lOme highly disguised information about luch a Secret Cycle ill the very mathematil:aUy
oriented
tenm chapter
, 4il UoMUI, >"01.
, 4il UoMUI, >"01.
Hart-Clive-1962-Structure-and-Motif-in-Finnegans-Wake
hi!
beautiful P'Wag<: and Book IV gear the minor cycle of the cbapter even more closely 10 tbe greal cycle of F;.
"'gans
1V4k(. Some of the,e correspondences are ",t out below: III. 1 >V
thou art paW-ng hene<: . loth to lea""
~oofi
allliclcdly fond Fuinn feelt we miM your smile
Sirdand calls you yougander, only onG<: more
they are becoming lothed to me . . . I'm loothing them Ihat', here and all I lothe . . "I am pa"ing out (627. [7- 34)
So oft (620. 15)
t";"'t we fed. Tben we rall
(627. 11)
T hey'll never see. Nor know.
Nor rru. . me (627. 35) Far call. (628. 13)
Onelwo moremeru more. Finn, again! (628. 05, [4)
moyles and moyl", ofit (&. 18. 03) let her rain for my time is come
(627. 12)
Moylendsea Ihe rain for
tances
fresh
remil_
On an earlier occ3J! ;on Anna Livia wao Sttn to w"at" 'tram_ tokens in her hair' (194-31), and Shaun abo, we now karn, ;" covere<l in 'tramplhickeu', It is apparent thaI Joye<: is estab- lishing a general cor. . . . pondence not only hctwttn llook IV and the end of Ili. 1 but more particulaTly between Shann hinudf and Anna, who represent the oppoud pTincipla of youth and age, male and female, extrovert and introveTt: 'when the natural morning of your nocturne blankmeTgcJ into the national
morning of golden ",nup'.
,.
? ? ? ? M AJOIl
VIOOSIA. 'I CVCU. l
C)cli' Fl)1'm
II: COUNTERPOINT (flb. :U)
mavaGley is careful to point out in fro U-rJd lbat DO one
I}'1lcm of cycln is ~
at the lime time and lbat ~ral C}'<'ICi ofdiff<:ring k ngth and character may be functioning contemporantoU$ly in divcr~nt c u[turtl. ' T he kind ot cyclic counterpoin t he,. . , impliw. ;,. b alic Inthe. tructu,. . ,ofFiJultt~1U W~kt. IthasalreadybttnnQlicw. that wilbin the thrtt Viconian Ages of Books I, II, and Ill,
rily held to embn(X all of mankind
J oyoe allows four IOur-dt. o. pler cydea to develop. ' A detail which doe! . notyelXCIIItohavebeennoticed,~,itlbeim.
plicit identification of thc:oe four cyclCI with the IOu. cl. . . Ka. 1 clemcnu:
(Birth) . . . . . . . . . .
Book II (Maniage) . . . ? . ? 3. II- Male and female;
Book!
BookIII(Death). . . . . . . . . of. JII- Malecycle;Shaun. . Earwicker'. . pirit ;
=
Together with the sandhi ofBook tV, the Lesser Cyclr. s d e. . rly mueupa fou? ? plus-onequasi? lndian pros"""whichJoyceh. . tountcrpoinlC<! against the thue. plur-<>ne Vi. . . ",ian or. hcl1'\(. By tqueczi"l four cycICi into three Joyoe is, to to 'p<. k, ""per- imptlli" l a tqua,. . , on a triangk and 10 constructing AristOtle's I)'lIlboi lOr the bOOy and I0Il1 unifocd in a singll: being. The implication IUIDI to be that in Fi_ptU W. . u"'" may fiD<l a complete and balanced cos""," in which spirit informs and
, IN U. . . ;Jn. vol. I, pp. 6. '9-4.
I W. Y. Tindall, J. -,J_, London, 1950, p. 7'; 1'. 1I. Hig i_
JOJd" R". . . . . . . ofF_,. . . Wolf. AnnArbor,'9~ (onmitn>l\lm), 6,
J_, p. 9".
J. 1. 1;: Male cycle; HCE; ""'"
? ? 1. 5-8: Female cycle; ALP; battln;fo?
