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Re: "Pale Fire" poem (quality of)
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Didn't Nabokov state, perhaps in SO, that in his opinion John Shade was "the best fictional poet" he knew? ( I don't remember his exact words)
----- Original Message -----
From: Chaswe@AOL.COM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 7:31 PM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] "Pale Fire" poem (quality of)
In a message dated 01/11/2006 20:02:54 GMT Standard Time, chtodel@GSS.UCSB.EDU
Don Johnson wrote:
We know that VN had high regard for the poem--although it has little
in common with the great bulk of his verse. Further, there is always an
element
of individual tastes in poetry. N. was obviously trying to recreate a
"classic"
English style with a whiff of Frost. If Pope isn't your cuppa of tea you
probably won't care for the poem. For the role in the book as a whole,
it often
stunning.
I did read a comment that VN had said that composing Pale Fire the poem was one of the most difficult things he had done; and I accept Matthew Roth's statement that he gave a public reading of it once. However, did he actually say that he had a high regard for it, as an original poetic composition he was proud of? He doesn't strike me as someone who would ever say such a thing about his own work. But I'm happy to be corrected.
Differences in taste are certainly, and traditionally, said be something not open to discussion or dispute: not something I'm sure I entirely agree with.
I wouldn't say Shade's poem has anything much at all in common with Pope. On the other hand I would say it strongly resembles Wordsworth's Prelude, with more of a whiff of Edsel than of Frost. My impression is that these days Wordsworth is more highly admired in America than in England. Most of my contemporaries reading English when I was an undergraduate found it extremely difficult to enthuse over much of Wordsworth. "Two voices are there ..." etc. Personally I find The Prelude prosaic in long stretches, although it occasionally rises above itself.
Shade's poem, and its quality, is obviously an absolutely crucial and critical feature of VN's book. Perhaps one's whole understanding of the book hinges on the poetic quality one attaches to the poem.
Charles Harrison-Wallace
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----- Original Message -----
From: Chaswe@AOL.COM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 7:31 PM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] "Pale Fire" poem (quality of)
In a message dated 01/11/2006 20:02:54 GMT Standard Time, chtodel@GSS.UCSB.EDU
Don Johnson wrote:
We know that VN had high regard for the poem--although it has little
in common with the great bulk of his verse. Further, there is always an
element
of individual tastes in poetry. N. was obviously trying to recreate a
"classic"
English style with a whiff of Frost. If Pope isn't your cuppa of tea you
probably won't care for the poem. For the role in the book as a whole,
it often
stunning.
I did read a comment that VN had said that composing Pale Fire the poem was one of the most difficult things he had done; and I accept Matthew Roth's statement that he gave a public reading of it once. However, did he actually say that he had a high regard for it, as an original poetic composition he was proud of? He doesn't strike me as someone who would ever say such a thing about his own work. But I'm happy to be corrected.
Differences in taste are certainly, and traditionally, said be something not open to discussion or dispute: not something I'm sure I entirely agree with.
I wouldn't say Shade's poem has anything much at all in common with Pope. On the other hand I would say it strongly resembles Wordsworth's Prelude, with more of a whiff of Edsel than of Frost. My impression is that these days Wordsworth is more highly admired in America than in England. Most of my contemporaries reading English when I was an undergraduate found it extremely difficult to enthuse over much of Wordsworth. "Two voices are there ..." etc. Personally I find The Prelude prosaic in long stretches, although it occasionally rises above itself.
Shade's poem, and its quality, is obviously an absolutely crucial and critical feature of VN's book. Perhaps one's whole understanding of the book hinges on the poetic quality one attaches to the poem.
Charles Harrison-Wallace
Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB
Contact the Editors
All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.
Visit Zembla
View Nabokv-L Policies
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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