Not text, but texture

Just this: not text, but texture; not the dream
But topsy-turvical coincidence,
Not flimsy nonsense, but a web of sense.
Yes! It sufficed that I in life could find
Some kind of link-and-bobolink, some kind
Of correlated pattern in the game,
Plexed artistry, and something of the same
Pleasure in it as they who played it found.

These lines (808-815) of the poem Pale Fire appear to be a joyous epiphany that struck John Shade after he realized that his white fountain image did not correspond to the woman’s vision when she had a heart attack. At first, Shade is disappointed that the white fountain was actually a white mountain, and that the word “fountain” was a misprint in the article. But he soon realizes that it is exactly this coincidence – the twist of fate that he should read an article with a misprint about a fountain that corresponds so closely to his own experience during a seizure – that demonstrates the web of connection in the world. In Shade’s words, such unlikely convergences, even though the convergence was not of the nature for which he was originally hoping, prove that there exists a “web of sense.” He seems to take great satisfaction from this revelation, seeing “something of the same pleasure in it as they who played it found.” In this way, Shade has come to appreciate the architecture of the universe in the same manner that a painter would value the hidden subtleties and connections present in his painting. These last lines of the stanza are intriguing on another level, as they appear to be suggesting that there is some greater power that can design the “web” of the universe and that can play with different elements to reach a desired structure. Judging from the rest of the poem and the commentary, Shade is not a religious person, although he most definitely contemplates such religion-related quandaries as life after death. Perhaps this is another instance of Shade addressing the issue of religion, in which he acknowledges that there is some sort of “player” that controls the “correlated pattern in the game.”

Finally, it is the first line of this stanza (808) that appears to have the most relevance to the concept of Shade understanding the essence of things. He realizes that his attempt to directly make sense of the world (the failed white fountain escapade) did not turn up any concrete, straightforward answers as a book or encyclopedia might provide. But through the coincidence of the fountain-mountain misprint, Shade was made privy to a more nebulous feeling of the universe – in other words he detected its texture. It is as if direct confrontation with the world to determine its essence will leave one empty-handed, as there is no individual text that provides a summary. On the other hand, those who heed the signs of apparently trivial coincidences and events – matters that seem to be beside the point – will be rewarded with an understanding of texture and the rough web of connection. Thus, Shade takes a misprint that at first seems only to deter his understanding of the nature of things, and uses it to discern “not text, but texture” in his surroundings.