? Cplic Form
cnban= the groa matter represented hy the t9ur dements; joyce could hardly have made a more ambitiuu. ,ymbolic claim
for his book. .
Throughout Fiutgas IVaU, in faa, it is very often ~
ble to group a len a <If 'ymbol. , pbrueo, or people into eit~r a thrtt-part Or a four_part cunfiguralion, depending on our poin! of view. Tho:re arc three childrcn, bul holde bu a double,
making a fourth; u. . , four evangelisu ClIch have a I>oou. c:, but one of tho:m i. o ;nvi. illle sinu it iI no morc than a point in . pace (367,27). Nobody ever appea. " 'to have the . ame time Qfbeard' (77. t2), which i. o to oay that . '''ry man', cydc iI h;, own. While . peaking <If the rciati(m. hip betwttn the Four . nd Ya. . . . . , in a
later chapter, joy<< points . . UI Wt in their cal(: 'the meet of thdr noght wu worth IWO ofhis morning' (473,H), Becaw. e of lhit ecrutanl mobility of forms and times tho: Karch for an abtolute is in everybody'. mind throughout the book and iI tho: . pecial concern of the ubiquilOUI Old MCl'I who arc involved in Irying to find a commOn denominalOr for their four differenl poinu of view; but the only abaolute they en, diKon. iI the abaolute uncertainly from "'hien they began, the "'holly relative nllure of all the cyclel. Blavaaky reminds <II thaI il waa lhe practice of the priesu of virtually aU the myllic cret<1a OVer which . ne enth""", 10 I'CIerve fur tIlemaelvei alone the facu conaming th. uuc and Jeerel cycle functionlllI wi! hiD, or p&DUd to, the morc obvious cycles ofwhich vulgar minda werc allowed 10 have l:nowledgc,' This Secret Cycle . 1. . . a)'1 differed from the olben in subtle details of great mystical significance. Returning to the magical num~ '4,2', she writa':
'[a previow comrnental. Or] junly believed that the cycLe of the IndiaD 'yllem, of 43~,OOO. " the true key tu tbe Secret Cycle, But bi. failure in trying to decipber it was made ap~rcnt, lOr . . ;t pertained 10 me mY'lery of tile creation, mit cycle walthe mo. t inviolable of all'.
j oyce embeds !
lOme highly disguised information about luch a Secret Cycle ill the very mathematil:aUy oriented tenm chapter
, 4il UoMUI, >"01. 1, pp. S2, '>93-4? ? 1>" U. . ;JN, . . . . . . . I, p. , ? ?
? ? ? ? ? ? Cyclil F _
(U. 2). He parodi'" Dlavat>ky', '+3~' and k . dl from Ihe. . . , on 10 lhe W<lrld of modem phrlics:
'. . . by ribbon development, from COI:I~ct hridg. : 10 leaoe la(>>C, only two millium lwo humberec1 and eighlYIhausiS nine humbered and ,a ly radiolumin lines \0 the WllSIWOl'tJ of ~
FinnlOWIl" g. :n"fOUI poel', office. ' ('l6:,. 24)
T hai i. 10 oay, from th underclap to sandhi a cycle of 2,280,! )60 units. The mystery (the uy \0 the Seem Cycle) liel in the natun: of th. quao. i-scientific uni. . ; no one could be expected 10 derive the significance of the figu re unaided, hut furtunately the
tnaouscrip'-'prm~deIhenec' "'Ydue. InBriti. ! 1>MuteumAdd, MS 47488, f. 246 we n:ad:
190,080
"
2,280,'J60
Now 3 X 12 X 12 '" 432, and 5,280 . . . f<<1 in a mile. The nature of Ihe cycle i. Ihus reveal<<i: it is a opace. tim<: unil, a four-dimeru. ional cycle of 432 miJe. . yeul, measuring a DOn_ Eudidian world offO\lr-dimo:n. ;onal events. The imponanu of Ihi, al first appa. . ntly pc:ripheral pi""e ohymbolism li. ,. in the IP"<<=-time COncepL The Four, whose geom<:trical position. out. line the frame which . -. . closes tho: book,' an: thnruc:l""" the 'fuurdimmaru;iolU'-thc . ynoplk g<I$~ne. . . . corresponding 10 the Ihl"<< 'p3cc dime"';o"",, and Johnny, always late, 10 time (36pO If. ). Witb ? iMlein Mnd ). Iinltowski at h;, bad
Joyce was at>! e 10. urpall even the andenl m)'Jtics in complexity :>nd IOrtUOlll1l(lS. Like Ibe mathcmatie. tl world? modd of MinkOWllri, lhe g""1 cycle ofF"",t"'" lY. . ucannol be properly
' J"I"U It,. "u<d F. ,. . . . . . . . . . ;! >df by the I1"nbol 0; '" u_', po ,. . . . .
