What's In A Marriage?
Textual Privacy
In Homer's Odyssey and Joyce's Ulysses
by
Keri Ames
Doctoral Candidate at the University of Chicago
and
Murray J. Gross, President of the Finnegans Wake Society of N.Y., will lead a discussion of the following
paragraph from page 3 lines 4-14-the second and third sentences of Finnegans Wake.
(For your convenience a copy of FW 3:4-14 along with a relevant
passage from one of Joyce's letters to Harriet Shaw Weaver follows.)
4 Sir Tristram, violer d'amores, fr'over the short sea, had passen-
5 core rearrived from North Armorica on this side the scraggy
6 isthmus of Europe Minor to wielderfight his penisolate war: nor
7 had topsawyer's rocks by the stream Oconee exaggerated themselse
8 to Laurens County's gorgios while they went doublin their mumper
9 all the time: nor avoice from afire bellowsed mishe mishe to
10 tauftauf thuartpeatrick: not yet, though venissoon after, had a
11 kidscad buttended a bland old isaac: not yet, though all's fair in
12 vanessy, were sosie sesthers wroth with twone nathandjoe. Rot a
13 peck of pa's malt had Jhem or Shen brewed by arclight and rory
14 end to the regginbrow was to be seen ringsome on the aquaface.
from Joyce's Paris. 15/xi/926
Dear Madam:
Above please find prosepiece ordered in sample form. Also key to same.
Hoping said sample meets with your approval
yrs trly
Jeems Joker
Sir Amory Tristram 1st earl of Howth changed his name to Saint Lawrence, b in Brittany (North Armorica)
Tristan et Iseult, passim
viola in all moods and senses
Dublin, Laurens Co, Georgia, founded by a Dubliner, Peter Sawyer, on r. Oconee. Its motto: Doubling all the time.
The flame of Christianity kindled by S. Patrick on Holy Saturday in defiance of royal orders
Mishe=I am (Irish) i.e. Christian
Tauf=baptise (German)
Thou art Peter and upon this rock etc (a pun in the original Aramaic)
Lat: Tu es Petrus et super hane petram
Parnell ousted Isaac Butt from leadership
The venison purveyor Jacob got the blessing meant for Esau
Miss Vanhomrigh and Miss Johnson had the same christian name
Sosie=double
Willy brewed a peck of maut
Noah planted the vine and was drunk
John Jameson is the greatest Dublin distiller
Arthur Guinness, " " " " brewer
Arthur Wellesley (of Dublin) fought in the Peninsular war
rory=Irish=red
rory=Latin, roridus=dewy
at the rainbow's end are dew and the colour red
bloody end to the lie in Anglo-Irish=no lie
regginbrow=German regenbogen + rainbow
ringsome=German ringsum, around
When all vegetation is covered by the flood there are no eyebrows on the face of the Waterworld
exaggerare=to mound up
themselse=another Dublin 5000 inhabitants
Isthmus of Sutton a peck of land between Howth head and the plain
passencore=pas encore and ricorsi storici of Vico
rearrived=idem
wielderfight=wiederfechten=refight
bellowed=the response of the peatfire of faith to the windy words of the apostle
