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Re: Ex, Ardis, Mont Roux, Bohemian lady in Ada
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...I suppose that here the reference [Our Lady 's Tears] is to one of those two wines: the "Liebfraumilch" and the Italian "Lacryma Christi." (I didn't check the VN-L but I'm sure it's mentioned there)
Jansy Mello: In fact, easily checked in the VN-L archives (circa 4/02/2013) and it carries a gem:
Stan Kelly: I suspect VN may also be punning on the slang meaning of "hock" = "pawn."[ ] Later your goods are REDEEMED = returned to you...There are fanciful ditties where the object being pawned is one's heart or dream. VN's "Our Lady's Tears" falls into this category.
Brian Boyd: Excellent find, Stan! Indubitable and utterly obvious once it's pointed out, but I don't know that I'd ever have seen it myself: just the sort of hide-it-under your nose magic VN loves. It's all the more hidden because of the aura of snobbishness and hyperlucre that surrounds Baron Demon Veen and is reinforced here with the Lord Byron and Lady (even if she's of a different provenance), which keeps the pawnshop well off the mental radar for most of us.
Probably A.Sklyarenko was emphasizing Russian connections, mainly from non-fictional sources.*
Another distant link might be with Swinburne's "Our Lady of Pain."**
.......................................................................................
* - Chekhov's letter to Suvorin begins: It is easy to understand you, and there is no need for you to abuse yourself for obscurity of expression. You are a hard drinker, and I have regaled you with sweet lemonade [Chekhov's story Ward No. 6], and you, after giving the lemonade its due, justly observe that there is no spirit in it. That is just what is lacking in our productions—the alcohol which could intoxicate and subjugate, and you state that very well.
At the family dinner in "Ardis the Second" Demon praises Lord Byron's Hock: 'Ah!' said Demon, tasting Lord Byron's Hock. 'This redeems Our Lady's Tears.' (1.38)
** - As we all remember, a variation of the following lines by Swinburne is found in ADA and is unrelated to Demon and Marina:
.....
Time turns the old days to derision,
Our loves into corpses or wives;
And marriage and death and division
Make barren our lives.
http://www.mimir.net/ladyofpain/dolores.shtml
"Who wrote that? Voltimand or Voltemand? Or the Burning Swine? A pest on his anapest! ‘All our old loves are corpses or wives.’ All our sorrows are virgins or whores." (Penguin p.288)
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Jansy Mello: In fact, easily checked in the VN-L archives (circa 4/02/2013) and it carries a gem:
Stan Kelly: I suspect VN may also be punning on the slang meaning of "hock" = "pawn."[ ] Later your goods are REDEEMED = returned to you...There are fanciful ditties where the object being pawned is one's heart or dream. VN's "Our Lady's Tears" falls into this category.
Brian Boyd: Excellent find, Stan! Indubitable and utterly obvious once it's pointed out, but I don't know that I'd ever have seen it myself: just the sort of hide-it-under your nose magic VN loves. It's all the more hidden because of the aura of snobbishness and hyperlucre that surrounds Baron Demon Veen and is reinforced here with the Lord Byron and Lady (even if she's of a different provenance), which keeps the pawnshop well off the mental radar for most of us.
Probably A.Sklyarenko was emphasizing Russian connections, mainly from non-fictional sources.*
Another distant link might be with Swinburne's "Our Lady of Pain."**
.......................................................................................
* - Chekhov's letter to Suvorin begins: It is easy to understand you, and there is no need for you to abuse yourself for obscurity of expression. You are a hard drinker, and I have regaled you with sweet lemonade [Chekhov's story Ward No. 6], and you, after giving the lemonade its due, justly observe that there is no spirit in it. That is just what is lacking in our productions—the alcohol which could intoxicate and subjugate, and you state that very well.
At the family dinner in "Ardis the Second" Demon praises Lord Byron's Hock: 'Ah!' said Demon, tasting Lord Byron's Hock. 'This redeems Our Lady's Tears.' (1.38)
** - As we all remember, a variation of the following lines by Swinburne is found in ADA and is unrelated to Demon and Marina:
.....
Time turns the old days to derision,
Our loves into corpses or wives;
And marriage and death and division
Make barren our lives.
http://www.mimir.net/ladyofpain/dolores.shtml
"Who wrote that? Voltimand or Voltemand? Or the Burning Swine? A pest on his anapest! ‘All our old loves are corpses or wives.’ All our sorrows are virgins or whores." (Penguin p.288)
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/