The first half of the first paragraph seems to compress many historical adversary-battles, with lots of allusions to Rabelais, but then the last half returns to the seven 'not-yet's. Are the particular battles chosen to embody some deeper patterns, eg Shem vs Shaun? (Beats me.) [♬ Master McGrath] [♬ Bid Me to Live]
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| a giant ostracod (seed shrimp) |
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| cashel (open stone fort) |
FW2 changes "Assiegates" to "Assiegales" which seems a big improvement to me: gales/storms is much simpler to parse than gates/storms. (Joyce made several other corrections to this page after publication, but didn't notice/bother with this one.)
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| rushlit |
The traditional lyrics of the song "Finnegan's Wake" offer one superstructure for chapter one [Fweet] The second paragraph is mostly about Finnegan as a builder, an apt archetypal coincidence from the song. (Most heroes in myth and history were not literally builders, but metaphorically they all were.) Old Testament books are named: Joshua, Judges, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Genesis, Exodus, Pentateuch
[Balbus]
FDV: "What cha of wills & wits were not here & there abouts! What chance cuddleys, what castles aired & ventilated, what biddymetolives sinduced by what egosetabsolvers, what true feeling for hair with false voice of haycup, what rorycrucians byelected by rival emilies! But O here how has sprawled upon the dust the father of fornications but O, my stars & body, how has finespanned in high heaven the skysign of soft advertisement. Was? Isot! Ere we sure? The oaks of old rest in peat. Elms leap where ashes lay. Till nevernever may our pharce be phoenished! Bygmister Finnegan, builder, lived on the broadest way imaginable and during mighty odd years this man of Hod made buildung upon buildung on the banks of the livers by the Soandso. He addle iddle wife and he hugged the liddle crathur wither tear tuck up your pardner."
Something to keep in mind, for people who've dug into Ulysses: each chapter there has its characteristic styles, and it may be that individual paragraphs (and even sentences?) in FW have characteristic styles. According to the footnote here, Joyce in 1923 was already labelling individual paragraphs "parataxis" and "hypotaxis" (literary terms so obscure that I haven't figured them out). (Chapter I.1 wasn't begun until 1926.)
[1:25-3:37]
I.1: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Thank you so much for starting this project. FW is the lone book of Joyce's oeuvre that I've yet to read completely. Although plodding would feel the most appropriate in describing to describe the page a day approach, I prefer to think of this as a daily exercise in playing with words.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to keep optimizing every post as we go along, so the blog can serve as an enduring, book-length guide, with every useful weblink.
ReplyDeleteAny sorts of suggestion are welcome...
What clashes here of wills gen wonts, oystrygods gaggin fishygods!
ReplyDeleteBrékkek Kékkek Kékkek Kékkek!
Kóax Kóax Kóax!
Úalu Úalu Úalu!
Quáouáuh!
Where the Baddelaires partisans are still out to mathmaster Malachus Micgranes
and the Verdons catapelting the camibalistics out of the Whoyteboyce of Hoodie Head.
Assiegales and boomeringstroms. Sod's brood, be me fear!
Sanglorians, save! Arms apeal with larms appalling.
Killykillkilly: a toll, a toll.
What chance cuddleys, what cashels aired and ventilated!
What bidimetoloves sinduced by what tegotetabsolvers!
What true feeling for their's hayair with what strawng voice of false jiccup!
O here here how hoth sprowled met the duskt the father of fornicationists
but (O my shining stars and body!)
how hath fanespanned most high heaven the skysign of soft advertisement!
But waz iz? Is eut? Ere were sewers?
The oaks of ald now they lie in peat
yet elms leap where ashes lay.
Phall if you but will, rise you must:
and none so soon either shall the pharce for the nunce
come to a setdown secular phoenish.
Bygmester Finnegan, of the Stuttering Hand, freemen's maurer,
lived in the broadest way immarginable
in his rushlit toofarback for messuages
before joshuan judges had given us numbers
or Helviticus committed deuteronomy
(one yeastyday he sternely stuck his tete in a tub
for to watsch the futures of his fates
but ere he swiftly stook it out again,
by the might of Moses, the very water was eviperated
and all the guenneses had met their exodus
so that ought to show you what a pentschanjeuchy chap he was!)
and during mighty odd years
this man of hod, cement and edifices in Toper's Thorp
piled buildung supra buildung pon the banks for the livers by the Soangso.
He addle liddle phifie Annie ugged the little craythur.
Wither hayre in honds tuck up your partinher.
Oftwhile balbulous, mithre ahead, with goodly trowel in grasp
and ivoroiled overalls which he habitacularly fondseed,
like Haroun Childeric Eggeberth,
he would caligulate by multiplicables the alltitude and malltitude
until he seesaw by neatlight of the liquor wheretwin 'twas born
his roundhead staple of other days to rise
in undress maisonry upstanded (joygrantit!),
a waalworth of a skyerscape of most eyeful hoyth entowerly,
erigenating from next to nothing and celescalating the himals and all,
hierarchitectitiptitoploftical,
with a burning bush abob off its baubletop
and with larrons o'toolers clittering up
and tombles a'buckets clottering down.