No More Learning

? Cyclic Form
r<:procnted by that oppoocd yet amalgamating ( ouple, Berkeley and Patri~k. Th<: pru:agraph /i'llowing th~ 'Kevin' epioode is tinged with ,uitably ropuiatory imagery.
This is all primru:ily applied Blake, and the analogy with 'The Mental Traveller' also hold. with re'pect to the other characte. . . in FiMt! l= W. zk,. Earwicker, approaching the end his u",ful career in II. I, ente. . . at the conclusion of that chapter as:
An "g,d SluuIow. . .
W,,"d'Tillg "m""anEarrirJ. 1 (At
and subsequently reappean (11. 3) as the Host, who: ? . ,imls riot B'gg4T & riot P/)OT
Arul riot wa:d",illg TT",~lkr
The love, of Blake', 'Female Babe' who 'prings from the hearth (h. y) and the 'Man . he lov",' (Triltan, 1I. 4), 'drive out the aged Host' who tries to win a Maiden (bi. incestuoU! love for his daughter), and though from this love of old man and maid a1110cial and physical d. . . . . . ter 'pring. , it is, in Finntgam W. zk, as in 'The Mental Traveller', the nnly mean, whereby Ear_ wichn may be rejuvenated as Shaun,. Joy~e'. Babe, Kcvin- 'TI,e child, a natural child'- i. kidnapped C~9. 'j. 34), as i, Blah', Babo:, and must then be nailed down upon the Rock of the Church by the I'rankquean 'with the nail ofa top' (2~. I. '>> a, the ""ven,tim", circumscribed Saint 50 that Anna, the 'weeping
woman old', may turn full circle bad: to her youth as a rainbow, girl. C1O! Clyallied to th;' use of Blake is Joyce', 'pecial applica, tion nf Yeau' description of the soul', fJrut "",,"urn prog",ss through an inverted form of dream-life (the Dr,,. ,,,ing Back, R,tr<,. ,. and Shiftings), but a. thi, concerru the complex dream- structure of the book T have delayed a doc"",ion of it until the
next chapter.
III: WHAT IS THE "fl. . ? {. '>OLO. '>}
From th~ initiating . permatic f1cod of creation, 'rivermn', tn
the . ort syllable 'the'-the most comm()n in tIle English
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? Cyclic Form
languagel-<m which it W! lle$ to ilJ whimpering end, the gr. a! m""" ofFinlltllVlS W<lk. "'pr=nlJ eternity; at the opposite atume it '''''flUto ""p~nt the fleeting, infinitesimail1\()men. during which it used 10 be thought that even the long"'[ drum
took place:
'he it a day Or a year Or even . uppo>ing, it ,hould eventually turn out to be a serial number ofgoodnes, gracious alone know, how many day1 or yea. . : (I,1l,oS; and d . 194. 06 If)
Within th""" macro_ and miCTOCD$mic limits Fin~. gmu Wd.
functiolU at a number ofsymbolic levels, ~ach hased Qn iu own particular lime_period. As the main tcmpnral cycles have not hitherto been propcrly undcntood, I . hall sketch them;n here,
a, briefly a. possible, tldor. going "Il to anal)",: the rdated dream-<yclC:l. At the naturaliuic levd, <:orr">p"",Ung to 'Bloo! ruday? . Fi""'IIOtu Wakt i1lhe detailed a<;(ount of a ,ingle day" activ;tk. ; at the next rt:move it depi(ts a typiGal w<:ek of human exilten",,; and, next ;n importan(~ 10 the archetypal daily cyde, the book ruIU through a full liturgical year, Tlu:re
are many other time_schemes, ofCOUl''', but th= thr-x are the mOllt important.
The na. lural;'t;c plot, such", ;t ll, U concerned with events at a public howe near Dublin on one day fairly early in this century, while at the = n d level {he individual incidents of thi& ,;ngle day a", divided up by Joyce and d;otributed in ord~r throughout an entire w-xk, th", cxpand;n. ~ a daily into a weekly
cycle. A morning event, fur ""ample, takes place on a \Voones- day, an evening event On" Friday, and 10 on. Confusion ","uh_ ing from the fai1"r~ of the critic", to appreciate this technique of time-expamion and oomptes$ion h~ 100 to a misunde",tanding abom the day orthe week on which the whole twenty. four hour cycle take! plac. <:. Thi. i, a Friday, not, '" Mr. Edmund Wilson has it, a Saturday' (S,24. 18{. 3~, 399,~', 433. ,\I). T hat the day ofthe Wake could not in any c<t. l<: he a Saturday i. indicated by th~ fact that Dublin public. howel in J oyce'. day dosed al
,G. lJ. :wq. R4Wi. ft,~'I/'&. t. /i! ",puc"~,c. . m~,~1. :Lo$. , '9'3. 1'1'. 46, '01, ,>6.
