographies of kings where they are suddenly wed to some princess
of
> another nation. But see p. 174 where Kinbote refers to Shade's
> "embarrassing intimacies."
>
>
> p. 174
> "smug alderkings"
>
> Add *another* alder reference. In connection with the previous one, it
> seems the alderkings are Charles' buddies, with whom he "burns for boys"
> (perhaps the Zemblan equivalent of "chasing skirts"?).
>
>
> p. 174
> "I like my name: Shade, /Ombre/, almost "man" / In Spanish . . ."
>
> Another _Lolita_ reference: Ombre = HH. (I may have posted this before.)
> Shade in Latin is "umbra", close to "Humbert", as is "hombre", Spanish for
> man.
>
> "Ombre" is also a 17th century card game.
>
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 14 Oct 2003 11:25:41 -0400
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> On Tue, 2003-10-14 at 10:32, Scott Badger wrote:
> > Mary:
> > > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the phrase
is
> > > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone,
that
> > > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is
> > > the speaker.
> >
> > As I mentioned in the notes, there is an alternate version, erroneously
> > quoted in a _Pale Fire_ Cliff-like notes, attributed to Dementia
(chained to
> > her gray column), which is suggestive of both Kinbote and Jack Grey. I
also
> > found this same version at
> >
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~laa16/prevexams/Makeup_Final_1997.htm .
> > Does anyone know the source?
>
>
> I meant to ask you about this earlier.
>
> Another mention of "Even in Arcadia am I" occurs in the commentary on
> Line 629. (this is the one quoted in the Harvard examination and I
> assume in the Cliff-like notes)
>
> Kinbote takes off not from the line itself but from a line K says Shade
> had written in but struck out namely "The madman's fate."
>
> I am still thinking about Mary's question.
>
> P.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 12:04:32 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Summary Line 286
>
> > From: owner-pynchon-l@waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On
> > Behalf Of Scott Badger
> >
>
> > >
> > > One more notable aspect of this commentary is Kinbote's tenderness for
> > > Bretwit - an unlikely attraction that parallels the relationship
> > > between Shade and Kinbote. He describes Bretwit as "sickly" and
> > > "featureless", a "pallid gland", and, intellectually, a dolt. But
> > > Kinbote then expresses a sense of profound connection between
> > > them, "a symbol of valor and self-abnegation", that veers towards
> > > some sexual attraction, "I could have spanked the dear man".
> > >
> > >
>
> Yes, it's interesting that Kinbote has this history of attraction for
> unattractive men who possess an inner beauty, much as K wants people to
see
> himself (or lacking beauty, at least heredity).
>
> "Oswin Bretwit" is another reference to Merry Old England and Bede's
> Ecclesiastical History:
>
> "Bretwalda" means Lord of all the Britains, sort of the king of all the
> kings of the Isle. The title was first assigned to Egbert in the
> Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as "the eighth king that was Bretwalda." Looking up
> the other seven in Bede, the seventh one is Oswy, who shared dominion of
the
> nation with another king... Oswin. Their kingdoms were divided by the
river
> Humber (yes), and Oswy, wanting all of the toys, assembled an army and
> eventually "foully slew" Oswin, becoming therefore Bretwalda.
>
> Oswin is described by Bede as "of a goodly countenance, and tall of
stature,
> pleasant in discourse, and courteous in behaviour; and bountiful to all,
> gentle and simple alike; so that he was beloved by all men for the royal
> dignity of his mind and appearance and actions, and men of the highest
rank
> came from almost all provinces to serve him."
>
> Compare to Kinbote's characterization of Bretwit as "courage [allied] with
> integrity, kindness, dignity, and what can be euphemistically called
> endearing naОvetИ" (p. 177).
>
> Bede tells the story of a beautiful horse Oswin had given a Bishop Aidan
"to
> use either in crossing rivers, or in performing a journey upon any urgent
> necessity," but the Bishop, who was used to walking, gave the horse to a
> beggar. "What did you mean, my lord Bishop" said Oswin later, "by giving
> the poor man that royal horse, which it was fitting that you should have
for
> your own use? Had not we many other horses of less value, or things of
> other sorts, which would have been good enough to give to the poor,
instead
> of giving that horse, which I had chosen and set apart for your own use?"
> To which the Bishop replied, "What do you say, O king? Is that son of a
mare
> more dear to you than that son of God?" The King thought about that for a
> while, then "ungirt his sword, and gave it to a servant, and hastened to
the
> Bishop and fell down at his feet, beseeching him to forgive him; 'For from
> this time forward,' said he, 'I will never speak any more of this, nor
will
> I judge of what or how much of our money you shall give to the sons of
> God.'" The Bishop comforted the King, but then grew sad, saying to one of
> his priests, "I know [...] that the king will not live long; for I never
> before saw a humble king; whence I perceive that he will soon be snatched
> out of this life, because this nation is not worthy of such a ruler." It
> was not long after that Oswy killed Oswin, and "the bishop▓s gloomy
> foreboding was fulfilled."
>
> http://28.1911encyclopedia.org/B/BR/BRETWALDA.htm
> http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bede/history.v.iii.xiv.html
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 12:15:59 -0400
> From: "Scott Badger" <lupine@ncia.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> Paul:
> >Another mention of "Even in Arcadia am I" occurs in the commentary on
> >Line 629. (this is the one quoted in the Harvard examination and I
> >assume in the Cliff-like notes)
>
> (slap!!) Yes. Thanks. The Harvard exam quote is stripped of any specific
> references (Zembla, New Wye) so as not to make it too easy for the
> kiddies...
