...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)