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

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