Thursday, May 26, 2022

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 50

Line 50: "Allover turnage salves, the preena dolorinas and Fressh-kisen mnymthomaniacs are insat amist the nexted friguleens, alluv the maid-up shagbrag abawd underlit and moon-age formircations with a fuctional yang Letin lovher she'd unvented blyther cleudonym of Sempo, sempo fiddles, allus faithfeel, ween in factual act her lonly senxual explortations hid bone whet'her holdher bluther."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "All of her teenage selves, the prima ballerinas and French kissing nymphomaniacs are inset amid the nested figurines, all of the made-up brags about underage and moonlit fornications with a functional young Latin lover she'd invented by the pseudonym of Sempo, semper fidelis, always faithful, when in actual fact her only sexual explorations had been with her older brother."

"Allover"
"All of her" as well as "all lovers" or "all of her lovers" though, as we'll see, she really only had the one, Giorgio, in her youth.

"turnage"
Each age in turn yet existing all at once, represented by the nested dolls. Each age remains within every new age as the seasons turn.

"salves"
Her past memories, past selves, soothe (or "salve") Lucia.

"preena dolorinas"
Lucia was a dancer and so one of her early selves was a Prima Ballerina. It's an easy assumption to believe she was "preening." "Dolor" means a state of great sorrow or distress. It's possible Lucia was forced to stop dancing by her father because the stress caused so much friction between Lucia and Nora which made it hard for him to work on his book. This caused Lucia a great amount of sorrow and distress. Possibly an allusion to the slang use of "Prima Donna" as well, meaning Lucia was self-centered and temperamental.

"Fressh-kisen"
As we see in this sentence, Lucia lied about and bragged about an imaginary lover. Her French-kissing of this lover was probably more her kissing a pillow ("Kissen" being German for pillow or cushion). Possibly "Ssh" as in something secret or whispered because Lucia was lying.

"mnymthomaniacs"
"Nymphomaniacs" are women who love sex. A "mythomaniac" is somebody who is obsessed with lying. Lucia was lying about her sexual exploits.

"insat"
INSAT is the India National Satellite System. So maybe when Lucia used "ind" earlier, it was meant to be India! Maybe there's an even deeper layer to Lucia's confessions that have to do with international espionage! Maybe this has a whole insane Pale Fire level to it! Or, you know, probably not. This probably just reiterates the whole dolls are both "sat" and "inset" inside one another.

"amist"
Memory is often referred to as foggy or as being seen through a "mist."

"nexted"
Each "nested" figurine is followed by the "next" figurine in Lucia's chronology.

"friguleens"
"Figurines" with "frig" or "frigid" suggested which are opposites. But it makes sense because Lucia is bragging about fucking some guy named Sempo ("frig") but not actually doing that ("frigid"). Although she is fucking Giorgio so not really that frigid. I don't know about the end of the word. Maybe "eens" as in "teens"?

"alluv"
This sentence is about having sex so "luv."

"maid-up"
Lucia was a "maid" ("maiden," virgin) who has "made-up" a story about getting laid.

"shagbrag"
To "brag" about "shagging."

"abawd"
A "bawd" is a woman in charge of a brothel. "Bawdy" is humorously sexy (or sexily humorous?). In a way, Lucia is the madam in her fantasy as she provides herself with a lover. Her story about a lover basically named "Fidelity" is also pretty funny.

"underlit and moon-age"
Spoonerism for "underage and moonlit." "Moon-age" means Lucia was about the age of first menstruating. "Underlit" as in mood lighting for sexual escapades.

"formircations"
This sentence is really scaring me. I think the previous 50 sentences were Alan Moore preparing the reader for his really insane wordplay. If 50 sentences in I'm having difficulty with the interpretation, what's it going to be like when I'm 1000 lines in? Oh god. Are there 1000 lines?! There are fifty pages at maybe 20 lines per page so . . . oh no. Oh god. No. What am I doing with my free time?!

