Subject
black aster, Fancytart & Captain Tapper in Ada
From
Date
Body
'Oh, Van, how lovely of you,' said Lucette, slowly entering her room, with her bemused eyes scanning the fascinating flyleaf, his name on it, his bold flourish, and his own wonderful drawings in ink - a black aster (evolved from a blot), a doric column (disguising a more ribald design), a delicate leafless tree (as seen from a classroom window), and several profiles of boys (Cheshcat, Zogdog, Fancytart, and Ada-like Van himself). (1.23)
Hodasevich is the author of Puti i pereput'ya ("Roads and Cross-Roads," 1920-21?), an epigram on Bryusov (whose first volume of Collected Poems was entitled Puti i pereput'ya):
Без мыла нынче трудно жить
Литературным ветеранам -
Решился Брюсов проложить
Свой путь ad gloriam per anum.
Without soap it is difficult to live
for literary veterans these days.
Bryusov has resolved to make his way
ad gloriam per anum.
The Latin phrase in the last line is a play on the saying per aspera [ardua] ad astra (through hardships to the stars). Astra is plural of astrum (Lat., heavenly body) and
Russian for "aster" (the flower on the flyleaf of Van's anthologia).
In a draft of his letter to Demon Van mentions Riverlane, Captain Tapper (a pederast with whom Van has a pistol duel in Kalugano) and the washroom attendant, veteran of the first Crimean War:
In 1884, during my first summer at Ardis, I seduced your daughter, who was then twelve. Our torrid affair lasted till my return to Riverlane; it was resumed last June, four years later. That happiness has been the greatest event in my life, and I have no regrets. Yesterday, though, I discovered she had been unfaithful to me, so we parted. Tapper, I think, may be the chap who was thrown out of one of your gaming clubs for attempting oral intercourse with the washroom attendant, a toothless old cripple, veteran of the first Crimean War. Lots of flowers, please! (1.42)
Alexey Sklyarenko
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Hodasevich is the author of Puti i pereput'ya ("Roads and Cross-Roads," 1920-21?), an epigram on Bryusov (whose first volume of Collected Poems was entitled Puti i pereput'ya):
Без мыла нынче трудно жить
Литературным ветеранам -
Решился Брюсов проложить
Свой путь ad gloriam per anum.
Without soap it is difficult to live
for literary veterans these days.
Bryusov has resolved to make his way
ad gloriam per anum.
The Latin phrase in the last line is a play on the saying per aspera [ardua] ad astra (through hardships to the stars). Astra is plural of astrum (Lat., heavenly body) and
Russian for "aster" (the flower on the flyleaf of Van's anthologia).
In a draft of his letter to Demon Van mentions Riverlane, Captain Tapper (a pederast with whom Van has a pistol duel in Kalugano) and the washroom attendant, veteran of the first Crimean War:
In 1884, during my first summer at Ardis, I seduced your daughter, who was then twelve. Our torrid affair lasted till my return to Riverlane; it was resumed last June, four years later. That happiness has been the greatest event in my life, and I have no regrets. Yesterday, though, I discovered she had been unfaithful to me, so we parted. Tapper, I think, may be the chap who was thrown out of one of your gaming clubs for attempting oral intercourse with the washroom attendant, a toothless old cripple, veteran of the first Crimean War. Lots of flowers, please! (1.42)
Alexey Sklyarenko
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/