Ulalume by Edgar Allan Poe

Before you read the rest of my blog, you must go read "Ulalume" (especially if you have never read it before). You can find the Poe poem here.






You must see the eerily familiar connections between this poem and Pale Fire.

The mention of "sybilic" splendour, blinking flickering lights giving warnings, the loss of a loved female, maybe even two lost loved females (although I have a sinking feeling that the Psyche he speaks of, walks with, and mistrusts the stars is only his own soul)..... and especially the lake of Auber.

Also, the name of the title may be only a beautiful sounding flow of letters, or it may be the sound of a sad, crying man..... but it could also allude to the Latin lumen, a light symbolizing sorrow. See where I'm going with this?

We know that Nabokov was a huge fan of Poe, and we also know that there are huge ties between Lolita and Annabel Lee. I say Ulalume is to Pale Fire as Annabel Lee is to Lolita. What do you think?

To add to this interesting connection, we have the Catocala Ulalume, a species of butterfly discovered in 1878 by a man named Strecker:




Nabokov most certainly knew of this species while creating his work. There's no way he couldn't have, right? Yes....right.