"
? Cyclic Form
under1tood unless the dutance betwun 'events' u rneasured in terms of boll, 'pace and time.
'What ,ubiler timeplaa: of the w<:ald . . . than then . . . . hen ru<;tioru ended, than here . . . . . . . ,re raa: began. ' (80. ! 2)
It i, by such up-to-date method, rather than by rnean. of Ihe sterile a"'thetics ofStephen Dedalu. thatJoyce finally managed IQ place himself above and hehind hu handiw<lIk, ",anning an artificial universe f",e of time', armw, able to apprehend time
spatially. '
Parallel cycle. rcpres~nt the first of twn diffe"'nt types of
"ructurol counterpoint in FittlU{,,'" Walt a oimple . yncopa_ tion of movement in Ihe "'me g<'neral dire<:tion. Clearly the use of thu kind ofcounl~rpoint makes for greal flexibility of de'ign andmightevenwithwmejrulicebeailedan""euSeforI~.
ness, but in facl "a:rta;n random dement of unpredictability w"-' nee""",,ry to Fimr. tgQ1IS WIlkt if it wa. adequately to rcfle<:t the new _rid ofphJl! i'"ofwhicbJoyce was trying 10 build up a faithful verbal analogue. Throughout hu carur J Qyce usually solved the technical problem< of imitative form by t1u: mO$' literal application ofilS principko, ~ every reader of Ul;1/J<S il awa",. In Fin""gans WIlkt he wa. paM. icularly coru:erned to reproduce relativity and the uncertainly principle. 1be latter functiona in the book exactly "-' it does in Ihe phy';cal world. The large "Yelic blOCQ of the constituent material arc b:. >lh clearly defined and pttdictahle, but the 'rnaller the "ruClural
"nits we: cor"ider, Ihe more difficult it;' 10 know how they will function. When adding brief new motifsJoy<:e . ometimes went . . , far"-, to rt:iinquilh all control ov. . their position in the text, and hen~e over . he details oftheir effeet<' ; the old determinum of Uly. . . s has bun replaced by a scale of prohability.
The Ibwry of relativity is even mo,"" 'lIited 10 Joyce', pur_ poses than a the u",ful uncertainty principle. T haI values and points of view . hould be entirely relalive within the world of I. book w"-' nothing new by '939, nor even by 'g<>o, bllt in Finlltgans Wak. J oyce has pu,hed relativity 10 the exlreme and
,Thenat"'"ofW. . . . . ti"'";"J~;nthenext"",. ionofthis<:MpI<T. ? SH be. . . . . p. '79. ,,
?
? Cyclic Forni
mad~ it a b""ic aesthetic and Stcucturallaw. Everything differs " , 'docks from keY", "" joye. : oays (77. 1 'I, alluding, I think, to the 'clocks and measuring_rods' so bclov<<l of expoaito. . of Einsteinian theory. There ;. in fact no absolute position what- ever in Pi_tmlS W4k, and if we choose to consider it mainly from the naturalistic frame of rdhencc it can only I. w: because in SO doing we get the most familiar pictuTe; from whichever ltandpoim we may examine theJ<>ycean phenomena, all other poosiblc &am", of n:ference, no malter how irreconcilable or unpalatable, rum! be taken ;'11<> account a. valid alternative>. Op~pointsofviewdonolcanedoutbutaTemadeto coui<! in equilibrium, for Joyce meant Fin/"ta", W. . . . . to be a, congenial 10 the Shanru of thi. world . . . to the Shems. If, as saint, moo. . rn man has grown puny like Kevin, he has achieved
a CQmpen"'IOry greatn= . . . arU. t and sage; if, as artut or "'g<', hi! mind is grubby, '" bourgeoi. his bOOy U clean. J ust as th = theoretical train. hurtling along at half the .