>
> Scott
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:09:53 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Summary Line 347
>
> > From: owner-pynchon-l@waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On
> > Behalf Of Scott Badger
>
> > Kinbote ends his account of Hetzner with a description of his favorite,
> > umm,
> > watering hole. "Here Papa pisses." remarks H's son. An act that carries
> > with
> > it the obvious territorial connotations, consistent with the several
> > canine
> > references in this passage, but also, I think, binds him to the
immediate
> > landscape as texture - a temporal and physical present repeatedly
renewed,
> > turned-over, and lacking the abstract text of historians, poets and
> > prophets. But in the end, the course of history washes Hetzner away;
>
>
> Also, "Here Papa pisses" is a reference to Browning's dramatic poem "Pippa
> Passes," (1843) which the poet conceived while walking through Dulwich
wood.
>
> http://www.sm.rim.or.jp/~osawa/AGG/poetry/pippa-passes.html
>
> William Sharp, in his _Life of Robert Browning_, writes, "In that same
wood
> beyond Dulwich to which allusion has already been made, the germinal
motive
> of 'Pippa Passes' flashed upon the poet. No wonder this resort was for
long
> one of his sacred places, and that he lamented its disappearance as
> fervently as Ruskin bewailed the encroachment of the ocean of bricks and
> mortar upon the wooded privacies of Denmark Hill."
>
>
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/biography/LifeofBrowning/ch
> ap5.html
>
> Boyd writes, "Just as obscure Pippa passes by characters whose lives she
> affects without her ever meaning to -- including a sculptor whose art she
> redirects -- so the outwardly unprepossessing Hentzner proves an
inspiration
> to John Shade when the self-important Kinbote, the incognito king, cannot
> stir his fancy" (_Magic of Artistic Discovery_, p. 88).
>
> Pippa Passes is also eponymous for a town in Kentucky, home of Alice Lloyd
> College, whose slogan is "Providing Leadership for Appalachia."
>
> http://www.alc.edu/
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:33:22 -0400
> From: "Scott Badger" <lupine@ncia.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Summary Line 347
>
> Jasper:
> > Also, "Here Papa pisses" is a reference to Browning's dramatic poem
"Pippa
> > Passes," (1843) which the poet conceived while walking through
> > Dulwich wood.
>
> A marrowsky, of course...Thanks Jasper.
>
> Scott
>
> ------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 14 Oct 2003 13:43:44 -0400
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> > > Mary:
> > > > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the
phrase is
> > > > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone,
that
> > > > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is
> > > > the speaker.
>
>
>
>
> Terrance pointed out this paper concerned with death tropes and Randall
> Jarrell and which discusses Erwin Panofsky's ideas on the meaning of Et
> in Arcadia ego
>
> http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/english/bgoldens/RANDALL.htm
>
> Put very sketchily, Panofsky says the phrase does not come from
> antiquity but is supposed to have been suggested by Pope Clement IX (a
> poet himself) when he commissioned a painting by Guercino in which the
> words appear on a scroll issuing from a death's head on a tomb in
> Arcadia. According to Panofsky, correct Latin requires that ego be the
> subject of the sentence. Therefore Death is the speaker.
>
> The Guercino painting pre-dated that of Poussin.
>
> The essay gives a lot more of interest on this subject including
> Virgil's place in the story. Good reading.
>
>
>
> P.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 10:48:21 -0700
> From: "Keith McMullen" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: NPPF: Humming as You Pack
>
> Perhaps Sybil was humming Fred Ahlert's "Poor Little G String" as she
> packed. Or maybe "Life Is A Song."
>
> Album Title: Life Is A Song - The Songs of Fred Ahlert
> Lyrics by: Joe Young
> Music by: Fred Ahlert (1892-1953)
>
> Life is a song, let's sing it together.
> Let's take our hearts and dip them in rhyme,
> Let's learn the words, let's learn the music together,
> hoping the song lasts for a long, long time.
>
> Life is a song that goes on forever.
> Love's old refrain can never go wrong.
> Let's strike the note Mendelssohn wrote concerning spring weather,
> Let's sing together and make life a song.
>
> Don't be afraid of the future
> All of our plans will come through
> How can they fail with love on our side
> They'll never fail, we won't be denied
> All the world's a symphony, for you , for me.
>
> Life is a song, let's sing it together.
> Let's take our hearts and dip them in rhyme,
> Let's learn the words, let's learn the music together,
> hoping the song lasts for a long, long time.
>
> Life is a song that goes on forever.
> Love's old refrain can never go wrong.
> Let's strike the note Mendelssohn wrote concerning spring weather,
> Let's sing it together and make life a song.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 14:08:41 -0400
> From: Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com>
> Subject: VLVL(7) Vocabulary
>
> I found more cool and esoteric words to look up in Michael's first
> commentary on Chapter 7 than in the text.
>
> But first, from the text, in the text:
>
> "belvedere" (p92) defined as "a structure, such as a summerhouse or
> an open, roofed gallery, situated so as to command a fine view."
>
> "bougainvillea" (p92) defined as "any of several woody tropical American
> vines
> having inconspicuous flowers surrounded by showy red, purple or orange
> bracts."
>
> "ventunesimo" (p93) not in my dictionary but from the context clearly
> meaning
> twenty-one in Italian. Is there any Italian or Italian-American
> tradition for having a special party for a son when he turns 21? An
> Italian bar-mitzvah???
