No More Learning

my>terioualy rise. from the dead in 1. . . . . deparu, and i. tried in ah$entia; Anna
Livia habhl. . in lively faohion in 1. 8; Tristan and heult emhrace in II. . . ; the new generation;' ca",fully nurtured in the cradl. . oflll+joyce ha. < cxtended the wurth Age in each ca. e
by allowing it not only to prepare for, but to lOme alent also , /411#1, p. '4"
,FJIm>. w>,pp. ~.
, S. Joy<><, My H. oI""? 1 /(<4><<, I. _on. '9. s11. p. '3?
5'
? CJclic Form
to rc<. apilulate, in dream-like anticipation, the fint Age of the cycle. ' A. he "'Y', 'The old order changeth and l:uts like the fin " (? \6. IO). Earwkker's ". . "urr~ction in 1. 4 i. identical with
the m()ment of Finnegan'. rUe in I. , and the suh:. equent birth of the new hero; Anna reappear. in 1. 8 in the . ame AIlmaziful pcl"1<lnification :t. 1 in I. . ';; Tristan and heult repeat "ilh more . ucc<:. . the frUJIlrated love-play of 11. 1; the old couple in ~
in III'4 reoorutitute the tableau of page 403.
A l l t h e d i v e l " 1 C c y c l e s f i n d a C < l m m ( l n ~. ulmination i n I l o o k I V ,
who"" single chapter is one of the most inlereoting and ,ucc<:. . _ ful in FjllJltll~1I. ! Wak? . Vito wa. a far<<clng but ratber hard_ headed Christian historian; altb<mgh h~ w"'" $Qmetimcs bizam. there was little of the mY'tic in him and the impuhc which he poIotulated for the"artofa newcyele waSa Divine A<:t requiring little ru. . :UJtSion. }"or the thcoaophists, how. ver, th~ moment of change from one major cycle to tlu: n. ,,{ w"'" filled with a
mY"tical significance which J oyce ""ern, to hav~ mund attrac_ tive. This brief interpolated Age wa. caIlrd. a "'I. ndhi', a twilight period ofjunction and moment ofgreat calm. Rlavatsky s""" it a. the mmt important moment orall in the re. urrection prn<:C! o'--a period of Mlmee and uneatthline$l cOITcsponding
to the stay of the departed $Qnl in the Heaven-Tree Wore reincarnation. She de. criixs a . ymbolic rcpte$entation of the ",ndhi_period in a wall-pAinting depic. ting Ihe ~yclos of the world' :
'There is a certain distance marked between ~ach of the . pherel, pUfJ'O"eiy marked; for, after the accompli. bment of the citdel through varioUJI trarumigratioru, the ! <lnl is allowrd. " time of temporary nirvana, during which ,pac-: of time the atma loses an remembrance of pa'l ! <lIT<>W? . The intermediate . pace il filled with strange beings. '
Book IV accorn. with thil. It i, immedialdy idcntifird. '" a ',3ndhi' by the triple incantation with which it begin. : 'Sand- hya$! Sandhy. . . ! Sandhya. ]' C'. >93. (1) . ' 'Il,e my>! ic. . l 'Dark
, Su 1><10. . . , Ch. apter 111=.
? 'wu. . . ;t. d. v<>I. 1,1" WI. ? s. . S K. ' 7 7 - 8 .
? C. ldit F(Jfm
hawk. ' of the He&vcp-Trr:e (215. 36) return as the 'bird' 0{ 593. Gf. while the . . . cc. . . . ,. "ing pap an: indeed 'folled with. suange beinga':
'homed ? . . Cur . . . beast . . ? Dane the C",at snout . . . byelego . . . chudal . . . cur . . . no~e
Callus . . . ducbcun . . . g""dle . . . '
and 10 On (S9-l-S); animal imagery abound. throughout. (At 22,. Joitlu:: landhi ;. dubbed 'the paWICI'. ) The characten oCBook
IV pr. utle odd languagcs, wear exotic dr. . . , and perform cu""u. rimaliotic acts which l tand out even against tlu:: ~cnl Ml"m'" o{the ral ofFi-gas Wd:4. But, above all, th6 is lhe chapterIhatb~foTgctfum. :. . ;Anna,asshep. . . . . . nullOher enid, mad father, is kwing all r=oembnntc of h. ". pall joy> and IOrrowt. Joyee, 10 Mr. Budgen . . . um 1m, pri:wJ memory
above all other human faculli. . . , and Ih.
inevitable . . . . n ia much the moot bitt. ". part of Anna'i 'biuer ending' (627. 35), for iffhe could be: brought had 10 meet her lover among the rhododendrons nf Howt"- Castle and Environs with her memoriet< inlaCl, she might avoid the FaUand JO -. ape from the elemal circle in which ohe is COIl? demncd10run. ,. . thinpuand,h~,shemustevenlually n:ven 10 the same old _ 1 of life, like the girl in the roperb liltle ltory 'Eveline', the closing Kcnc: of wh. ich ia dOll:ly
paralleled by the last pageo ofFiMt,,,,,, W. . . t? .
