43 (U230.907)

 Too poetical that about the sad.

43rd cast. page 230, line 907.

 

　Too poetical that about the sad. Music did that. Music hath charms. Shakespeare said. Quotations every day in the year. To be or not to be. Wisdom while you wait. 

　In Gerard’s rosery of Fetter lane he walks, greyedauburn. One life is all. One body. Do. But do.

 

 Here is a very interesting passage.

 

Episode 11. Around 4:00 PM. While dining at the Ormond Hotel, Mr. Bloom has just finished writing a letter to Martha, his secret correspondent.

 

He wrote in the P.P.S. of Martha's letter, "I feel so sad today."

 

P. P. S. La la la ree. I feel so sad today. La ree. So lonely. Dee.

（U230.894）

 

In the hotel lounge, Simon sang "Mappari" from Floteau's opera Maltha, and perhaps Mr. Cowley improvised on the piano in a minor key.

 

Mr. Bloom is sad because he knows that lover of his wife Molly, Boylan, is now on her way to Bloom's house.

 

“Music hath charms”, according to Gifford's notes, is not from Shakespeare, but from the tragedy The Mourning Bride (1697), Act 1, Scene 1, by English playwright William Congreve (1670 - 1729).

 

Music has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,

To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.

 

This is one of the famous phrases that the world often mistakes for Shakespeare's.
It is also often mistaken for "Music hath Charms to sooth a savage Beast."

But what was on Mr. Bloom's mind may have been a line from Shakespeare.
From Act IV, Scene 1 of Measure for Measure (1603-1604).

Tis good; though music oft hath such a charm

To make bad good, and good provoke to harm.”

 

 "Quotations every day in the year" is a diary with quotations.

 

Shakespeare birthday book (1883) or books like this. Mr. Bloom is familiar with Shakespeare's dialogues through such books.

 

“To be or not to be” is, of course, the most famous line from Hamlet. Mr. Bloom compared himself to the anguished Hamlet.

 

"Wisdom while you wait". I searched and found a book with that title (published in 1902). Not sure if this is the book, but Mr. Bloom thinks of a book with trivia and quotes.

“While you wait”, as the title of the book, means "immediately," but I think it also overlaps with Hamlet's "waiting" for an opportunity to avenge his father's murder, despite his madness, and Mr. Bloom's sitting and "waiting" for Boylan to go visit Molly.

Incidentally, Mr. Bloom is the kind of person who reads Shakespeare in search of solutions to life's problems. (U554.385)

 

The second paragraph is astonishing, as it is almost identical to Stephen's thoughts in Episode 9, in the library.

 

Do and do. Thing done. In a rosery of Fetter lane of Gerard, herbalist, he walks, greyedauburn. An azured harebell like her veins. Lids of Juno’s eyes, violets. He walks. One life is all. One body. Do. But do. Afar, in a reek of lust and squalor, hands are laid on whiteness.

（U166.651-）

 

 A passage in which Stephen fantasizes about Shakespeare walking through the rose garden of John Gerard (1545-1612) in Fetter Alley, London. Gerard was a botanist who had a large herb garden in London.

 

How can this be understood?

 

There are two possibilities.

 

One interpretation is that Stephen's thoughts are interjected here.

 

Episode 10 and 11 use the technique of abruptly interrupting the main story with scenes from other places, like insert cuts in a movie.

 

Stephen also mentions in Episode16 that John Dowland (1563 - 1626), a composer of Shakespeare's time, lived in Gerard's neighborhood on Fetter Alley.

 

Stephen, in reply to a politely put query, said he didn’t sing it but launched out into praises of Shakespeare’s songs, at least of in or about that period, the lutenist Dowland who lived in Fetter lane near Gerard the herbalist,・・・

(U540.1763)

 

It is very natural to assume that this is Stephen's thinking.

 

The second interpretation is that this is still Mr. Bloom's thinking here.

 

Immediately after this passage, Mr. Bloom mumbles, "Done anyhow”. This is connected to the immediately preceding "Do. But do“.

 

Mr. Bloom now thought the same thing as Stephen.This seems odd at first glance, but I suppose it is possible.The night before this day, Stephen and Mr. Bloom had the same dream.