>
> "tournedos" (p94) defined as "a fillet of beef cut from the tenderloin,
> often bound in bacon or suet for cooking."
>
> "quotidian" (p94) I think Pynchon has used this word before. I vaguely
> remember looking it up while reading either GR or M&D (or maybe both!)
> The word simply means "everyday, commonplace."
>
> "deuteragonist" (p95) defined as "The actor taking the part of second
> importance in a classical Greek drama" and "a person who serves as a
> foil to another."
>
> "napery" (p95) "household linen"
>
> "kunoichi" (p104) "female ninja"
>
> "gunsel" (p105) "gunman"
>
> OK, now let's turn to Michael's commentary of 8 October.
>
> "palazzo" Italian for palace
>
> "trope" figure of speech
>
>
> "dialectic" defined as "the art of arriving at the truth by disclosing
> the contradictions in an opponent's argument and overcoming them."
>
> "simulacrum" an image or representation of something
>
>
> "syntactically" not in my dictionary, but evidently having to do with
> syntactics, the branch of semiotics that deals with the formal
> properties of signs and symbols. (Semiotics is a fancier version of the
> word Semantics, the study of meaning in language.)
>
> "mimetically" -- imitative / "mimesis" -- imitation of nature in art
> or literature.
>
> "redolent" pleasantly odorous
>
> "conjoined" united (how does this differ from just plain joined?)
>
> "eclogue" a pastoral poem
>
> "deconstruct" from Deconstruction, defined as "A philosophical theory of
> criticism (usually of literature or film) that seeks to expose
> deep-seated contradictions in a work by delving below its surface
> meaning. This method questions the ability of language to represent a
> fixed reality, and proposes that a text has no stable meaning because
> words only refer to other words, that metaphysical or ethnocentric
> assumptions about the meaning of words must be questioned, and words may
> be redefined in new contexts and new, equally valid and even
> contradictory meanings may be found. Such new interpretations may be
> based on the philosophical, political, or social implications of the
> words of a text, rather than solely on attempts to determine the
> author's intentions.`"
>
> "reactualize" - not in my dictionary, but having to do with actualize,
> which means "bring into existence"
>
> "epithalamium" a lyric ode in honor of a bride or bridegroom.
>
> "valorizing" The only dictionary definition I have doesn't make sense
> in the context of Michael's commentary ("reaffirms the marriage of Zoyd
> and Frenesi--if not the fact, in principle: as a creative mimesis, a
> valorizing imitation of nature.") The dictionary defines Valorize as
> "to establish and maintain the price of a commodity by governmental
> action"
>
> Toby
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 11:29:12 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Richard Romeo <romeocheeseburger@yahoo.com>
> Subject: DeLillo in New Yorker
>
> Hi all--this week's New Yorker has a piece by
> DeLillo--a light piece on movie celebrity--ugh...
>
> the current issue of the London Review of Books has a
> delillo-esque essay that is quite good:
> Watching Me Watching Them Watching You
> by Andrew O'Hagan
>
> reading Anne Applebaum's Gulag.
>
> over and out
>
> rich
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
> http://shopping.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 11:53:11 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Richard Romeo <romeocheeseburger@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: TRP on The Simpsons
>
> I can hardly believe it myself, Jeremy
>
> rich
> - --- Jeremy Rice <jrice024@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > On upcoming Season 14, The Simpsons executive
> > producer Al Jean:
> >
> > "....We have a show coming up where Marge writes a
> > novel and gets
> > endorsements from writers playing themselves,
> > including Tom Clancy, Thomas
> > Pynchon-"
> >
> > How did you get him?
> >
> > "We got him. (laughs) He was really nice."
> >
> > Oh well of course, he's not seen, right?
> >
> > "He's wearing a paper bag over his head, but it is
> > his voice."
> >
> >
> http://dvd.ign.com/articles/436/436093p1.html?fromint=1
> >
> > (Apologies if already mentioned.)
> >
> > ~Abductee224~
> >
> >
> _________________________________________________________________
> > Express yourself with MSN Messenger 6.0 -- download
> > now!
> >
> http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_general
> >
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
> http://shopping.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3604
> ********************************
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to waste@waste.org
> with "unsubscribe pynchon-l-digest" in the message body.
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 11:53 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3604
>
> pynchon-l-digest Tuesday, October 14 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3604
>
>
>
> Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> Re: VLVL 98-103
> Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> Re: VLVL 98-103
> NPPF: Some Notes for p. 171-174
> RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> RE: NPPF: Summary Line 286
> RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> RE: NPPF: Summary Line 347
> RE: NPPF: Summary Line 347
> On Belief
> RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
> NPPF: Humming as You Pack
> VLVL(7) Vocabulary
> DeLillo in New Yorker
> Re: TRP on The Simpsons
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:56:41 +0300 (EEST)
> From: Heikki Raudaskoski <hraudask@sun3.oulu.fi>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> Well, there is a tomb in Virgil's fifth eclogue, that much
> is true, but you cannot find the words "et in Arcadia ego"
> anywhere in the poem. The shepherd Mopsus sings to shepherd
> Menalcas in #5, lamenting Daphnis's death:
> ........................
> From the Gutenberg site [translator not announced):
>
> 'Now, O ye shepherds, strew the ground with leaves,
> And o'er the fountains draw a shady veil-
> So Daphnis to his memory bids be done-
> And rear a tomb, and write thereon this verse:
> 'I, Daphnis in the woods, from hence in fame
> Am to the stars exalted, guardian once
> Of a fair flock, myself more fair than they.'