(A! this imporu. nl parallel wilh 'Eveline' does not ~m to
have been noticed bc:fure, I shall digre. . for a morru:nt to dis<:uu il briefly. Eveline is "aruling at the 'North Wall'- that is, on a wharfat the mouth nfthe Liffey- prcparing to leave for Bucnoa Airt:to with ber sailor friend. She ICCI the 'bI;u:lr; mUll' of the
boa! , bt-aring the same diabolical overton. . . . those 'thenble prongs' which tile from the Ie:>. W on: the helpless Aona. In iu penonifiution . . the sailor, the Ita calb w Eveline, but w hokb bo. elt and allowl love w be: overcome by fear ofannihila. tion in the unknown: 'All the Ital of the world tumbled aboul her heart. lie W,,", drawing her into them: he would drown her'. In the following quotation from the lall page of 'Eveline-_ 00 Ihe len, 1 ha~ itaIidoed the w<mU and phr;ucs echoed in
"
? Cydu Fqrm
1''''''''1_ W. . u &:17. '3 If. The w. . . . . . . pondillg echoa a~ pbcod on the right:
SJu ~ IfIIUh. . ,. She felt hcrcheek pakandMJand, out ofIl ""'~,ofdill. . . . . Ib. c prllP 10 God to direct her, to IM W Nt u,A,uUHUNt"'1. 7. Theboatblew a long """"mfulldWl/' uno lhe mist. IfIN JIN1U, tomorrow ohe would be on the Sill with F. . . . nk, steaming towards Buenas A yres. Their />WtJl< had been hooked. Could ! he oIiDdnw bad; after all he had done for her? Her diltreu ,. 1tI! l-, ,. 11<11'1# in her body and lIu: kept moving her
lips i n s i l m /tTMIl , " , p .
A /nil ({/lIlted upon her he"""t. She felt him uiu her hand:
'<A. v! '
A l l 1 M S t t U ~/ 1 M _ I d I l l m / J { t d about her heart. He was draw- ing her imo tbcm: he would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing.
'Q_. "
}f~! }ff! }f~! Itwasimpol- sible. Hu hands clulclted the iroll inft,. V. Amid the wu ! he
dumbly (6<18. 11)
my cold father (&:18. 01); Amazia (&:17. 28); our cria
(6~7? 3~)
I dol"lC me bat (6~7. 13) Whish1 (628. t])
i f I g o a l l g o e o (6~7. 'oI-) Kaailt (628. 001-)
K. uilt u. hsick (&:18. 0,. )
1_1"'(&:18. ? 05);humbly dumb- ly,only10wouhup (628. 1,) Ho hangl Hang ho1 (627,3')
teiu (6<1,. 29) Coming, far! (623. ? , )
moyl. . and mayl. . of it. . . tewh. . . dumbly (&:18. 0]- 11)
Coming, farl (628. IS) Nol (6:t,. 26)
! U1d feary (6<18. 02)
te. . . . lt (628. 04); Our en. .
(621. 32)
A vdanl (623. 06)
I rush (628. 04) }"aT calls. (628"3)
i'ar calh. (&:t8. ,S)
lent ,. try cf""pisll. ,. . "--,' ,~"-"
c. . oQ"'. -",.
H? . -. slltd beyond the barrier
and ",Ihd to her to follow. He was shouted a. to go on, but be 5IiIJ. uIUtI to her. She . et her
,.
? whitt/acl to him, passiw:, like "- helpl. . . animal. Her eyeo gave
him If(> rip ofloot or/arewell or ret. gIIititm. (0 44)
whitespread wings (608. 10) A way a lone a hut a loved
a long the (608. '5)
Cyclic Frmn
Eveline is yet another victim of Iri,h paral)'l5i. ; her spiritllal cycle will hencefnrth be bounded by the appalling routine 11k
entailed by her refUJIal to become a new peyron. Although Anna', ultimalt: return to drudgery may be nO leu certain, . he . uhmit>; instead to comue paral)'l5i. in the sea, giving herself half involuntarily, and with a tragi-oomic resignation that U charactuUtic ofthe mOre mature book, to the spiritual annihila- tion which must precede rebirth. )
The period of It:mporary nirvana is C<lming to an end fur Anoa l. ivia as Book IV concludes with a new and much more sucttMful portrait ofher ('Norvcn. '. over', 6'9,'9). Here is nO unc<:rta. inty of tone, no f,,"i! itation of emotion, no embar_
rassingly undigested lyricism. Thi. i. tht: dose>t tbing 10 'inlt:rior monnlogue' in FiJ",. gans Wah and;' it> IDO/! t convincing piece of extended characlerwtion. From the ,~am of almost un_ modified Dublin ,pttch the", eme<ge3 a moving image ofguilt_ ridden, neglected old age. Anna nOW carries an """n heavier . pirhua! burden than ,he did in LII where, a uni"""",1 ~r, . he cleansed Dublin and aU cities of their ! ins. In th= Ia. n moment< of CODlCiownes> . he mlUt bear the wrrow of her own guilt aJJ well for, however brilliantly ! he may have vindicated her hu. band in her ,plmdid I"'lter (6'5-'9), she U fated to
return a, Eve (3. 01 ), fint to fall hen<:lfand thm 10 undo all htl" good work for Earwic. ker by causing him to lit again . . . Adam. In the kuer cycles the sandhi often appean as '. ilenee', an
important single_word motif cuItJling through the whole book and alway, appearing at the end of a chaptt:r. ' As the Skit/on K'. ) poinu out,' thi, silent pau"" aIro TCprell:nlS the 'Yawning Gap' of the Eddas, wbrue function is analogous to thaI of the Indian o. andhi. Joyce evidently want< uS to imagine thaI w me_ thing of the na.