Pleasure (45 page)

SECOND BOOK, CHAPTER III

1
.
Adoremus:
“Let us adore/worship” (Latin).

2
.
Termini:
Plural of Terminus, a boundary stone or post.

3
.
genius loci:
In ancient Roman times, a genius loci was the guardian spirit of a place.

4
.
q
uattrocento:
The fifteenth century (Italian).

5
.
escutcheon:
A shield portraying a coat of arms.

6
.
alerion:
An eagle, used as a symbol in heraldry.

7
.
Obermann's words:
From
Selections from Letters to a Friend:
Novel by Étienne Pivert de Senancour (1770–1846), translated and republished in 1901. “Unhappy in the years of joy, what can I expect from future years? I am like those old men from whom all things have taken flight; but more unfortunate than they, I have lost everything long before I have myself reached the consummation of life.”

8
.
chryselephantine:
Made of gold and ivory.

SECOND BOOK, CHAPTER IV

1
.
Luigi Rameau's gavotte:
Some critics believe this to refer to Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764) and this gavotte to derive from his ballet
Naïs
(1749). Others believe that this gavotte and this composer are sheer invention on the part of D'Annunzio.

2
.
punctum saliens:
The essential or most notable point (Latin).

3
.
Memling:
The German-born painter, Hans Memling (c. 1430–August 1494).

4
.
Be simple as a dove:
D'Annunzio has inverted the original quote from Matthew 10:16, which has been variously translated in different versions of the Bible; one of these, in its full extent, is “Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves: therefore be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

5
.
Silver key of the fountain of tears:
Percy Bysshe Shelley, “A Fragment: To Music,” 1817.

6
.
such as dreams are made on:
In English in the original text. From William Shakespeare,
The Tempest,
act 4, scene 1, 148–58.

7
.
This allegory:
The passage in the text I translated from D'Annunzio's interpretation of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem “An Allegory” (1824), which reads as follows: “I. A portal as of shadowy adamant / Stands yawning on the highway of the life / Which we all tread, a cavern huge and gaunt; / Around it rages an unceasing strife / Of shadows, like the restless clouds that haunt / The gap of some cleft mountain, lifted high / Into the whirlwinds of the upper sky. / II. And many pass it by with careless tread, / Not knowing that a shadowy . . . / Tracks every traveller even to where the dead / Wait peacefully for their companion new; / But others, by more curious humour led, / Pause to examine;—these are very few, / And they learn little there, except to know / That shadows follow them where'er they go.”

8
.
“Who ever lov'd, that lov'd not at first sight?”
:
In English in the original.

9
.
Monte Cassino:
Montecassino Abbey is a Benedictine monastery founded in approximately
A.D.
529 by Saint Benedict, on the mountain Monte Cassino, about eighty miles south of Rome. It has had a turbulent history, having been destroyed and rebuilt several times, and is now a national monument. It houses a five-thousand-reed organ.

10
.
ostensorium:
The ostensorium, also called ostensory or monstrance, is a vessel used to display the host (Blessed Sacrament), made of gold, silver, brass, or copper. It usually takes the form of a sun emitting rays.

11
.
each pond seemed . . . undulating there:
From Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem “To Jane: The Recollection” (1822), stanza 5: “We paused beside the pools that lie / Under the forest bough,— / Each seemed as 'twere a little sky / Gulfed in a world below; / A firmament of purple light / Which in the dark earth lay, / More boundless than the depth of night, / And purer than the day— / In which the lovely forests grew, / As in the upper air, / More perfect both in shape and hue / Than any spreading there.”

12
.
And delicate views . . . gentler than the one above:
The rest of this paragraph also echoes Shelley's poem, as it continues in the same stanza.

13
.
And forget me, for I can
never
Be thine!:
In English in the original. From a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Magnetic Lady to Her Patient” (1822).

THIRD BOOK, CHAPTER I

1
.
Amie avec les hanches:
“Female friend with hips” (French).

