A digression...

[Joseph Hutchison]

Good stuff, Tore! And leads to a philosophical/critical issue: if an
allusion, ³toil and blood² in this case, IS an allusion (already something
we¹re assuming: perhaps it¹s an ³original idea²), then we have to accept all
the instances you cite as among the allusions. I.e., no grounds to
discriminate on such scant Pynchonian evidence. Logic is no help here. We
can guess that the author of ³Hail, Columbia² wasn¹t influenced by Adams¹s
letter, which surely wasn¹t published by 1789 (tho¹ I¹m guessing), and we
can guess that Shelley wasn¹t influenced by ³Hail, Columbia² just based on
his known reading habits. But Pynchon, having come of age when everything is
available (hence, everything connected), the frontier remains open.....

Joe H


on 1/4/07 3:03 AM, Tore Rye Andersen at torerye at hotmail.com wrote:

>> >From: "John Carvill" <JCarvill at algsoftware.com>
> 
>> >I've long pondered the possible connection between Pynchon & Dylan.
> 
> [...]
> 
>> >There are a *lot* of 60s musicians named in
>> >'Vineland', though not Dylan. Paradoxically, there are what seem to be a
>> >number of Dylan references sprinkled through that book, eg. Dylan's
>> >"another lifetime, one of toil and blood" (from Shelter From The Storm)
>> >perhaps influencing Pynchon's "in our world of toil and blood".
> 
> From John Adams' letter to his wife on the eve of American Indepence in
> 1776:
> 
> You will think me transported with enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware
> of the toil and blood and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this
> Declaration, and support and defend these states. . . . I can see that the
> end is more than worth all the means. And that posterity will triumph in
> that day's transaction . . .
> 
> From "Hail, Columbia" (the first American national anthem, music composed in
> 1789, lyrics added in 1798):
> 
> Immortal patriots, rise once more,
> Defend your rights, defend your shore!
> Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
> Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
> Invade the shrine where sacred lies
> Of toil and blood, the well-earned prize,
> While off'ring peace, sincere and just,
> In Heaven's we place a manly trust,
> That truth and justice will prevail,
> And every scheme of bondage fail.
> 
> From "The Mask of Anarchy" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1819):
> 
> What if English toil and blood
> Was poured forth, even as a flood?
> It availed, Oh, Liberty,
> To dim, but not extinguish thee.
> 
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