Pale Fire

Inspired by one of Shade’s references to a poem by Goethe, Kinbote returns to the story of King Charles, who referenced the same lines while escaping from Zembla. When another reference appears—this time to a Robert Browning poem—Kinbote criticizes the “fashionable device” of titling a new poem using a line from an old poem. Kinbote also references Sybil’s translations. He would criticize these also, but he chooses not to do so out of tact.

When Shade’s poem describes gloomy Russians, Kinbote notes the similarity between the gloom of Soviet Russia and the gloom of post-revolution Zembla. The Russians (Andronnikov and Niagarin) who tried to find the crown jewels in the Zemblan palace, Kinbote notes, were quite cheerful, even though they never found the jewels.

Shade had a heart attack in October 1958. At that same time, the disguised King Charles arrived in America via parachute. He was collected in a Rolls Royce by Sylvia O’Donnell’s personal chauffeur. In the car, a newspaper article describing Shade’s health issue was circled in red pen. Kinbote, referring to himself in the first person when speaking of King Charles, speaks about his excitement over meeting Shade, which ebbed when he thought Shade might die.