I recall certain moments, let us call them icebergs in paradise, when after having had my fill of her after fabulous, insane exertions that left me limp and azure-barredI would gather her in my arms with, at last, a mute moan of human tenderness (her skin glistening in the neon light coming from the paved court through the slits in the blind, her soot-black lashes matted, her grave gray eyes more vacant than everfor all the world a little patient still in the confusion of a drug after a major operation)and the tenderness would deepen to shame and despair, and I would lull and rock my lone light Lolita in my marble arms, and moan in her warm hair, and caress her at random and mutely ask her blessing, and at the peak of this human agonized selfless tenderness (with my soul actually hanging around her naked body and ready to repent), all at once, ironically, horribly, lust would swell againand 'oh, no,' Lolita would say with a sigh to heaven, and the next moment the tenderness and the azureall would be shattered.
About This Quote
About Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita.
Themes
- Love — Quotes exploring romantic love, compassion, and human connection