Nine starships waiting

Can anybody help me to understand a meaning of this title? It must to
be a quote, because there is also a Mary Stewart's novel called "Nine
coaches waiting". The only thing I can find is the song "Twelve Days of
Christmas".
Wikipedia says that "'Nine ladies dancing' (or waiting) are the nine
fruits of the Holy Spirit". I doubt that they can find a one fruits in
this story...

PS. Sorry for my bad English.

Timofei Koryakin wrote:
> Can anybody help me to understand a meaning of this title? It must to
> be a quote, because there is also a Mary Stewart's novel called "Nine
> coaches waiting". The only thing I can find is the song "Twelve Days of
> Christmas".
> Wikipedia says that "'Nine ladies dancing' (or waiting) are the nine
> fruits of the Holy Spirit". I doubt that they can find a one fruits in
> this story...
>
> PS. Sorry for my bad English.

The title "Nine Starships Waiting" is a literary allusion to Cyril
Tourneur's play "The Revenger's Tragedy."

This is the play that Roger Zelazny wrote his Master's thesis about
(thesis was entitled "Two Traditions and Cyril Tourneur: An Examination
of Morality and Humor Comedy in 'The Revenger's Tragedy'"). In an
interview about the story "Nine Starships Waiting" (in Alternities #6)
Zelazny stated that he based the story on "The Revenger's Tragedy."
It's an early story by Zelazny and he thought it wasn't very good, and
he was reluctant to have it reprinted elsewhere.

The title "Nine Starships Waiting" alludes to the line "Nine Coaches
Waiting" within the play:

VINDICI
Oh, think upon the pleasure of the palace:
Secured ease and state, the stirring meats,
Ready to move out of the dishes,
That e'en now quicken when they're eaten,
Banquets abroad by torch-light, musics, sports,
Bare-headed vassals that had ne'er the fortune
To keep on their own hats but let horns [wear] 'em,
Nine coaches waiting. Hurry, hurry, hurry!

I've never read or seen the play so I don't know any more beyond what
I've just stated. But I just found an annotated version of the play
on-line at this link, for anyone who wishes to read it:
http://www.tech.org/~cleary/reven.html

Apparently "nine coaches waiting" alludes to the fact that coaches were
a popular place for love-making.

And Mary Stewart probably borrowed the title of her novel from this
play too.

Chris

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