2
.
Claudio Lorenese:
Claude Lorrain (Gellée) (c. 1600–1682), also called le Lorrain, Claudio Lorenese, or Claude. A French painter who lived mostly in Italy and was noted for his landscapes full of harmony and light.

3
.
demi-mondaines:
Literally, “half-world”; referring to women in the late nineteenth century who were generally divorced or single, and led an active social life supported by rich lovers (French).

4
.
Gratulor tibi!
:
“I congratulate you” (Latin).

5
.
O douce barbe feminine:
“O sweet feminine beard” (French).

6
.
le drap de la blonde qui dort:
“The sheet of the sleeping blonde” (French).

7
.
Philippe de Bourgogne:
Philippe III de Bourgogne, Duke of Burgundy (1396–1467), founded the Order of the Golden Fleece.

8
.
sans plume et sans duvet:
“Without feathers and without down” (French).

9
.
Anabasis:
Term stemming from the retreat of Greek mercenaries in Asia Minor, described in the
Anabasis
of Xenophon; a difficult, perilous military retreat.

10
.
speculum voluptatis:
“Mirror of pleasure” (Latin).

11
.
voluptatis ocellus:
“The little eye of pleasure” (Latin).

12
.
Breviarium Arcanum:
“Secret/mysterious breviary” (Latin).

13
.
cabinets particuliers:
A private room where a man could meet his lover (French).

14
.
we will not have to resign ourselves:
“As for women, there is no indication that women of any class were admitted to the Caffe Greco.” Margaret Farrand Thorp, “Literary Sculptors in the Caffe Greco,”
American Quarterly
12, no. 2, pt. 1 (Summer 1960), p. 172.

15
.
Caffè di Roma:
D'Annunzio is undoubtedly referring to the Caffè Greco in Via de' Condotti, a gathering place of intellectuals and artists, which he often frequented (and which still exists). As women were not encouraged to visit the caffè, Andrea Sperelli would have to “resign” himself to the erotic stimulation of a painting. Many artworks did not survive after the 1890s, so it is unclear whether the two paintings (
Judith
and the
Bather
) actually exist. However, one painting portrays a woman in scanty garments sitting next to a waterfall.

16
.
I love you more . . . :
In English in the original.

17
.
keepsake:
In English in the original.

18
.
Adolphus Jeckyll:
It is commonly accepted by critics that this figure is based on Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

19
.
Sibylla palmifera:
“Palm-bearing sibyl” (prophetess). Dante Gabriel Rossetti painted a picture by this name. (Latin.)

20
.
Madonna of the Lily:
This could represent Rossetti's painting
Ecce Ancilla Domini,
in which the handmaiden of the Lord is shown with a lily stalk in her hand.

21
.
in Boccaccio's story:
Decameron,
Day 4, Story 5.

22
.
Who would have thought:
In the original, this sentence is in English, but in an English so distorted I deemed it better to correct it, since an Englishwoman, such as Clara Green is, would not speak in such stilted, incorrect language. The original text reads: “Who would have thought we should stand again together, Andrew.”

23
.
white rose:
In English in the original.

24
.
Love me this evening, Andrew!:
In English in the original.

25
.
Ecce:
“Behold!”; “Here is” (Latin).

26
.
Ancilla Domini, Sibylla palmifera, candida puella:
“Handmaiden of the Lord, Palm-bearing sibyl, pure girl.” Could once again be a reference to Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painting
Sibylla palmifera
and his sonnet by the same title, and his painting
Ecce Ancilla Domini.
(Latin.)

27
.
Ora pro nobis:
“Pray for us.” Response during the litany in church, directed at the Virgin Mary. (Latin.)

28
.
chica pero guapa:
Small but pretty (Spanish).