> ftp://sailor.gutenberg.org/pub/gutenberg/etext95/bucoe10.txt
> .........................
> Originally:
>
> Spargite humum foliis, inducite fontibus umbras,
> pastores, mandat fieri sibi talia Daphnis;
> et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen:
> DAPHNIS EGO IN SILVIS HINC VSQUE AD SIDERA NOTVS
> FORMONSI PECORIS CVSTOS FORMONSIOR IPSE.
> ftp://sailor.gutenberg.org/pub/gutenberg/etext95/bucol10.txt
> .....................................
>
> The shepherds are requested to "rear a tomb" - they don't
> find a tomb in the poem.
>
> It is my impression that the phrase "Et in Arcadia Ego" was
> introduced much much later. Anyone?
>
> Well, Death does loom in Virgil's Arcady, after all, but,
> unlike in the "Bengt Ekerot / Maria CasarХs Film Festival"
> (GR 755), is given no lines of Its own.
>
>
> Heikki
>
> P.S. The topic brings to mind Stoppard's wonderful, thermodynamic
> Arcadia. The phrase in question is not left untouched by TS...
>
>
> On Mon, 13 Oct 2003, Mary Krimmel wrote:
>
> > At 07:39 PM 10/13/03 -0400, Paul Mackin wrote:
> > ...
> > >In Latin it's Et in Arcadia ego Virgil
> > >
> > >
> > >Also the name of a Poussin painting. (shepherds discovering a tomb)
> >
> > Can you or anyone tell us the context of Virgil's use of that phrase? Or
> > tell us what work it is found in? Was Virgil quoting someone else?
> >
> > I have understood (from I don't know what sources) that the words are or
> > were inscribed on a tombstone and that they are the earliest known
written
> > Latin; is that correct? The Poussin painting suggests the tombstone, but
> > which came first - the fact or generally accepted idea of the tomb, or
the
> > painting?
> >
> > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the phrase
is
> > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone, that
> > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is the
speaker.
> >
> > Also, I have understood (again, no back-up) that Arcady has the
reputation
> > of being an idyllic Eden-like spot; is that correct? I.e., does it have
> > such a reputation? If so, and if Death is the speaker, the phrase makes
a
> > poignant point. But it looks to me as though it's often interpreted in
> > order to suggest the point, without any real justification.
> >
> > Mary Krimmel
> >
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 14 Oct 2003 08:34:31 -0400
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin@verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> On Tue, 2003-10-14 at 06:56, Heikki Raudaskoski wrote:
> >
> >
> > Well, there is a tomb in Virgil's fifth eclogue, that much
> > is true, but you cannot find the words "et in Arcadia ego"
> > anywhere in the poem. The shepherd Mopsus sings to shepherd
> > Menalcas in #5, lamenting Daphnis's death:
>
>
> I also looked in vain for it. The Latin sentence is usually mentioned
> in connection with the paintings in the Louvre and only then is the
> source of the name said to be one of the eclogues.
>
> Also there's a famous essay by that name. I forget the author. Will try
> to look it up.
>
> P.
> > .......................
> > >From the Gutenberg site [translator not announced):
> >
> > 'Now, O ye shepherds, strew the ground with leaves,
> > And o'er the fountains draw a shady veil-
> > So Daphnis to his memory bids be done-
> > And rear a tomb, and write thereon this verse:
> > 'I, Daphnis in the woods, from hence in fame
> > Am to the stars exalted, guardian once
> > Of a fair flock, myself more fair than they.'
> > ftp://sailor.gutenberg.org/pub/gutenberg/etext95/bucoe10.txt
> > ........................
> > Originally:
> >
> > Spargite humum foliis, inducite fontibus umbras,
> > pastores, mandat fieri sibi talia Daphnis;
> > et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen:
> > DAPHNIS EGO IN SILVIS HINC VSQUE AD SIDERA NOTVS
> > FORMONSI PECORIS CVSTOS FORMONSIOR IPSE.
> > ftp://sailor.gutenberg.org/pub/gutenberg/etext95/bucol10.txt
> > ....................................
> >
> > The shepherds are requested to "rear a tomb" - they don't
> > find a tomb in the poem.
> >
> > It is my impression that the phrase "Et in Arcadia Ego" was
> > introduced much much later. Anyone?
>
>
> this seem likely. Perhaps Virgil's Greek source had a phrase that might
> have been translated into Latin in that way. (though not by Virgil)
>
>
> >
> > Well, Death does loom in Virgil's Arcady, after all, but,
> > unlike in the "Bengt Ekerot / Maria CasarХs Film Festival"
> > (GR 755), is given no lines of Its own.
>
>
> Death loomed in another Arcadia (Santa Anita Racetrack) yesterday with
> the death of Bill Shoemaker at 72.
>
>
> >
> >
> > Heikki
> >
> > P.S. The topic brings to mind Stoppard's wonderful, thermodynamic
> > Arcadia. The phrase in question is not left untouched by TS...
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 13 Oct 2003, Mary Krimmel wrote:
> >
> > > At 07:39 PM 10/13/03 -0400, Paul Mackin wrote:
> > > ...
> > > >In Latin it's Et in Arcadia ego Virgil
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >Also the name of a Poussin painting. (shepherds discovering a tomb)
> > >
> > > Can you or anyone tell us the context of Virgil's use of that phrase?
Or
> > > tell us what work it is found in? Was Virgil quoting someone else?
