NPPF Canto 1: "smudge of ashen fluff"

[Malignd]

<<No, this is pretty much the opposite of what I've
been saying. Nabokov's poem is an entertaining and
well-written parody and, as such, of "good quality";
Shade's poem, however, is bombastic and
self-indulgent.>>

I haven't lost sight, although I don't always note it,
of the difference between the poem as Nabokov's and
the poem as Shade's.  But I think in drawing such a
hard line between VN's excellent parody and Shade's
less-than-excellent poem (a difference one shouldn’t
lose track of), one may gain a useful critical
foothold, but at the expense of much of VN's subtlety.
 

The poem, with (I think intended (by VN)) lapses, is
still far better (as Shade's) than you're giving it
credit for being.  And my best guess would be that
that's intended; i.e., Nabokov might be winking, but
not quite so obviously or consistently that a reader
can be certain of it.

<<http://art3idea.ce.psu.edu/boundaries/basics/cc_nabokov.html>>

The test tube and caliper.


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