 

Stephen's dream. Somewhere in a Middle Eastern brothel town, a man offers Steven a melon.

 

After he woke me last night same dream or was it? Wait. Open hallway. Street of harlots. Remember. Haroun al Raschid. I am almosting it. That man led me, spoke. I was not afraid. The melon he had he held against my face. Smiled: creamfruit smell. That was the rule, said. In. Come. Red carpet spread. You will see who.

（U39.363-）

 

Mr. Bloom's dream. Molly is wearing Turkish trousers and slippers.

 

Dreamt last night? Wait. Something confused. She had red slippers on. Turkish. Wore the breeches. Suppose she does? Would I like her in pyjamas? Damned hard to answer.

 (U311.1240-)

 

Mr. Bloom and Stephen are consubstantial father and son in the world created by Joyce. Their consciousnesses communicate in the depths.

To me, the latter interpretation is more interesting.

Barnard's Inn

Gerard's Rose Garden was said to have been located near Barnard's Inn Barnard's Inn between Chancery Lane and Fetter Lane. Barnard's Inn is a  Inn of Chancery dating back to the 13th century.

"Barnard's Inn - Gresham College - High Holborn, City of London" by ell brown is licensed under CC BY 2.0

 The method of this blog ⇒ Here 

42 (U142.827)

 —I wouldn’t do anything at all in that line,

42nd cast. page 142, line 827.

 

　—I wouldn’t do anything at all in that line, Davy Byrne said. It ruined many a man, the same horses.

　Vintners’ sweepstake. Licensed for the sale of beer, wine and spirits for consumption on the premises. Heads I win tails you lose.

  

Episode 8. Late in the afternoon, Mr. Bloom entered Davy Byrne's for a light meal. Mr. Flynn, a guest, is talking with Mr. Byrne.

 

This pub was mentioned in the third issue of this blog. That day the Gold Cup race was held at Ascot Racecourse, so Mr. Flynn asked the owner, Davy Byrne for information on the winner. The first line was the owner's answer.

 

The second sentence is from Mr. Bloom's mind.

 

"A sweep stake" is a type of prize money in horse racing. Owners of horses in a race place stakes on each other and distribute the collected money to the winner. The term "sweep stakes," which means that the winner sweeps all the prize money, has been shortened to "stakes" later.

 

In "Heads I win tails you lose," heads refers to the face of the coin and tails is the back. If the tails come up, you should win, so it's a trick. It is an English idiom meaning that you win anyway.

Upon entering the pub, Mr. Bloom recalls that Davy Byrne is a cheapskate. I think Mr. Bloom is teasing him that he makes a lot of money by giving people drinks and not taking part in horse racing.

 

Davy Byrne

"Davy Byrnes, the Moral Pub" by Antonia Hayes is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The method of this blog ⇒ Here 

41 (U102.253)

 ’neath the shadows cast o’er its pensive bosom

41st cast. page 102, line 253.

’neath the shadows cast o’er its pensive bosom by the overarching leafage of the giants of the forest. What about that, Simon? he asked over the fringe of his newspaper. How’s that for high?

 　—Changing his drink, Mr Dedalus said.

 　Ned Lambert, laughing, struck the newspaper on his knees, repeating:

 　—The pensive bosom and the overarsing leafage. O boys! O boys!

　—And Xenophon looked upon Marathon, Mr Dedalus said, looking again on the fireplace and to the window, and Marathon looked on the sea.

 

Episode 7.In the editorial office of the newspaper. Conversation among Stephen's father, Simon Dedalus, Net Lambert, and Dr. McHugh.

 

Today's Freeman Journal has a rhetoric-filled patriotic speech given by Dan Dawson last night. (U75.151) Lambert is reading the passage.

 

Charles Dan Dawson (1842-1917), proprietor of the Dublin Bread Company, was mayor of Dublin in 1882 and 1883, and in 1904, the year of the novel, was Collector of Rates for the city of Dublin.

Dawson is a baker and Lambert is a grain merchant. Joyce's father, John Stanislaus (a model for Simon) had taken a job in a tax collection office after his downfall. There might be some background to their teasing of Dawson.