> > >
> > > I have understood (from I don't know what sources) that the words are
or
> > > were inscribed on a tombstone and that they are the earliest known
written
> > > Latin; is that correct? The Poussin painting suggests the tombstone,
but
> > > which came first - the fact or generally accepted idea of the tomb, or
the
> > > painting?
> > >
> > > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the phrase
is
> > > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone,
that
> > > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is the
speaker.
> > >
> > > Also, I have understood (again, no back-up) that Arcady has the
reputation
> > > of being an idyllic Eden-like spot; is that correct? I.e., does it
have
> > > such a reputation? If so, and if Death is the speaker, the phrase
makes a
> > > poignant point. But it looks to me as though it's often interpreted in
> > > order to suggest the point, without any real justification.
> > >
> > > Mary Krimmel
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 09:19:41 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> >Will try to look it up.
>
> Erwin Panofsky?
>
> http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/english/bgoldens/RANDALL.htm
>
> > Date: 14 Oct 2003 10:21:43 -0400
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin@verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> On Tue, 2003-10-14 at 09:19, Terrance wrote:
> > >Will try to look it up.
> >
> > Erwin Panofsky?
> >
> > http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/english/bgoldens/RANDALL.htm
>
> Thanks.
>
> P
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 10:32:42 -0400
> From: "Scott Badger" <lupine@ncia.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> Mary:
> > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the phrase
is
> > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone, that
> > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is
> > the speaker.
>
> As I mentioned in the notes, there is an alternate version, erroneously
> quoted in a _Pale Fire_ Cliff-like notes, attributed to Dementia (chained
to
> her gray column), which is suggestive of both Kinbote and Jack Grey. I
also
> found this same version at
> http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~laa16/prevexams/Makeup_Final_1997.htm
.
> Does anyone know the source?
>
> Scott Badger
>
>> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 11:17:28 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF: Some Notes for p. 171-174
>
> Trying to catch up after a brief flirtation with a different obsession....
>
> p. 171
> "Irondell"
>
> Hirondelle is French for swallow (another bird that is, from the family
> Hirundinidae). The name "swallow" comes (by way of the Old Saxon swala)
> from the Old Norse "svale," which sort of means "cheer up," and which a
bird
> of this sort (according to Danish folklore) cried to Christ while on the
> cross. The swallow is the harbinger of summer, and (according to English
> folklore) said to be good luck if it flies into your home. Another common
> superstition held by farmers is that disturbing a swallow's nest will
result
> in a poor harvest (Kinbote should have heeded that one).
>
> The proximity to the King Alfred reference suggests another of the King's
> translations: in Bede's _Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation_,
one
> of King Eadwine's counselors, in reference to the old religion, describes
> life as a swallow (or sparrow depending on translation) that flies into a
> house from a winter's storm through one door and then back out through
> another, living only for the "twinkling of an eye and a moment of time"
and
> unaware of "what goes before or what comes after."
>
> http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/Bede_Miller.pdf
> http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book2.html
>
> In that same work, the word Swallow turns up in reference to the river
where
> the bishop Paulinus baptized the people of the Deira province.
>
>
> p. 171
> "Canadian stock"
>
> The Canadian Zone of Appalachia (see p. 169).
>
>
> p. 171-172
>
> "she used to call me 'an elephantine tick; a king-sized botfly; a macaco
> worm; the monstrous parasite of a genius'."
>
> King-sized botfly linking Kinbote to Botkin, as well as a tick and a
> parasite. The macaco worm is the parasitic larva of the South American
> botfly. The Index has under Botkin: "king-bot, maggot of extinct fly that
> once bred in mammoths and is thought to have hastened their phylogenetic
> end."
>
>
> p. 172
> "/Van/homrigh, /Es/ther"
>
> Esther Vanhomrigh (1690-1723), who was infatuated with Swift, but who
> rejected her. She was said to have died of a broken heart. Swift called
> her Vanessa; and the quote on p. 172 is from Swift's "Cadenus and Vanessa"
> (1713), in which he describes his feelings for her (excerpted):
>
> The goddess thus pronounced her doom,
> When, lo, Vanessa in her bloom,
> Advanced like Atalanta's star,
> But rarely seen, and seen from far:
> In a new world with caution stepped,
> Watched all the company she kept,
> Well knowing from the books she read
> What dangerous paths young virgins tread;
>
> http://www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/alumni/swift.htm
> http://www.literatureclassics.com/etexts/476/6746/
>
> See also "Vanessa Van Ness," the "fat, powdered" mother of Annabel Leigh
in
> _Lolita_.
>
>
> p. 172
> "[A] recognizable figure of [The Red Admiral] is borne in the escutcheon
of
> The Dukes of Payn"
>
> Charles' wife Disa is the Duchess of Payn (see p. 173). Thus a link
between
> Disa and Esther Vanhomrigh, casting Charles as Jonathan Swift (I can hear
> him rolling in his grave), reinforced on p. 173: "I notice a whiff of
Swift
> in some of my notes."
>
>
> p. 172
> "Michaelmas Daisies"
>
> /Aster novi-belgii/, introduced to Britain from North America in the early
> 1700's. "They continue blooming until autumn and provide late-flying
> butterflies such as peacocks and small tortoiseshells with a good source
of
> nectar."
>
> Sept. 29th is "St. Michaelmas Day." This saint was the "warrior saint of
> all angels."
>
> http://www.uksafari.com/michaelmas.htm
>
>
> p. 173
> "/fou rire/"
>
> Impish (or insane) laughter.