29
.
Pinturicchio:
The fifteenth-century painter Bernardo di Betto, who painted Giulia Farnese, the mistress of Pope Alexander VI, above a door in the pope's apartments in the Vatican City. This fresco was considered scandalous and blasphemous, as it depicted Giulia as the Madonna holding the baby Jesus, and the pope holding the baby's foot.

30
.
Sala Quinta:
The Fifth Hall, most likely of the Appartamenti Borgia in the Vatican. See http://www.1911
encyclopedia.org/Pinturicchio, accessed March 1, 2010.

31
.
olla podrida:
A Spanish stew made with various meats, legumes, and vegetables (Spanish).

32
.
Sal y pimiento:
“Salt and pepper” (Spanish).

33
.
Madame de Parabère:
Marie Madeleine de la Vieuville (1693–1750), wife of the Marquis de Parabère, was the mistress of Philippe II, Regent of France, from 1715 to 1723.

34
.
Julia:
This is the Latin form of the name Giulia (deriving from the name of the ancient patrician family “gens Iulia” at Rome, the family of Julius Caesar). “Julia” is pronounced “Yulia,” whereas “Giulia” is pronounced as the English name Julia, with a hard
J
.

35
.
San Bernardino:
Saint Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444) was a Franciscan priest and theologian who preached all over Italy, seeking to combat lawlessness, strife, and immorality. The play on words that Andrea proceeds to make is a reference to one of the saint's famous sermons against sins of the tongue (e.g., gossip, gluttony, lying, etc.), but Andrea is obviously distorting the saint's pure intent for his own profane ends.

36
.
linguatica:
“Tongued” (Latin).

37
.
“Rosa linguatica, glube nos”:
“Tongued rose, unpeel us” (
glubere
= “peel, strip” in Latin).
Glube
also has more obscene connotations, possibly referring to the foreskin or stimulation of male genitals.

38
.
a Violante and an Imperia:
Names of courtesans.

39
.
À ma chimère
:
“About my chimera” (French).

40
.
hetaerae:
Courtesans or concubines in ancient Greece, but distinguished from ordinary prostitutes by their sophistication and the respect they generally garnered from men for their education and influence (Ancient Greek).

41
.
Peek Frean:
A brand of biscuits produced by Peek, Frean and Co., established in Britain in 1857.

42
.
“
Quia nominor Bébé”:
“Because my name is Bébé” (Latin).

43
.
“Semper parata”:
“Always ready,” “always prepared” (Latin).

44
.
“Diu saepe fortiter”:
“For a long time, always bravely/strongly” (Latin).

45
.
“Non timeo dona ferentes”:
“I do not fear the bearers of gifts.” Play on
“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes”
—“Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”—from Virgil,
Aeneid,
II; referring to the Trojan Horse. (Latin.)

46
.
“Rarae nates cum gurgite vasto”:
Were this phrase spelled
Rari nantes in gurgite vasto,
it would mean “only the few swim in whirlpools/the rough sea”; found in Virgil,
Aeneid,
I, 118. However, the way D'Annunzio has spelled this phrase signifies “Between two widely spread buttocks there is a vast whirlpool.” (Latin.)

47
.
Love me tonight, Andrew!:
Clara Green is speaking in English in the original text.

THIRD BOOK, CHAPTER II

1
.
Cui bono?:
“To whose benefit?” (Latin).

2
.
Comprends et prends:
“Understand and take” (French).

3
.
been familiar with him:
In the original, the text says “he had called him
tu
”—namely, he had addressed the servant with the familiar
tu,
as opposed to the more formal
voi
. This is termed the “T-V Distinction” in sociolinguistics.

4
.
Ciociaria:
Area of Italy between Rome and Naples, in the province of Frosinone.

5
.
Capuchins:
The Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, or Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins, is situated on Via Veneto, hence close to where Andrea was walking through Piazza Barberini.

6
.
liqueur hawkers:
Acquavitari
in Italian. Vendors would go around selling small glasses of various types of liqueur.