Alexey Sklyarenko: 'Okh, nado
passati!' exclaimed Percy in the Slavic slang he affected, blowing out his
cheeks and fumbling frantically at his fly. (Ada, 1.39) As I pointed out before
(Nab-l, 24.05.10), the phrase tempi passati (It., "past times") occurs in
Heinrich Heine's "The Journey from Munich to Genoa" (Chapter XXX). But this
phrase also occurs in Herzen's Byloe i dumy ("Bygones and Meditations," Part
Four, Chapter XXX, 2): Note the mention of Mmes de Sta£l and Récamier
(there is a Récamier room in Ada: 3.3). ..The noun pisatel' comes from pisat'
(to write). If stressed on the first, rather than second, syllable, pisat' means
"to piss." Percy de Prey's vulgar slang phrase (the first of the two a's in
passati should be changed to o) means: "Oh, I must piss."
JM: Alexey moved on from
Heine to Herzen, and came to Mme Stael and Récamier. He added a translation of
"pisat" (write;piss). The act of writing and
ever-flowing death lie very close to John Shade's plights with Gradus (rather
unlike "Here papa pisses" or "Pippa passes").
Going back to "Ada": Percy was going to die very soon,
wasn't he?*
Juliette Recamier reminds one of her famous
"couch" (cf. painting by J-Louis David) and her salon, where she
received ever-present François-René de Chateaubriand for years.
She was also a friend of Mme Stael.
..............................................................................................................................................
Vergil, Georgics 3.284: "But meanwhile it flees, irretrievable time flees"
(sed fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus).
Horace,Ode
2:14" Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,/labuntur anni"
Horace,Odes 1.11.7-8: "Jealous time will have fled" (fugerit inuida /
aetas).
Horace, Odes 2.5.13-14: "For savage time is running" (currit enim
ferox / aetas).
Horace, Odes 3.30.4-5: "An uncountable succession of years
and the flight of seasons" (innumerabilis / annorum series et fuga temporum).
Ovid, Amores 1.8.49: "Winged time slips by in secret and escapes our notice"
(labitur occulte fallitque uolatilis aetas).