>
>
> p. 173
> "rough alderkings who burned for boys"
>
> Add to the set of alder references (p. 116, etc). Alderking = ErlkЖnig; I
> suppose "burn[ing] for boys" is one way of reading Goethe's poem....
>
>
> p. 173
> "wanted him to do what an earlier and even more reluctant Charles had
done:
> take a night off and lawfully engender an heir"
>
> Charles II of England never managed to produce a "lawful" heir, causing a
> multitude of problems toward the end of the 17th century.
>
>
> p. 173
> "He saw nineteen-year-old Disa for the first time [...] at a masked ball"
>
> Romeo and Juliet.
>
>
> p. 173
> "She had come in male dress, as a Tirolese boy"
>
> Explaining why Charles was interested in the first place. The Zemblan
> gender swapping persists with "two guardsmen disguised as flowergirls" in
> the same paragraph.
>
> p. 173
> "fackeltanz"
>
> German: "torch dance"
>
> Note the proximity of "fireworks" and "pale upturned faces"
>
>
> p. 173-174
> "He procrastinated for almost two years but [...] finally gave in [to
> marriage]."
>
> I find it interesting that there is no mention of any courtship, much like
> in the biographies of kings where they are suddenly wed to some princess
of
> another nation. But see p. 174 where Kinbote refers to Shade's
> "embarrassing intimacies."
>
>
> p. 174
> "smug alderkings"
>
> Add *another* alder reference. In connection with the previous one, it
> seems the alderkings are Charles' buddies, with whom he "burns for boys"
> (perhaps the Zemblan equivalent of "chasing skirts"?).
>
>
> p. 174
> "I like my name: Shade, /Ombre/, almost "man" / In Spanish . . ."
>
> Another _Lolita_ reference: Ombre = HH. (I may have posted this before.)
> Shade in Latin is "umbra", close to "Humbert", as is "hombre", Spanish for
> man.
>
> "Ombre" is also a 17th century card game.
>
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 14 Oct 2003 11:25:41 -0400
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> On Tue, 2003-10-14 at 10:32, Scott Badger wrote:
> > Mary:
> > > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the phrase
is
> > > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone,
that
> > > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is
> > > the speaker.
> >
> > As I mentioned in the notes, there is an alternate version, erroneously
> > quoted in a _Pale Fire_ Cliff-like notes, attributed to Dementia
(chained to
> > her gray column), which is suggestive of both Kinbote and Jack Grey. I
also
> > found this same version at
> >
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~laa16/prevexams/Makeup_Final_1997.htm .
> > Does anyone know the source?
>
>
> I meant to ask you about this earlier.
>
> Another mention of "Even in Arcadia am I" occurs in the commentary on
> Line 629. (this is the one quoted in the Harvard examination and I
> assume in the Cliff-like notes)
>
> Kinbote takes off not from the line itself but from a line K says Shade
> had written in but struck out namely "The madman's fate."
>
> I am still thinking about Mary's question.
>
> P.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 12:04:32 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Summary Line 286
>
> > From: owner-pynchon-l@waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On
> > Behalf Of Scott Badger
> >
>
> > >
> > > One more notable aspect of this commentary is Kinbote's tenderness for
> > > Bretwit - an unlikely attraction that parallels the relationship
> > > between Shade and Kinbote. He describes Bretwit as "sickly" and
> > > "featureless", a "pallid gland", and, intellectually, a dolt. But
> > > Kinbote then expresses a sense of profound connection between
> > > them, "a symbol of valor and self-abnegation", that veers towards
> > > some sexual attraction, "I could have spanked the dear man".
> > >
> > >
>
> Yes, it's interesting that Kinbote has this history of attraction for
> unattractive men who possess an inner beauty, much as K wants people to
see
> himself (or lacking beauty, at least heredity).
>
> "Oswin Bretwit" is another reference to Merry Old England and Bede's
> Ecclesiastical History:
>
> "Bretwalda" means Lord of all the Britains, sort of the king of all the
> kings of the Isle. The title was first assigned to Egbert in the
> Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as "the eighth king that was Bretwalda." Looking up
> the other seven in Bede, the seventh one is Oswy, who shared dominion of
the
> nation with another king... Oswin. Their kingdoms were divided by the
river
> Humber (yes), and Oswy, wanting all of the toys, assembled an army and
> eventually "foully slew" Oswin, becoming therefore Bretwalda.
>
> Oswin is described by Bede as "of a goodly countenance, and tall of
stature,
> pleasant in discourse, and courteous in behaviour; and bountiful to all,
> gentle and simple alike; so that he was beloved by all men for the royal
> dignity of his mind and appearance and actions, and men of the highest
rank
> came from almost all provinces to serve him."
>
> Compare to Kinbote's characterization of Bretwit as "courage [allied] with
> integrity, kindness, dignity, and what can be euphemistically called
> endearing naОvetИ" (p. 177).
>
> Bede tells the story of a beautiful horse Oswin had given a Bishop Aidan
"to
> use either in crossing rivers, or in performing a journey upon any urgent
> necessity," but the Bishop, who was used to walking, gave the horse to a
> beggar. "What did you mean, my lord Bishop" said Oswin later, "by giving
> the poor man that royal horse, which it was fitting that you should have
for
> your own use? Had not we many other horses of less value, or things of
> other sorts, which would have been good enough to give to the poor,
instead
> of giving that horse, which I had chosen and set apart for your own use?"
