Annotations to James Joyce's Ulysses/Proteus/039

Annotations
a writ of Duces Tecum   Duces tecum is Latin for bring with you. A writ of duces tecum, or a subpoena duces tecum, is a summons that requires a witness to bring specified documents when he or she appears in court to give testimony.

Wilde's Requiescat   (Latin) May she rest. Oscar Wilde wrote this short poem in memory of his sister Isola. Requiescat was written in Avignon in 1874, seven years after Isola died (23 February 1867, less than two months before her 10th birthday). It was included in the collection Rosa Mystica (1881). Wilde was twelve when Isola died and nineteen when he wrote the poem.

All'erta !   (Italian) On guard! Be vigilant! These are the opening words of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore (The Troubador).

Ferrando's aria di sortita   (Italian) Sortita is a musical term for a principal singer's first entrance in an opera; an aria di sortita is the song the character sings when he makes his first appearance. Di due figli vivea (Of two sons there lived) is the aria di sortita of Ferrando, the Count of Luna's captain of the guard, in Verdi's Il Trovatore. The aria is preceded by a recitative, which opens with the words ''All'erta! All'erta (On guard! On guard!'').