Read the poem carefully several times. I have provided an explanation of the most difficult words and phrases after the poem, to help you.
Once you have read and understood the poem, use the COMMENTS function to share your ideas in response to some of the following questions:
- What does Nabokov like most about the hills of Oregon?
- Why does he use the '2nd person' when writing? To whom is he speaking and what effect does it have?
- Comment on his use of contrast and/or juxtaposition in the poem.
- Select some of the words which you find the most powerful or important, and explain why he chose them and what effect they have.
- What do you think he means by the final line?
- How does this poem develop and enhance the main WSC theme, 'A World in Motion'?
Esmeralda*! now we rest
Here, in the bewitched and blest
Mountain forests of the West.
Here the very air is stranger.
Damzel, anchoret*, and ranger
Share the woodland’s dream and danger.
And to think I deemed you dead!
(In a dungeon, it was said;
Tortured, strangled); but instead –
Blue birds from the bluest fable,
Bear and hare in coats of sable*,
Peacock moth on picnic table.
Huddled roadsigns softly speak
Of Lake Merlin, Castle Creek,
And (obliterated) Peak*.
Do you recognize that clover?
Dandelions, l’or du pauvre*?
(Europe, nonetheless, is over).
Up the turf, along the burn
Latin* lilies climb and turn
Into Gothic* fir and fern.
Cornfields have befouled* the prairies
But these canyons laugh! And there is
Still the forest with its fairies.
And I rest where I awoke
In the sea shade – l’ombre glauque* –
Of a legendary oak;
Where the woods get ever dimmer,
Where the Phantom Orchids glimmer –
Esmeralda, immer, immer*.
by Vladimir Nabokov
*Esmeralda - a name associated with nature, especially a beetle, and orchid, and a mythical fairy. Above all, however, the word is associated with GREEN.
*Anchoret - someone who has chosen to live life in isolation, sometimes for religious reasons
*Sable - black; darkness
*Lake Merlin, Castle Creek, Peak - natural landmarks in Oregon
*L'or du pauvre - a French phrase meaning 'poor person's gold'
*Latin/Gothic - two different styles; light and romantic/dark and brooding
*Befouled - spoiled or dirtied
*L'ombre glauque - a French phrase meaning 'sea-coloured shadow' (or 'sea shade')
*immer - a German word meaning 'always'
Damzel, anchoret and ranger are all isolated in one way or another. Could this example of juxtaposition have something to do with what Nabakov likes about the hills of Oregon? Maybe he likes the isolated peace.
ReplyDeleteGood point - far simpler alone than in the cornfield-befouled prairies he feared were all that were left.
DeleteNabokov uses the '2nd person' when he is writing because this poem is structured so that he is basically writing to Nature (Esmeralda). It has the effect that Nabokov is almost trying to sway Nature with her own amazing qualities. It gives the effect that he is trying to tell her shes not dead but more alive than ever.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely - like an 'Ode', almost deifying his subject
DeleteI think what he means by the final line is that no matter what happens and who/what interferes, Esmeralda (nature) will always shine through and make a comeback because it would be impossible for any animal and basically anything to exist or have existed ever, and sooner or later, everyone will realize that.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you grace, its telling that at the end nature will win, and that it the most beautiful thing till date. All that almost all living things are in love with Esmeralda.
DeleteI agree. Well done Grace!
DeleteI have spent the last couple of days reading and thinking about this poem. I like the ryme and I think it sounds like his in love with esmeralda (nature) 2nd person helps to make this seem so.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of like a romance, isn't it? See Claude's comment above too.
DeleteNabakov had used the 2nd person to convey his love to Esmeralda -nature-, and this poem is as if it is also conveying how beautiful nature is, and it makes it seem like we are somewhat blind to the amazing beauty. Well, that's what I think.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right - and lots of the other bloggers seem to agree with you too
Delete1. "blue birds from the bluest...moth on picnic table." this quote tells us he is amased of the things around him, mesmerised even. I didn't get where the "hill" came from and i gave this answer instead.
ReplyDelete4. From the poem i chose "...bewitched and blest." because bewitched gives the feeling/meaning of that there's a hex on him and hes possesed by the nature through its beauty and the word also means: sinister, mysterious yet beautiful. Blest gives the thought that the person is in peace, clean, fresh, and the two words combinded says that hes in love(not against his will)with nature.