> To which the Bishop replied, "What do you say, O king? Is that son of a
mare
> more dear to you than that son of God?" The King thought about that for a
> while, then "ungirt his sword, and gave it to a servant, and hastened to
the
> Bishop and fell down at his feet, beseeching him to forgive him; 'For from
> this time forward,' said he, 'I will never speak any more of this, nor
will
> I judge of what or how much of our money you shall give to the sons of
> God.'" The Bishop comforted the King, but then grew sad, saying to one of
> his priests, "I know [...] that the king will not live long; for I never
> before saw a humble king; whence I perceive that he will soon be snatched
> out of this life, because this nation is not worthy of such a ruler." It
> was not long after that Oswy killed Oswin, and "the bishop▓s gloomy
> foreboding was fulfilled."
>
> http://28.1911encyclopedia.org/B/BR/BRETWALDA.htm
> http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bede/history.v.iii.xiv.html
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 12:15:59 -0400
> From: "Scott Badger" <lupine@ncia.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> Paul:
> >Another mention of "Even in Arcadia am I" occurs in the commentary on
> >Line 629. (this is the one quoted in the Harvard examination and I
> >assume in the Cliff-like notes)
>
> (slap!!) Yes. Thanks. The Harvard exam quote is stripped of any specific
> references (Zembla, New Wye) so as not to make it too easy for the
> kiddies...
>
> Scott
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:09:53 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Summary Line 347
>
> > From: owner-pynchon-l@waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On
> > Behalf Of Scott Badger
>
> > Kinbote ends his account of Hetzner with a description of his favorite,
> > umm,
> > watering hole. "Here Papa pisses." remarks H's son. An act that carries
> > with
> > it the obvious territorial connotations, consistent with the several
> > canine
> > references in this passage, but also, I think, binds him to the
immediate
> > landscape as texture - a temporal and physical present repeatedly
renewed,
> > turned-over, and lacking the abstract text of historians, poets and
> > prophets. But in the end, the course of history washes Hetzner away;
>
>
> Also, "Here Papa pisses" is a reference to Browning's dramatic poem "Pippa
> Passes," (1843) which the poet conceived while walking through Dulwich
wood.
>
> http://www.sm.rim.or.jp/~osawa/AGG/poetry/pippa-passes.html
>
> William Sharp, in his _Life of Robert Browning_, writes, "In that same
wood
> beyond Dulwich to which allusion has already been made, the germinal
motive
> of 'Pippa Passes' flashed upon the poet. No wonder this resort was for
long
> one of his sacred places, and that he lamented its disappearance as
> fervently as Ruskin bewailed the encroachment of the ocean of bricks and
> mortar upon the wooded privacies of Denmark Hill."
>
>
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/biography/LifeofBrowning/ch
> ap5.html
>
> Boyd writes, "Just as obscure Pippa passes by characters whose lives she
> affects without her ever meaning to -- including a sculptor whose art she
> redirects -- so the outwardly unprepossessing Hentzner proves an
inspiration
> to John Shade when the self-important Kinbote, the incognito king, cannot
> stir his fancy" (_Magic of Artistic Discovery_, p. 88).
>
> Pippa Passes is also eponymous for a town in Kentucky, home of Alice Lloyd
> College, whose slogan is "Providing Leadership for Appalachia."
>
> http://www.alc.edu/
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 13:33:22 -0400
> From: "Scott Badger" <lupine@ncia.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Summary Line 347
>
> Jasper:
> > Also, "Here Papa pisses" is a reference to Browning's dramatic poem
"Pippa
> > Passes," (1843) which the poet conceived while walking through
> > Dulwich wood.
>
> A marrowsky, of course...Thanks Jasper.
>
> Scott
>
> ------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 14 Oct 2003 13:43:44 -0400
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPF: Notes Line 286
>
> > > Mary:
> > > > Why does there never seem to be any doubt that the "ego" of the
phrase is
> > > > Death? Even if there is no doubt that it was carved on a tombstone,
that
> > > > seems to me to be no reason to conclude definitely that Death is
> > > > the speaker.
>
>
>
>
> Terrance pointed out this paper concerned with death tropes and Randall
> Jarrell and which discusses Erwin Panofsky's ideas on the meaning of Et
> in Arcadia ego
>
> http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/english/bgoldens/RANDALL.htm
>
> Put very sketchily, Panofsky says the phrase does not come from
> antiquity but is supposed to have been suggested by Pope Clement IX (a
> poet himself) when he commissioned a painting by Guercino in which the
> words appear on a scroll issuing from a death's head on a tomb in
> Arcadia. According to Panofsky, correct Latin requires that ego be the
> subject of the sentence. Therefore Death is the speaker.
>
> The Guercino painting pre-dated that of Poussin.
>
> The essay gives a lot more of interest on this subject including
> Virgil's place in the story. Good reading.
>
>
>
> P.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 10:48:21 -0700
> From: "Keith McMullen" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: NPPF: Humming as You Pack
>
> Perhaps Sybil was humming Fred Ahlert's "Poor Little G String" as she
> packed. Or maybe "Life Is A Song."
>
> Album Title: Life Is A Song - The Songs of Fred Ahlert
> Lyrics by: Joe Young
> Music by: Fred Ahlert (1892-1953)
>
> Life is a song, let's sing it together.
> Let's take our hearts and dip them in rhyme,
> Let's learn the words, let's learn the music together,
> hoping the song lasts for a long, long time.
>
> Life is a song that goes on forever.
> Love's old refrain can never go wrong.
> Let's strike the note Mendelssohn wrote concerning spring weather,
> Let's sing together and make life a song.