 

What does "changing his drink" mean?

 

Gifford's annotation interprets this as "drinking in chunks gets you drunk faster". In other words, Simon says, Dawson got drunk and wrote a poetic sentence. It doesn't seem to fit. I searched the net and came across an article by John Simpson on a site called James Joyce Online Notes.

Dawson usually writes secular and realistic articles, but yesterday's speech was exaggerated and poetic in a different tone. The expression "changing his drink" was a common expression used in Joyce's time in speeches and in the press, meaning "changing to a more pungent and stronger tone". This fits well.

  

Lambert plays on a ward “overarching" in Dawson's speech,” overarsing”. This replaces ”arch” in the word with ”arse”. The reason why it is called  ”arse” is because it is a pun on "bosom".

　　　Xenophon looked upon Marathon

　　　Marathon looked on the sea.　

 

This is an adaptation of the following passage from The Greek Islands in the third song of Byron's Don Juan (1819 - 1824).

 

　　　The mountains look on Marathon—

  　　 And Marathon looks on the sea;

　　　And musing there an hour alone,

 　　  I dream'd that Greece might still be free;

　　　For standing on the Persians' grave,

　　   I could not deem myself a slave.

 

Xenophon (ca. 430 BC - 354 BC) was an ancient Greek soldier and historian who, in 401 BC, at the request of King Cyrus of the Persian Empire, became a mercenary and fought in the civil strife within the Persian Empire. King Cyrus was killed in battle and the Greek mercenary force was in danger. Xenophon led his mercenaries out of Asia Minor.

 

Marathon is a village northeast of Athens. It was the location of the Battle of Marathon (490 BC). The Battle of Marathon was fought during the Second Persian War (490 BC).The expeditionary force sent by Darius I of the Persian Empire that landed at Marathon was intercepted and defeated by the allied Greek polis forces mainly from Athens.

Xenophon and Marathon are not related. I think Simon knew that Byron's poem was about Greece and Persia, and he made up the passage by connecting Xenophon and Marathon, which are related to Greece and Persia.

Portrait of Lord Byron

File:Byron 1813 by Phillips.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

The method of this blog ⇒ Here 

40 (U18.691)

Buck Mulligan sat down to unlace his boots.

40th cast. page 18, line 691.

Buck Mulligan sat down to unlace his boots. An elderly man shot up near the spur of rock a blowing red face. He scrambled up by the stones, water glistening on his pate and on its garland of grey hair, water rilling over his chest and paunch and spilling jets out of his black sagging loincloth.

 

Episode 1. Stevin, Mulligan and Haines, living in Martello Tower, came to a beach near the tower called Forty Foot.

The text of the first episode looks ordinary at first glance, but is really elaborate.

 

So many L's in so little text.

Mulligan

unlace　

elderly　

blowing

scrambled　

glistening

garland

rilling

spilling

black

loincloth

 

ALP's L in Finnegans Wake. For Joyce, L is associated with the flow of water.

 

Head rhymes are consciously used.

shot ― spur　　

rock ―　red

scrambled ―　stones

garland ―　grey

spilling　―　sagging

 

Forty Foot is a cape at the southern end of Dublin Bay and a historic bathing beach. There are many versions of the origins of the name. Some say that the water is 40 feet deep, some say that the road was 40 feet wide, and some say that it was the garrison of the 40th Infantry Regiment.

 

Who is swimming?

 

There is this passage at the end of Episode1.

 

"The priest’s grey nimbus in a niche where he dressed discreetly."

（U19.739）

 

This man was a Catholic priest. His head was shaved.

 

The bathing in Episode 1 corresponds with Mr. Bloom's bathing at the end of Episode 5.

"He foresaw his pale body reclined in it at full, naked, in a womb of warmth, oiled by scented melting soap, softly laved. He saw his trunk and limbs riprippled over and sustained, buoyed lightly upward, lemonyellow: his navel, bud of flesh: and saw the dark tangled curls of his bush floating, floating hair of the stream around the limp father of thousands, a languid floating flower."

（U69.567）

 

Fortyfoot Bathing Place

 "Among Giants" by Gavin Kealy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

 The method of this blog ⇒ Here