1V4k(. Some of the,e correspondences are ",t out below: III. 1 >V
thou art paW-ng hene<: . loth to lea""
~oofi
allliclcdly fond Fuinn feelt we miM your smile
Sirdand calls you yougander, only onG<: more
they are becoming lothed to me . . . I'm loothing them Ihat', here and all I lothe . . "I am pa"ing out (627. [7- 34)
So oft (620. 15)
t";"'t we fed. Tben we rall
(627. 11)
T hey'll never see. Nor know.
Nor rru. . me (627. 35) Far call. (628. 13)
Onelwo moremeru more. Finn, again! (628. 05, [4)
moyles and moyl", ofit (&. 18. 03) let her rain for my time is come
(627. 12)
Moylendsea Ihe rain for
tances
fresh
remil_
On an earlier occ3J! ;on Anna Livia wao Sttn to w"at" 'tram_ tokens in her hair' (194-31), and Shaun abo, we now karn, ;" covere<l in 'tramplhickeu', It is apparent thaI Joye<: is estab- lishing a general cor. . . . pondence not only hctwttn llook IV and the end of Ili. 1 but more particulaTly between Shann hinudf and Anna, who represent the oppoud pTincipla of youth and age, male and female, extrovert and introveTt: 'when the natural morning of your nocturne blankmeTgcJ into the national
morning of golden ",nup'.
,.
? ? ? ? M AJOIl
VIOOSIA. 'I CVCU. l
C)cli' Fl)1'm
II: COUNTERPOINT (flb. :U)
mavaGley is careful to point out in fro U-rJd lbat DO one
I}'1lcm of cycln is ~
at the lime time and lbat ~ral C}'<'ICi ofdiff<:ring k ngth and character may be functioning contemporantoU$ly in divcr~nt c u[turtl. ' T he kind ot cyclic counterpoin t he,. . , impliw. ;,. b alic Inthe. tructu,. . ,ofFiJultt~1U W~kt. IthasalreadybttnnQlicw. that wilbin the thrtt Viconian Ages of Books I, II, and Ill,
rily held to embn(X all of mankind
J oyoe allows four IOur-dt. o. pler cydea to develop. ' A detail which doe! . notyelXCIIItohavebeennoticed,~,itlbeim.
plicit identification of thc:oe four cyclCI with the IOu. cl. . . Ka. 1 clemcnu:
(Birth) . . . . . . . . . .
Book II (Maniage) . . . ? . ? 3. II- Male and female;
Book!
BookIII(Death). . . . . . . . . of. JII- Malecycle;Shaun. . Earwicker'. . pirit ;
=
Together with the sandhi ofBook tV, the Lesser Cyclr. s d e. . rly mueupa fou? ? plus-onequasi? lndian pros"""whichJoyceh. . tountcrpoinlC<! against the thue. plur-<>ne Vi. . . ",ian or. hcl1'\(. By tqueczi"l four cycICi into three Joyoe is, to to 'p<. k, ""per- imptlli" l a tqua,. . , on a triangk and 10 constructing AristOtle's I)'lIlboi lOr the bOOy and I0Il1 unifocd in a singll: being. The implication IUIDI to be that in Fi_ptU W. . u"'" may fiD<l a complete and balanced cos""," in which spirit informs and
, IN U. . . ;Jn. vol. I, pp. 6. '9-4.
I W. Y. Tindall, J. -,J_, London, 1950, p. 7'; 1'. 1I. Hig i_
JOJd" R". . . . . . . ofF_,. . . Wolf. AnnArbor,'9~ (onmitn>l\lm), 6,
J_, p. 9".
J. 1. 1;: Male cycle; HCE; ""'"
? ? 1. 5-8: Female cycle; ALP; battln;fo?
? Cplic Form
cnban= the groa matter represented hy the t9ur dements; joyce could hardly have made a more ambitiuu. ,ymbolic claim
for his book. .
