''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses

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following the road of its rhythm,
riding past in a rhyme, skidding
around the corner of a run-on,
breathing with the caesura, swinging
down to the foot of the page
from line to line as from branch
to branch, hiding between two
words,..., reappearing on the horizon
of a new canto, steadily marching
nearer in iambic motion,... (78).
With its extravagant imagery this is one of the most
extraordinary notes, and where it appears, quite
early in the commentary, its contents seem just as
extraordinary as the form. It is at that moment not
clear at all what possible purpose the coordination
of Gradus' approach and the movement and development
of the poem might serve. The note simply looks like
one of the many striking examples of Kinbote's comic
overreading of the poem and his total unconcern
toward what it is really about. It transpires
only very gradually, and it becomes quite clear only
at the end, what his purpose is: a series of events
has been set in motion which aim at his (Kinbote'"s)
death, in which Gradus takes an important part, and
in which Shade will be caught up, although they are
really quite extraneous to his own existence. Shade
is ignorant of them, and he cannot resist or stop
the development. While he is writing his poem, making
plans and looking into the future confidently, his
fate is prepared in a distant place. Step by step and
inescapably it moves towards him in a sequence of
incidents connected with Gradus' pursuit of Kinbote
(King Charles of Zembla). Following the individual
steps in Gradus' approach and at the same time fol-