Excellent, Intan - and I like your choice of the "bewitched and blest" paradox
DeleteProbably my favorite use of contrast in this entire poem is in line 17, and in another language. Yes you guessed it, 'l’or du pauvre'. It's just so nifty if you get me. Meaning 'poor person's gold', now generally poor people don't have gold, at least none I've seen, but it is such a good metaphor, I just really like it and how it sounds. And the contrast is very good, but what he means here is that nature is a poor person's gold since poor people have nothing else, nature is most valuable to them.
ReplyDeleteYou're right - but also think about the fact that literally, being golden yellow, dandelions are his setting's alternative to the luxurious metal
DeleteAlso, the last line is very powerful, some of you might not understand it fully and others of you might, but what is meant by the last line is that Nature (Esmeralda) will always live, no matter what happens to her. This is supported by the line "And to think I deemed you dead! (In a dungeon, it was said; Tortured, strangled);" which tells us that the poet thought Nature was dead 'I deemed you dead'. But really she is still alive which is supported after by the words "but instead..." which confirm she's still alive and then he goes on to tell us how she is still alive. And almost as an apology he tells Nature, "Esmeralda, immer, immer." which is telling her that she will always live, 'immer, immer".
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Much of the initial motivation for the settling of the USA, and the pioneers' movement westwards, was a search for an unspoiled world. Europe had 'gone wrong', and this was their chance to start afresh, rediscovering a paradise lost by Adam and Eve in the bible (or this is how they saw it). So to reach Oregon - about as west as you can go - and find this quasi-paradise was a dream fulfilled.
DeleteThe contrast between the line'(In a dungeon, it was said;
ReplyDeleteTortured, strangled)' and 'Blue birds from the bluest fable,
Bear and hare in coats of sable' is very effective because it conveys how instead of being dead Esmeralda (nature) is very much alive and Nabokov uses this contrast to emphasize how wrong he was about Esmeralda being tortured and strangled.
Definitely. And how relieved he is that the dream I mention in my response to Claude above is still alive
DeleteTo me, it seems that upon travelling to Oregon, Nabokov is endlessly infatuated with how everlasting nature is there. By using second person and the name Esmeralda, he seems to emphasise his romantic beliefs of nature by depicting it as someone that he has dedicated the poem to; almost like a letter to a lover. Also, the mention of Latin and Gothic is a very interesting juxtaposition; it seems as you travel along the hills, the innocence of nature turns into something deeper and more mysterious, even. It's a contrast of light/dark = a balance of the two that can be found within the natural world in Oregon.
ReplyDeleteI like Nabokov's use of "bewitched" and "fairies", as it portrays nature to be something slightly magical and eternal, which is then reflected in the last line.
As the others have mentioned, the poet seemed to believe that nature was dead because he had seen it being demolished and "tortured" during (what I'm guessing would have been) World War 2, and was therefore surprised and rather delighted to find her (Esmeralda) thriving in Oregon.
The last line, "Esmeralda, immer, immer" is a beautiful end to this romantic poem, as it emphasises the wonder (and maybe admiration) of the poet that nature is everlasting, even when he had thought so opposite.
I think this deepens the whole concept of "A World In Motion" by suggesting that the movement of human beings has a fascinating way of curing doubts/enhancing peoples' knowledge.
I find this intriguing. It's almost as if it is saying "there's so many bad things, but for everyone one of them there is a good thing" I don't know...
ReplyDelete6. This poem is relevant to the theme 'A World in Motion' because this is essentially Nabokov's response to where he ended up after fleeing post-war Europe, a 'push' factor of migration. He is expressing how great it is to have moved in poem, and occasionally paints a 'then' and 'now' contrast between what Europe is like and what people thought about the world, and what America is like and how it changed his European view of the world's post-war environment.
ReplyDeleteNabokov didn't expect to have found himself on such a wonderful place, as he says he originally "deemed you [Esmerelda] dead". By this, he's implying that the current environment of Europe is probably hopeless, and so he decides to paint America as a 'promised land' for anyone fleeing Europe.
Regarding the use of 2nd person, I think it not only shows how he loves this 'Esmeralda', but, -- when considering that most songs are written in 2nd person also -- could this poem have been inteded to have be sung by immigrants fleeing Europe for America? Or maybe that's what Nabokov wanted to convey it as, but not be used as. People for a fact did sing to pass the time, I know I sang 'Wheels on the Bus' during school trips in Primary, so what better song to sing than one that celebrates the destination?
Indeed, Nabil.
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