Throughout Fiutgas IVaU, in faa, it is very often ~
ble to group a len a <If 'ymbol. , pbrueo, or people into eit~r a thrtt-part Or a four_part cunfiguralion, depending on our poin! of view. Tho:re arc three childrcn, bul holde bu a double,
making a fourth; u. . , four evangelisu ClIch have a I>oou. c:, but one of tho:m i. o ;nvi. illle sinu it iI no morc than a point in . pace (367,27). Nobody ever appea. " 'to have the . ame time Qfbeard' (77. t2), which i. o to oay that . '''ry man', cydc iI h;, own. While . peaking <If the rciati(m. hip betwttn the Four . nd Ya. . . . . , in a
later chapter, joy<< points . . UI Wt in their cal(: 'the meet of thdr noght wu worth IWO ofhis morning' (473,H), Becaw. e of lhit ecrutanl mobility of forms and times tho: Karch for an abtolute is in everybody'. mind throughout the book and iI tho: . pecial concern of the ubiquilOUI Old MCl'I who arc involved in Irying to find a commOn denominalOr for their four differenl poinu of view; but the only abaolute they en, diKon. iI the abaolute uncertainly from "'hien they began, the "'holly relative nllure of all the cyclel. Blavaaky reminds <II thaI il waa lhe practice of the priesu of virtually aU the myllic cret<1a OVer which . ne enth""", 10 I'CIerve fur tIlemaelvei alone the facu conaming th. uuc and Jeerel cycle functionlllI wi! hiD, or p&DUd to, the morc obvious cycles ofwhich vulgar minda werc allowed 10 have l:nowledgc,' This Secret Cycle . 1. . . a)'1 differed from the olben in subtle details of great mystical significance. Returning to the magical num~ '4,2', she writa':
'[a previow comrnental. Or] junly believed that the cycLe of the IndiaD 'yllem, of 43~,OOO. " the true key tu tbe Secret Cycle, But bi. failure in trying to decipber it was made ap~rcnt, lOr . . ;t pertained 10 me mY'lery of tile creation, mit cycle walthe mo. t inviolable of all'.
j oyce embeds !
lOme highly disguised information about luch a Secret Cycle ill the very mathematil:aUy oriented tenm chapter
, 4il UoMUI, >"01. 1, pp. S2, '>93-4? ? 1>" U. . ;JN, . . . . . . . I, p. , ? ?
? ? ? ? ? ? Cyclil F _
(U. 2). He parodi'" Dlavat>ky', '+3~' and k . dl from Ihe. . . , on 10 lhe W<lrld of modem phrlics:
'. . . by ribbon development, from COI:I~ct hridg. : 10 leaoe la(>>C, only two millium lwo humberec1 and eighlYIhausiS nine humbered and ,a ly radiolumin lines \0 the WllSIWOl'tJ of ~
FinnlOWIl" g. :n"fOUI poel', office. ' ('l6:,. 24)
T hai i. 10 oay, from th underclap to sandhi a cycle of 2,280,! )60 units. The mystery (the uy \0 the Seem Cycle) liel in the natun: of th. quao. i-scientific uni. . ; no one could be expected 10 derive the significance of the figu re unaided, hut furtunately the
tnaouscrip'-'prm~deIhenec' "'Ydue. InBriti. ! 1>MuteumAdd, MS 47488, f. 246 we n:ad:
190,080
"
2,280,'J60
Now 3 X 12 X 12 '" 432, and 5,280 . . . f<<1 in a mile. The nature of Ihe cycle i. Ihus reveal<<i: it is a opace. tim<: unil, a four-dimeru. ional cycle of 432 miJe. . yeul, measuring a DOn_ Eudidian world offO\lr-dimo:n. ;onal events. The imponanu of Ihi, al first appa. . ntly pc:ripheral pi""e ohymbolism li. ,. in the IP"<<=-time COncepL The Four, whose geom<:trical position. out. line the frame which . -. . closes tho: book,' an: thnruc:l""" the 'fuurdimmaru;iolU'-thc . ynoplk g<I$~ne. . . . corresponding 10 the Ihl"<< 'p3cc dime"';o"",, and Johnny, always late, 10 time (36pO If. ). Witb ? iMlein Mnd ). Iinltowski at h;, bad
Joyce was at>! e 10. urpall even the andenl m)'Jtics in complexity :>nd IOrtUOlll1l(lS. Like Ibe mathcmatie. tl world? modd of MinkOWllri, lhe g""1 cycle ofF"",t"'" lY. . ucannol be properly
' J"I"U It,. "u<d F. ,. . . . . . . . . . ;! >df by the I1"nbol 0; '" u_', po ,. . . . .
