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Re: [Fwd: Re: [NABOKV-L] Centaur in Ada]
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Jansy
"Sublime to the Ridiculous"
Fascinating that the idea apparently comes originally from Paine - who was living in France when he wrote "The Age of Reason" and was certainly a public figure there.
Presumably Napoleon read the book!
Barrie Akin
Gary's Inn Tax Chambers
London
WC1R 5JA
On 19 Jan 2013, at 20:31, "Jansy" <jansy@AETERN.US<mailto:jansy@AETERN.US>> wrote:
Good find but.it<http://but.it> seems that this sentence might be even older. However, the link to Napoleons is still relevant...
Check this:
Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs:<http://www.answers.com/library/Proverbs-cid-105345>
From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step
Top
Home<http://www.answers.com/> > Library<http://www.answers.com/main/what_content.jsp> > Religion & Spirituality<http://www.answers.com/main/religion.jsp> > Proverbs<http://www.answers.com/library/Proverbs-cid-105345>
In this form, from a remark made by Napoleon to the Polish ambassador De Pradt (D. G. De Pradt Histoire de l'Ambassade‥(1815) 215), following the retreat from Moscow in 1812: Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas, there is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. The idea, however, was not original to Napoleon: [1795 T. Paine Age of Reason II. 20] The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime, makes the ridiculous; and one step above the ridiculous, makes the sublime again.
The Hague tittle-tattle‥is set forth in the pomp of Milton's loftiest Latin. ‥The sublime and the ridiculous are here blended without the step between.
[1879 M. Pattison Milton 116]
In the case of Louis XVIII, indeed, the ridiculous was, as it is commonly said to be, only a step removed from the sublime.
[1909 Times Literary Supplement 17 Dec. 492]
From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step, but there's no road that leads back from the ridiculous to the sublime.
[1940 W. & E. Muir tr. L. Feuchtwanger's Paris Gazette ii. xxxviii.]
‘At least,’ he said, ‘we can now go next door. Architecturally speaking, it's to move from the sublime to the ridiculous.’
[1983 ‘M. Innes’ Appleby & Honeybath iii.]
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/from-the-sublime-to-the-ridiculous#ixzz2IO9rasAM
-----Mensagem Original-----
De: Nabokv-L<mailto:nabokv-l@UTK.EDU>
Para: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU<mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Enviada em: sexta-feira, 18 de janeiro de 2013 23:06
Assunto: [NABOKV-L] [Fwd: Re: [NABOKV-L] Centaur in Ada]
Subject:
Re: [NABOKV-L] Centaur in Ada
From:
Barrie Akin <ba@taxbar.com><mailto:ba@taxbar.com>>
Date:
Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:51:27 +0000
To:
"nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu"<mailto:nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu"> <nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu><mailto:nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu>>
Isn't the original saying ("du sublime ... pas") attributed to Napoleon - and related to Moscow - no doubt giving it some resonance for Russians?
Barrie Akin
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] Centaur in Ada
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:22:00 +0000
From: stan@bootle.biz<mailto:stan@bootle.biz> <stan@BOOTLE.BIZ><mailto:stan@BOOTLE.BIZ>
Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU><mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU><mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Jansy/Alexey:
“From the sublime to the ridiculous” (or in Fritz Spiegl’s “mock-Cockney” version, “From the sublime to the COR-BLIMEY”) is NOT strictly a PROVERB. You need to identify the two entities being compared before you can claim to be waxing proverbially! In Fritz’s case, it was his reaction when I showed him a computerised catalogue where Mozart’s Don Giovanni had been abbreviated to MOZDONG. (The punched-card field allocated only 7 columns to “title!”). [. . .]
Google Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact the Editors<mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"<http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View Nabokv-L Policies<http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage subscription options<http://listserv.ucsb.edu/> Visit AdaOnline<http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/> View NSJ Ada Annotations<http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> Temporary L-Soft Search the archive<https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L&X=58B9943B29972AFF64&Y=nabokv-l%40utk.edu>
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"Sublime to the Ridiculous"
Fascinating that the idea apparently comes originally from Paine - who was living in France when he wrote "The Age of Reason" and was certainly a public figure there.