>
> Don't be afraid of the future
> All of our plans will come through
> How can they fail with love on our side
> They'll never fail, we won't be denied
> All the world's a symphony, for you , for me.
>
> Life is a song, let's sing it together.
> Let's take our hearts and dip them in rhyme,
> Let's learn the words, let's learn the music together,
> hoping the song lasts for a long, long time.
>
> Life is a song that goes on forever.
> Love's old refrain can never go wrong.
> Let's strike the note Mendelssohn wrote concerning spring weather,
> Let's sing it together and make life a song.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 14:08:41 -0400
> From: Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com>
> Subject: VLVL(7) Vocabulary
>
> I found more cool and esoteric words to look up in Michael's first
> commentary on Chapter 7 than in the text.
>
> But first, from the text, in the text:
>
> "belvedere" (p92) defined as "a structure, such as a summerhouse or
> an open, roofed gallery, situated so as to command a fine view."
>
> "bougainvillea" (p92) defined as "any of several woody tropical American
> vines
> having inconspicuous flowers surrounded by showy red, purple or orange
> bracts."
>
> "ventunesimo" (p93) not in my dictionary but from the context clearly
> meaning
> twenty-one in Italian. Is there any Italian or Italian-American
> tradition for having a special party for a son when he turns 21? An
> Italian bar-mitzvah???
>
> "tournedos" (p94) defined as "a fillet of beef cut from the tenderloin,
> often bound in bacon or suet for cooking."
>
> "quotidian" (p94) I think Pynchon has used this word before. I vaguely
> remember looking it up while reading either GR or M&D (or maybe both!)
> The word simply means "everyday, commonplace."
>
> "deuteragonist" (p95) defined as "The actor taking the part of second
> importance in a classical Greek drama" and "a person who serves as a
> foil to another."
>
> "napery" (p95) "household linen"
>
> "kunoichi" (p104) "female ninja"
>
> "gunsel" (p105) "gunman"
>
> OK, now let's turn to Michael's commentary of 8 October.
>
> "palazzo" Italian for palace
>
> "trope" figure of speech
>
>
> "dialectic" defined as "the art of arriving at the truth by disclosing
> the contradictions in an opponent's argument and overcoming them."
>
> "simulacrum" an image or representation of something
>
>
> "syntactically" not in my dictionary, but evidently having to do with
> syntactics, the branch of semiotics that deals with the formal
> properties of signs and symbols. (Semiotics is a fancier version of the
> word Semantics, the study of meaning in language.)
>
> "mimetically" -- imitative / "mimesis" -- imitation of nature in art
> or literature.
>
> "redolent" pleasantly odorous
>
> "conjoined" united (how does this differ from just plain joined?)
>
> "eclogue" a pastoral poem
>
> "deconstruct" from Deconstruction, defined as "A philosophical theory of
> criticism (usually of literature or film) that seeks to expose
> deep-seated contradictions in a work by delving below its surface
> meaning. This method questions the ability of language to represent a
> fixed reality, and proposes that a text has no stable meaning because
> words only refer to other words, that metaphysical or ethnocentric
> assumptions about the meaning of words must be questioned, and words may
> be redefined in new contexts and new, equally valid and even
> contradictory meanings may be found. Such new interpretations may be
> based on the philosophical, political, or social implications of the
> words of a text, rather than solely on attempts to determine the
> author's intentions.`"
>
> "reactualize" - not in my dictionary, but having to do with actualize,
> which means "bring into existence"
>
> "epithalamium" a lyric ode in honor of a bride or bridegroom.
>
> "valorizing" The only dictionary definition I have doesn't make sense
> in the context of Michael's commentary ("reaffirms the marriage of Zoyd
> and Frenesi--if not the fact, in principle: as a creative mimesis, a
> valorizing imitation of nature.") The dictionary defines Valorize as
> "to establish and maintain the price of a commodity by governmental
> action"
>
> Toby
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 11:29:12 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Richard Romeo <romeocheeseburger@yahoo.com>
> Subject: DeLillo in New Yorker
>
> Hi all--this week's New Yorker has a piece by
> DeLillo--a light piece on movie celebrity--ugh...
>
> the current issue of the London Review of Books has a
> delillo-esque essay that is quite good:
> Watching Me Watching Them Watching You
> by Andrew O'Hagan
>
> reading Anne Applebaum's Gulag.
>
> over and out
>
> rich
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
> http://shopping.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 11:53:11 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Richard Romeo <romeocheeseburger@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: TRP on The Simpsons
>
> I can hardly believe it myself, Jeremy
>
> rich
> - --- Jeremy Rice <jrice024@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > On upcoming Season 14, The Simpsons executive
> > producer Al Jean:
> >
> > "....We have a show coming up where Marge writes a
> > novel and gets
> > endorsements from writers playing themselves,
> > including Tom Clancy, Thomas
> > Pynchon-"
> >
> > How did you get him?
> >
> > "We got him. (laughs) He was really nice."
> >
> > Oh well of course, he's not seen, right?
> >
> > "He's wearing a paper bag over his head, but it is
> > his voice."
> >
> >
> http://dvd.ign.com/articles/436/436093p1.html?fromint=1
> >
> > (Apologies if already mentioned.)
> >
> > ~Abductee224~
> >
> >
> _________________________________________________________________
> > Express yourself with MSN Messenger 6.0 -- download
> > now!
> >
> http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_general
> >
>
>
> __________________________________
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> http://shopping.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
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