Lo-lee-Ta.

Vladimir Nabokov makes art out of his words.

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

The alliteration alone in this beginning paragraph of Lolita is beautiful. "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins." The "L's" slip off your tongue and the "T's" trip like skipping feet down steps to the "Lo. Lee. Ta". The alliteration sets continue into the second sentence, making the whole paragraph sound like a stanza from a poem. "My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-Ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth."

Like I said, the whole paragraph and several of those following this one are incredibly poetic in both rhythm and sound. Nabokov's poetic style automatically grabs my attention as a writer--and a poet, at that--and creates a an atmosphere of literary romance. These opening sections of Lolita, in their syntactical and poetic loveliness seem flawless as pieces of literature. Nabokov's romantic style here reminds me of the poet Marlowe and his "Passionate Shephearde to His Love" and its idealized sense of love and rhythm. Both writers have complete control over their words and use that control to create an airy, syllabic rhythm, dotted with great alliteration. They definitely create a soft mood of warm love and through this mood, Nabokov maintains the voice of a nostalgic lover throughout the excerpts.

Nabokov writes in a running style--there is no organization to this opening passage, necessarily--it is just him gushing over his love, his Lolita, and emphasizing the sounds of her name as they roll off his tongue.