INSPIRATION - Arbitrium Divisa - Gregory Richard Barden's Blog

I've been asked by a number of people what the inspiration for "Arbitrium Divisa" was, (or where the idea came from), so I thought I'd share it - this little masterpiece of four lines comes from a much larger work, the 999-line poem, (published as a book), by Vladimir Nabokov entitled "PALE FIRE" ...

It was one of the first "required reading" books that I was forced to take on in prep school many years ago, and one of the primary reasons I came to love poetry and reading, (along with The Good Doctor, Isaac Asimov, and Walt Whitman). I highly recommend it, for as this exerpt demonstrates so effectively, it is full of rich and imaginative imagery and phrasing ...

In my humble opinion, an entire book could be written about the depth and beauty of these lines, the layers of meaning and their relationship to life and death, and the pictures that they paint in the mind of the reader. They are simply exquisite, and I can think of no other four-line section of verse that ever affected me quite so intensely ...

I was the shadow of the waxwing slain

By the false azure in the windowpane;

I was the smudge of ashen fluff - and I

Lived on, flew on, in the reflected sky.

          - from "Pale Fire", by Vladimir Nabokov

( The most recent Arbitrium Divisa contest will be finalized this weekend )