Help me, Will

[andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk]

I wrote:
>  Err, . . . not quite. Pale Fire comes from Timon of Athens, Infinite
>  Jest from Hamlet.  However, the original poster would have done better
>  to look to the source in Timon of Athens for the relation of Shade to
>  Kinbote. From memory (no not the Zemblan translation but the original)
>  `The moon's a thief for her pale fire she steals from the sun . . . '
>  The contrast is between the direct light of the sun and the pale fire
>  of of the moon's stolen, reflected light."

Dkipen at aol.com replied:
> Ouch. In yo' face, says Andrew, snuffing me in front of everybody on
> this literary playground of ours. Or does he? From "Hamlet," Act I,
> Scene v: "The glowworm shows the matin to be near,/And 'gins to pale
> his uneffectual fire."  That's where I always thought the title came
> from, and it seems to work pretty well with Mr. Dinn's admirably
> lucid solar exegesis. Serves me right for using Bartlett's instead
> of a Wagstaff concordance, I guess. Split the difference, Andrew? Or
> do you have confirmation from base on the Timon quote?

Well, well well. Didn't know there were any pale fires in Hamlet. I
don't understand what was so `in yo' face' about my reply and I
certainly had no intention to snuff anyone's candle (here comes the
candle . . .). But VN leaves so many clues around pointing to the
Timon of Athens quote that it is not at all difficult to find and
confirm it as the source (which I did some few years back only I have
now lost track of where it occurs).  The clincher if you want it is
that in one of his notes he translates from his Zemblan copy of Timon
back into English producing a paraphrase of the lines which include
the phrase `pale fire'. This at the same time as he bemoans the fact
that he cannot locate one of Shade's Shakespeare allusions since he
has nothing with him in his caravan in the woods other than this sole
play in Zemblan. The translation is indeed a pale rezemblance and it
may not hold a candle to the original but it's hard to doubt this is
what is intended.

> Oh and by the way, forgive me for intruding on a lot of really
> fascinating internecine warfare here, some of it
> even-Pynchon-related, but would anybody care to read the first
> sentence of a little tossoff from Henry Holt called "Mason & Dixon"?
> Here goes:

> "Snow-Balls have flown their Arcs, starr'd the Sides of
> Outbuildings, carried Hats away into the brisk Wind off Delaware,--
> the Sleds are brought in and their Runners carefully dried and
> greased, Shoes deposited in the back Hall, a stocking'd-foot Descent
> made upon the great Kitchen, in a purposeful Dither since Morning,
> punctuated by the ringing Lids of Boilers and Stewing-Pots, fragrant
> with Pie-Spices, peel'd Fruits, Suet, heated Sugar,-- the Children,
> having all upon the Fly, among rhythmic slaps of Batter and Spoon,
> coax'd and stolen what they might, proceed, as upon each afternoon
> all this snowy Winter, to a comfortable room at the rear of the
> House, years since given over to their carefree Assaults."

> It came yesterday morning. Go to town. Beware, though. In hopes of
> adding a little I.A. Richards/Gene Rayburn piquancy to the whole
> affair, I've taken the liberty of replacing one of the words with a
> near-synonym. Any guesses, Pynchomanes?

Arcs ==> Parabolas?


Andrew Dinn
-----------
And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
To the rushing water speak:  I am.