Presumably Napoleon read the book!
Barrie Akin
Gary's Inn Tax Chambers
London
WC1R 5JA
On 19 Jan 2013, at 20:31, "Jansy" <jansy@AETERN.US<mailto:jansy@AETERN.US>> wrote:
Good find but.it<http://but.it> seems that this sentence might be even older. However, the link to Napoleons is still relevant...
Check this:
Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs:<http://www.answers.com/library/Proverbs-cid-105345>
From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step
Top
Home<http://www.answers.com/> > Library<http://www.answers.com/main/what_content.jsp> > Religion & Spirituality<http://www.answers.com/main/religion.jsp> > Proverbs<http://www.answers.com/library/Proverbs-cid-105345>
In this form, from a remark made by Napoleon to the Polish ambassador De Pradt (D. G. De Pradt Histoire de l'Ambassade‥(1815) 215), following the retreat from Moscow in 1812: Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas, there is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous. The idea, however, was not original to Napoleon: [1795 T. Paine Age of Reason II. 20] The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime, makes the ridiculous; and one step above the ridiculous, makes the sublime again.
The Hague tittle-tattle‥is set forth in the pomp of Milton's loftiest Latin. ‥The sublime and the ridiculous are here blended without the step between.
[1879 M. Pattison Milton 116]
In the case of Louis XVIII, indeed, the ridiculous was, as it is commonly said to be, only a step removed from the sublime.
[1909 Times Literary Supplement 17 Dec. 492]
From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step, but there's no road that leads back from the ridiculous to the sublime.
[1940 W. & E. Muir tr. L. Feuchtwanger's Paris Gazette ii. xxxviii.]
‘At least,’ he said, ‘we can now go next door. Architecturally speaking, it's to move from the sublime to the ridiculous.’
[1983 ‘M. Innes’ Appleby & Honeybath iii.]
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/from-the-sublime-to-the-ridiculous#ixzz2IO9rasAM
-----Mensagem Original-----
De: Nabokv-L<mailto:nabokv-l@UTK.EDU>
Para: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU<mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Enviada em: sexta-feira, 18 de janeiro de 2013 23:06
Assunto: [NABOKV-L] [Fwd: Re: [NABOKV-L] Centaur in Ada]
Subject:
Re: [NABOKV-L] Centaur in Ada
From:
Barrie Akin <ba@taxbar.com><mailto:ba@taxbar.com>>
Date:
Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:51:27 +0000
To:
"nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu"<mailto:nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu"> <nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu><mailto:nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu>>
Isn't the original saying ("du sublime ... pas") attributed to Napoleon - and related to Moscow - no doubt giving it some resonance for Russians?
Barrie Akin
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] Centaur in Ada
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:22:00 +0000
From: stan@bootle.biz<mailto:stan@bootle.biz> <stan@BOOTLE.BIZ><mailto:stan@BOOTLE.BIZ>
Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU><mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU><mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Jansy/Alexey:
“From the sublime to the ridiculous” (or in Fritz Spiegl’s “mock-Cockney” version, “From the sublime to the COR-BLIMEY”) is NOT strictly a PROVERB. You need to identify the two entities being compared before you can claim to be waxing proverbially! In Fritz’s case, it was his reaction when I showed him a computerised catalogue where Mozart’s Don Giovanni had been abbreviated to MOZDONG. (The punched-card field allocated only 7 columns to “title!”). [. . .]
Google Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact the Editors<mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"<http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View Nabokv-L Policies<http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage subscription options<http://listserv.ucsb.edu/> Visit AdaOnline<http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/> View NSJ Ada Annotations<http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> Temporary L-Soft Search the archive<https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L&X=58B9943B29972AFF64&Y=nabokv-l%40utk.edu>
All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
Google Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact the Editors<mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"<http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View Nabokv-L Policies<http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage subscription options<http://listserv.ucsb.edu/> Visit AdaOnline<http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/> View NSJ Ada Annotations<http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> Temporary L-Soft Search the archive<https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L&X=58B9943B29972AFF64&Y=nabokv-l%40utk.edu>
All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/