"
? Cyclic Form
under1tood unless the dutance betwun 'events' u rneasured in terms of boll, 'pace and time.
'What ,ubiler timeplaa: of the w<:ald . . . than then . . . . hen ru<;tioru ended, than here . . . . . . . ,re raa: began. ' (80. ! 2)
It i, by such up-to-date method, rather than by rnean. of Ihe sterile a"'thetics ofStephen Dedalu. thatJoyce finally managed IQ place himself above and hehind hu handiw<lIk, ",anning an artificial universe f",e of time', armw, able to apprehend time
spatially. '
Parallel cycle. rcpres~nt the first of twn diffe"'nt types of
"ructurol counterpoint in FittlU{,,'" Walt a oimple . yncopa_ tion of movement in Ihe "'me g<'neral dire<:tion. Clearly the use of thu kind ofcounl~rpoint makes for greal flexibility of de'ign andmightevenwithwmejrulicebeailedan""euSeforI~.
ness, but in facl "a:rta;n random dement of unpredictability w"-' nee""",,ry to Fimr. tgQ1IS WIlkt if it wa. adequately to rcfle<:t the new _rid ofphJl! i'"ofwhicbJoyce was trying 10 build up a faithful verbal analogue. Throughout hu carur J Qyce usually solved the technical problem< of imitative form by t1u: mO$' literal application ofilS principko, ~ every reader of Ul;1/J<S il awa",. In Fin""gans WIlkt he wa. paM. icularly coru:erned to reproduce relativity and the uncertainly principle. 1be latter functiona in the book exactly "-' it does in Ihe phy';cal world. The large "Yelic blOCQ of the constituent material arc b:. >lh clearly defined and pttdictahle, but the 'rnaller the "ruClural
"nits we: cor"ider, Ihe more difficult it;' 10 know how they will function. When adding brief new motifsJoy<:e . ometimes went . . , far"-, to rt:iinquilh all control ov. . their position in the text, and hen~e over . he details oftheir effeet<' ; the old determinum of Uly. . . s has bun replaced by a scale of prohability.
The Ibwry of relativity is even mo,"" 'lIited 10 Joyce', pur_ poses than a the u",ful uncertainty principle. T haI values and points of view . hould be entirely relalive within the world of I. book w"-' nothing new by '939, nor even by 'g<>o, bllt in Finlltgans Wak. J oyce has pu,hed relativity 10 the exlreme and
,Thenat"'"ofW. . . . . ti"'";"J~;nthenext"",. ionofthis<:MpI<T. ? SH be. . . . . p. '79. ,,
?
? Cyclic Forni
mad~ it a b""ic aesthetic and Stcucturallaw. Everything differs " , 'docks from keY", "" joye. : oays (77. 1 'I, alluding, I think, to the 'clocks and measuring_rods' so bclov<<l of expoaito. . of Einsteinian theory. There ;. in fact no absolute position what- ever in Pi_tmlS W4k, and if we choose to consider it mainly from the naturalistic frame of rdhencc it can only I. w: because in SO doing we get the most familiar pictuTe; from whichever ltandpoim we may examine theJ<>ycean phenomena, all other poosiblc &am", of n:ference, no malter how irreconcilable or unpalatable, rum! be taken ;'11<> account a. valid alternative>. Op~pointsofviewdonolcanedoutbutaTemadeto coui<! in equilibrium, for Joyce meant Fin/"ta", W. . . . . to be a, congenial 10 the Shanru of thi. world . . . to the Shems. If, as saint, moo. . rn man has grown puny like Kevin, he has achieved
a CQmpen"'IOry greatn= . . . arU. t and sage; if, as artut or "'g<', hi! mind is grubby, '" bourgeoi. his bOOy U clean. J ust as th = theoretical train. hurtling along at half the .