"formircations" 2nd try
Obviously this is meant to be "fornications" which is another way of saying "doing the birds and the bees." If I were Alan Moore, I would have made it more like "fabrications" because Lucia is making her hot sex stories up. But instead, we get "former" and "form" from this hybrid word. So in a "former" life, Lucia took the "form" of a "nymphomaniac" although she was lying because she was a huge liar who loved "kissing" "pillows."

"fuctional"
This is wear I wipe my brow and say, "Whew!" Because I can do this one! Alan Moore put the "fuck" in "functional." That doesn't really work unless you "fuck" up the word the way Moore did. Also this kind of sounds like "fictional" because Lucia is a liar. Or was a liar when she was young. I think this is just an aspect of the current "doll."

"yang"
This is the active male principle of the universe in Chinese philosophy. Lucia has a "fictional" "young" "male principle" that she tells everybody she is boning.

"Letin"
"Let in" from "Latin." Lucia "let in" her "yang" lover (the pillow). She probably put it between her knees and rode it aggressively.

"lovher"
Lucia just wanted a "lover" that would "lover her." That's why her imaginary beau gets the name "Fidelity."

"unvented"
Lucia "invented" a fake lover to "unleash" or "vent" her sexual fantasies on.

"blyther"
"Bly" is a likeness or resemblance. "Bly" with "her" suggests Sempo's entire likeness was that of Lucia because he was a figment of her imagination. "Blithe" is also "casual or heedless" as well as "of a happy or lighthearted disposition." Lucia resembles both of those definitions. "Scyther" is a Pokemon.

"cleudonym"
The "pseudonym" of her fake lover is a "clue" to his real (I mean fake?) identity. "Cluedo" is a game where you play fictional characters. But to solve a crime and not to have sex with.

"Sempo, sempo fiddles"
Sempo is the name of Lucia's fake lover. Maybe it's actually "Semper" since later in the sentence there's a clause that says "always faithful." That's how the reader knows to read "sempo fiddles" as the Marine's slogan of "Semper Fidelis." Although why the Marines have a slogan that means "I will not fuck around on my wife" is a bit weird. Anyway, Moore's twisting of "semper fidelis" is funny and clever and dirty so I really like it. Because "fiddles" means sexual molestation usually with the digits of the hand (or toe? Can you fiddle with your toes?).

"allus"
"All of us." Or perhaps "all luc" as in a shortened form of Lucia? So Sempo is "all Lucia." I don't think he's "all us" though because I'm terrible at fiddling.

"faithfeel"
This is like "mouth feel" but for the spirit. Although it's pretty easy to feel faith and loyalty in an imaginary lover. Unless your self-esteem is tragically low.

"ween"
Like a penis. Maybe with "faithfeel ween" in that it takes "faith" for Lucia to "feel" Sempo's "ween."

"factual act"
The complete opposite of "actual fact." Sempo is, in "fact," an "act."

"lonly senxual"
Lucia's "only" "sexual" experience so far has been "lonely" in that it was with her brother and who can you brag to about that?! She'd rather fuck a pillow and brag about that. "Senxual" is a combination of "sensual" and "sexual." Although I'd argue that having sex with a sibling is hardly "sensual." I guess Giorgio was just a romantic.

"explortations"
"Explorations" with a big old "splort" in the middle. "Splort" is the sound the penis makes when it ejaculates.

"hid bone whet'her holdher bluther."
Let's just wrap this up with the final clause all at once. "Hid bone" is obvious but I might have some fourth graders reading this so I should explain: "hiding the bone" is what adults call "putting the penis in the vagina (or possibly the butt)." "Whet'her" means that Giorgio got Lucia "wet" when he "hid" his "bone" inside "her." "Holdher" means he was tender, I guess, and cuddled afterward. "Bluther" probably means it was a "blunder" to "hide the bone" with her "brother." Maybe there's a hint of "blood" in "bluther" because Giorgio took her virginity.

No comments:

Post a Comment