Alas, the fleeting years glide on.

On page 14 of the novel, Vonnegut uses a latin quote. It was a quote by the famous Roman poet Horace. “Eheu, fugaces labuntur anni.” Alas, the fleeting years glide on. Throughout the novel, Vonnegut uses many examples to show that he has a skewed perception of time, and it seems so boring. After the latin quote, Vonnegut references the two limericks he used earlier in the chapter. “My name is Yon Yonson. There was a young man from Stamboul”. This was the first example in the novel of his problem with time. The first limerick shows how useless his memory is now that he is an “old fart”. The next is a limerick that is recited over and over again. It is used to represent the post-war life of Vonnegut. He is constantly repeating the same actions, and eventually they all seem to blur together. The sentences leading up to the Latin quote talk about Vonnegut’s desire to go and meet with his old war buddy, Bernard V. O’Hare. He wanted to speak with him about war memories to help him with his book. Vonnegut explains that he did follow through on his call, and he went to meet with his old buddy. He explains that it was probably around 1964, but not definitely. This is where both the latin quote and both limericks come into play. They all work together to show the point of this passage. Vonnegut cites these limericks many times before this to lead into the quote. Vonnegut is displaying that after the war all of his years have been boring and very similar. So much so that he cannot even distinguish between some of them. It is hard to read sometimes when viewing just how ridiculous the memory of Vonnegut has become post-war.