a fool in the forest

Epigraphs

  • A fool, a fool! I met a fool i' the
        forest,
    A motley fool; a miserable world!
    As I do live by food, I met a fool
    Who laid him down and bask'd him
        in the sun,
    And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good
        terms,
    In good set terms and yet a motley
        fool.

    As You Like It,
    Act II, Scene 7

    L'homme y passe à travers des
        forêts de symboles
    Qui l'observent avec des regards
        familiers.

    Les Fleurs du Mal,
    “Correspondances”

    [T]here is almost no subject-matter, and what little one can disentangle is foolish....
    One would call the style verbose, except that by definition verbosity is the use of words in excess of the occasion, and there seems to be no occasion.

    Yvor Winters,
    Forms of Discovery, Ch. 7


    Best Personal Blog
    by a Legally-Oriented
    Male Blogger

    Blawg Review Awards 2005

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February 23, 2005

What's Ha-Pnin? -- the Return of the Double Dactyls

Perhaps you have been curious as to why I have posted no new double dactyls since before the turn of the year.  I blame a drought of inspiration, and a temporary inability to spot or conjure up properly dactylic proper names. 

Yesterday morning standing beneath a hot shower -- prime conditions for composing double dactyls in one's head -- I thought of the six-syllabled name of the emigré author of such modern classics as Lolita and Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov.  A subject, at last!  My pleasure dissipated, however, as I realized that the name only fit properly if one mispronounced it.  But soft! is that the metaphorical sound of life's metaphorical lemons being squeezed to produce a bracing pitcher of metaphorical lemonade?  Indeed it is, and the result of quaffing that refreshing faux-Parnassian draught is this, my first double dactyl of two-double-ought-five:

Nabokov_1A Pronouncement

Lovely Lolita says:
"'Vlah-dimir Nah-bokov'
Isn't correct when pro-
nouncing his name.

"Don't Stand So Close to Me
Has it all wrong: say 'Vla-
Dih-mir Na-boh-kov' or
Wither in shame."

For Further Reading:  The writer provides guidance in the correct pronunciation of his name in this interview from 1965; he also gives pointers for speaking of another of his creations, Professor Pnin.  Elsewhere, in the "You Never Know What You Might Find on the Internet" category: CNN provides an interactive map on which to trace the travels of Humbert Humbert and Miss Dolores Haze from the redwood forests to the Gulf's green waters.

Bonus Poetry Content:  On the occasion of our improving Southern California weather, under the influence of Schenectady's own haikuEsq, a postdiluvian haiku of sorts:

Storm clouds withdrawn
Rainbow climbs
Above the car wash

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Comments

Although "postdiluvian" may be a bit premature, George, it's never too soon to share a haiku moment. Thanks.

Mathematicians, they
Deal with fractals
But not double-dactyls
Like some Fools we know.

What could be neater
Than using this meter?
A sestine could be sweeter,
But then again, no.

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