The use of "pale fire" in poems or books is not a rare occurrence, either in the past [ Cf. William Blake, The French Revolution, 1791 :" Then the Abbè de Sieyes rais'd his feet /On the steps of the Louvre; like a voice of God following a storm, the Abbé follow'd /The pale fires of Aumont into the chamber; as a father that bows to his son...) nor in the present (William Hope Hodgson mentions 'pale fire" at least four times in "The house on the borderland," as in: "At last, only a crescent of pale fire, lit the, now dim, Sea of Sleep.).

 

However, a chance find landed me on a more interesting verse using the words "pale fire," but it was difficult for me to ascertain that it belonged, indeed, to Lord Byron's tragedy "The Duke of Mantua." My first thought was to submit the lines as a note to "The Nabokovian." However, I'd have to familirize myself with items that were too distant from my area of interest, abilities and available bibliography. There are also links between the Duke of Mantua and the characters of Verdi's opera, "Rigoletto," but its libreto, written by Francesco Maria Piave, is based on the work "Le Roi s'Amuse" by Victor Hugo.

 

Trying to investigate what importance any of the above metioned works might have had for Vladimir Nabokov ( for example, if he came across the lines at any time and enjoyed discovering one more misleading clue to PF's title...), I started by checking Dmitri Nabokov and "Rigoletto," but Dmitri performances in this opera are recorded only for 1982-83* (in the internet) i.e., too late for its being a helpful clue about Nabokov's acquaintance with the Duke of Mantua/Rigoletto through his son.

 

In "Pale Fire"there is a Renaissance Duchess (directly mentioned by CK, also indirectly in Shade's lines indicating the Duke's bronze statue of Neptune taming a sea-horse, in Robert Browning's "The Last Duchess"), but her husband has been identified as the Duke of Ferrara. ** Lucrezia Borgia, I think, reappears in Ada related to "aqua toffana" (must check into that)

 

If I had eagle eyes and the patience of a dove I could insist in my exploration, using the internet or ordering old copies from "The Gentleman's Magazine" or "The London Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres..."  I don't. But I offer these first intimations should anyone else find the item on Byron-Nabokov-Renaissance-Gipsies and Dukes promising enough...

 

 

 

*Toledo Opera – The History of Toledo Opera  Many of the area's finest vocalists were regulars in productions of Rigoletto, ... Raymond Gibbs in 1981-82; Rigoletto with Louise Russell, Dmitri Nabokov, ...
www.toledoopera.org/history2.html -
The History of Toledo Opera, ACT ONE, Scene Two, by Sally Vallongo
Entering the second decade, the Toledo Opera had established itself as a successful new company ...(and) continued to mount seasons of full productions including La Fanciulla del West with Maralin Niska and Ruben Domenguez in the 1980-81 season; La bohème with Maria Spacagna and Raymond Gibbs in 1981-82; Rigoletto with Louise Russell, Dmitri Nabokov, and Leonore Lanzillotte in 1982-83; and, in 1983-84, The Mikado ...Toledo Opera arrived at its quarter-century mark with a proud record of quality performances...

 

** -  Ferrara, Mantua and Byron: "Torquato Tasso, the poet, fell in love with Leonora d'Este, daughter of Alfonso, duke of Ferrara. The duke confined him as a lunatic for seven years in the asylum of Santa Anna, but at the expiration of that period he was released through the intercession of Vincenzo Gonzago, duke of Mantua. Byron refers to this in his _Childe Harold_, iv. 36."