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Re: Pale Fire: A Poem in Four Cantos by John Shade
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Matt Roth responding to RS Gwynn:
RSG: Are you saying that Shade wrote the line about Sybil and the 9 concluding lines while Sybil was near the tree, then fell asleep in his swing, then was awakened by Kinbote with Sybil mysteriously gone? He wasn't using a digital camera, you know. He was writing a poem, not a piece of reportage.
MR: I am of course aware that Shade could well have made up ALL of the details in his final scene. Maybe it was actually a rainy day in January, which would mean that Kinbote's account of the poem's composition is a complete fantasy. If, however, we accept that the date and time of day in Shade's poem are meant to be taken literally, then it is natural, I think, to note the fact that Kinbote seems to affirm all the various details we read in the poem--the date, the time of day, the red admiral, the gardener with wheelbarrow, etc.--except the presence of Sybil. I find that odd, and I wonder if VN wants us to notice.
Matt Roth
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RSG: Are you saying that Shade wrote the line about Sybil and the 9 concluding lines while Sybil was near the tree, then fell asleep in his swing, then was awakened by Kinbote with Sybil mysteriously gone? He wasn't using a digital camera, you know. He was writing a poem, not a piece of reportage.
MR: I am of course aware that Shade could well have made up ALL of the details in his final scene. Maybe it was actually a rainy day in January, which would mean that Kinbote's account of the poem's composition is a complete fantasy. If, however, we accept that the date and time of day in Shade's poem are meant to be taken literally, then it is natural, I think, to note the fact that Kinbote seems to affirm all the various details we read in the poem--the date, the time of day, the red admiral, the gardener with wheelbarrow, etc.--except the presence of Sybil. I find that odd, and I wonder if VN wants us to notice.
Matt Roth
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/