I'm certain that Nabokov must have had, at least at the back of
his mind, the word "ament" as related to the existing pathology: "a-mentia"
( the particle "a" indicates "absence" and "ment" refers
to "mind" ). The sentence speaks of "drained brain and brown
ament".
Still, "ament", as it is used in this verse, literally means "catkin"
( bisexual "Botkins" lurking somewhere, too?) but they
also slide towards the netherlands ( not Holland, certainly)
as ' "Amentet" ( or "Ament"), patron of the gates of the underworld, a
woman dressed in the robes of a queen": Here Ament is the consort of
Aken and she greets the souls of the newly dead, offering them bread
and water. Just like our poet, newly dead some thirty lines
later...
So much for Shade's "fantastically planned/ Richly
rhymed life"!
Wikipedia informs: Catkins, or
aments, are slim, cylindrical flower clusters, wind-pollintated and
without petals, that can be found in many plant families.They contain
unisexual flowers. Often one plant has only male catkins, while another has
female, but it is also possible for a plant to contain both male and female
catkins. Oak, birch, willow, alder and poplar are
catkin-bearing.
In Brazil we have a plant named "rabo de gato"
( cat-tail), that has an inflorescence similar in shape to
the Catkin's.
Its scientific name name is Acalypha reptans (
Euphorbiaceae,Angiospermae).
Another coincidence would hint that "kin" ( in Botkin) might have some
kind of link with "tail" ( queue, cue).
Jansy