The lines which say "... is a little bit poorer" and "I am definitely richer ..." make one remember two poems (or, to be precise, certain lines from two poems).
One of them says (among other things) : - "I often wonder what the Vintners buy One half so precious as the Goods they sell."
The other (that comes to mind for some reason that I cannot make out) is the poem Ithaka, specifically the lines :- "so you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn't have set out."
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough, on reading the sentence which ends "a little bit poorer ...", my first thought was that it is not quite correct to say so.
So it was a pleasant surprise to find that the next sentence begins with "Except that's not true ..." .
Regards,
Sekhar
ReplyDeleteBy the by, archive.org has quite a few books of Nabokov.
Regards,
Sekhar
ReplyDeleteSorry - many comments on one post.
The lines which say "... is a little bit poorer" and "I am definitely richer ..." make one remember two poems (or, to be precise, certain lines from two poems).
One of them says (among other things) : -
"I often wonder what the Vintners buy
One half so precious as the Goods they sell."
The other (that comes to mind for some reason that I cannot make out) is the poem Ithaka, specifically the lines :-
"so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out."
Regards,
Sekhar