Query: In his sonnet "On Translating
Eugene Onegin," Nabokov describes his intention to retrieve Tatiana's
earring (they are not mentioned as a pair at this point).
Was he referring to those she'd lost in her
dream and whose symbolism she investigates in a dream
book? Would Nabokov be indicating something else by his
having mentioned only one earring, such as his being a solitary
scholiast in a dreamlike trance? [ when VN checked into an old edition
of Martin Zadeka's book he described sér'gi ("earrings";
plural).]
The French translation I consulted doesn't follow EO's
rhyme scheme reproduced in VN's original. Does this defeat the purpose
of his homage to Pushkin and add dove-droppings on VN's
poem?
Here are the lines:
Elusive Pushkin! Persevering,/ I still pick
up Tatiana's earring,/ Still travel with your sullen rake [....] This is my task
- a poet's patience/ And scholiastic passion blent:/ Dove-droppings on your
monument.
In his other verses he must be referring to Pushkin's
"Exegi Monumentum," where the poet is certain that the "sacred lyre" of his
poems shall endow immortality and fame to his soul ( at least as
long as there are poets in the world, a recurrent theme.) The image of doves in a sudden flight agitating a
rigid monument is found in VN's RLSK and it delights V.
However, VN's self-critical note
on "dove-droppings" is very harsh, as if he had condemned his muse for not
having loosened the pursed strings of his
translation.