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Re: THOUGHTS on two metaphors from Canto 4
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In a message dated 4/29/2010 9:47:31 PM Central Daylight Time,
Rsgwynn1@CS.COM writes:
>
> What's even stranger is that this single mention of Zembla in Shade's poem
> is not commented on by Kinbote at all. After all his listening to
> chattering Kinbote, Shade can't be faulted for using one "Zembla" in his 999 lines,
> even if the "distant northern land" is here only the "country of [his]
> cheek."
>
> Shade has earlier told us, in his long (895-938) passage on how much he
> hates his daily shave (an ode to simply being alive) that he is "in the class
> of fussy bimanists" when it comes to wielding a razor. Thus, the "slaves
> [who] make hay between his mouth and nose" are his two hands.
I should also add that the standard razor of the period was the
double-edged Gillette blade, should anyone wonder why two slaves should have to share a
single blade.
"Beirut" literally means "the wells." Shade's nostrils?
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Rsgwynn1@CS.COM writes:
>
> What's even stranger is that this single mention of Zembla in Shade's poem
> is not commented on by Kinbote at all. After all his listening to
> chattering Kinbote, Shade can't be faulted for using one "Zembla" in his 999 lines,
> even if the "distant northern land" is here only the "country of [his]
> cheek."
>
> Shade has earlier told us, in his long (895-938) passage on how much he
> hates his daily shave (an ode to simply being alive) that he is "in the class
> of fussy bimanists" when it comes to wielding a razor. Thus, the "slaves
> [who] make hay between his mouth and nose" are his two hands.
I should also add that the standard razor of the period was the
double-edged Gillette blade, should anyone wonder why two slaves should have to share a
single blade.
"Beirut" literally means "the wells." Shade's nostrils?
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/