, r. . W;~"'" "1"0 o. . ,. m of n . c. F,. . ,. . ,. ;o,,,,,', -no. W,""" aod ,iI< B-, L o n d o n , '9~2, p . " 9 .
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? Cydic F(ffm
(0 p. m, on Saturday nights, wherea" as I point out below, Earwickcr', e'tabli,hment cle<<, at I ( p,m. (370), which wa; th~ Mrmal d~ing time /i,r Monday_Friday. ' Joyce had not forgotten about Dublin'l Saturday night early. c\o:! ing, since he alludes to it at 39". 06.
At thil point il iJ u. uallo ,ay that f! iNugan. r Wake is a night_ piece, balancing joyce', day_book, Uly",s. Finntgaos W"", i. indeed a night_book in that il" supposed to be taking place in the mind of a sl. epcr, while Uf1JSts is a day-book in that it naTratts the events of the waking-hours, but otherwi. . the dichotomy i, not so complete. At leaat half of UIySStS, and that the mOre important, takes plac<: after dMk, while well ovcr a third of FinlUga", W"", iJ concerned with day_time activitie? . Alm~t the whole of Book I take. place in daylight; Book IT
repre. ent> the hours between dusk and midnight; Book Til I",ts from midnight to dawn; Book IV is the moment of lunri,e. TIle plot of the novel can be understood only if this temporal pattern is kept dearly in mind. Aa with the gcn~ral cydi<; organi. ! ation,joyce stem, to have arrived at a dear concepli()n
or the timc-! dlcme only after m~t of Book I had been com- pleted. Boo'" II, liT, and TV therdore ,how much greatu detail of temporal organisation, but, with this res. ervation, the overall ,chem~ i. fairly dear.
Book I opcru with the morning'. drinking in th~ public house (6. I. ! ,). T be whole book, '''Y; Anna in her utter, begiO. 'l at Ihe magical hour of 11. 32 a. m. : 'Femelle! will be preadaminant
a. from twentyeight to twelve' (6'7. 23), which seem. to mean that Eve will prrcedc Adam as from 11. 32 a. m. This . he doe. in the first line of FilllUgfl/u WQ. u : 'rivenun, past Eve and Ad"m'" . " At the end of Book l llight fall. ""' the six o'dock angelus is ringing ("3. ,8-. ,,,6. 06). 1be eycle of daily activity
;1O,'er and the two night cycle, arc to come.
llook II begin. at about 8. 30 p. m. with the pantomime, but
a certain anlount of working-back is necessary in order to establish thi. . . The occ. Qnd chapter of the Book end. as th~
, I am indobt<:<! 10 Mr. D. :. ruood K<nn<dy, . . . . . ~~t L'bntio.
" of tho Nalioruol Library of Ireland, f<>t ttU. 'ofO<m. a. ion.
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? Cyclic Form
"hildren 3'"" ",nl to bed on Ihe ,Iroke of to p. m. (308) ; it ha, lasled JWI one hour, since 3tthe end of II. , they wer. : heard praying for '. I""p in hour', time' (259. 01,). Thi. first chapter thcr. :fon: end. at 9 p. m. and, . inee th~ 'Mime' i; calkd a 'thirty minut~" war' (21,6. 03), the dramatic a<:tion milll begin (QQ2. 2Q) at 8. 30 p. rn. , a normal hnur lilt the . 11lrl ofa theatrical pedOrmancc. The long ~hapt~r II. S begiIU al 10 p. m. and lastl 'fnr one watthour' (3,o. Q5) until 'ti,ne jin! ($ pl~"" at II p. m. , when all the customen arc ",nt homc scowling. E~r. . . ? icker fait. drunk on the floor and, between II p. m. and midnight, iJ subject to the hallucinations of d. lir;um /remntS, in which he '''''. hiJ bat-room transformed into the bridal? ,hip of Tri,t. ~n and holde. By midnight he i, ! afe in bed and about to
fall asleep (4"3) ro Ihat wme lime In"" elapse betw""n the end ofII. 4 and the beginning of Ill . I to allow him 10 go up'tairs to the bedroom (in the manner deocribed at . 1. ,;6-7), change, and drowoc off. It i, tlterd'orc highly lik. ! y Ihat Book II i; to be con,idcred as ending at '1. 3" p. m. , jrnt half way round Ihe
twenty-four hour cycle.
Book III begin. with the chime" of midnight, and the hour
is ,talcd at interv. ? 1. 1 throughout the Rook unul it end" ~ppar? ently at 4. 32 a. m. Shann hea,. , lhe dock . trike 2 a. m. at 419. 25;
'the first quaint . kre<:k of the glooming' i, ,ccn al 474. 2'; at 586. 23 the tim~ ;. more prcci",ly . tated than anywhcr. : et. e in Fifl1lt? MS Wake:
'at . uch a point of time as Ihi. , i; . . . (half hack from Ihr. :e gan! ($ multapluM<<! on a Iwenlylot ;,odd "lit<. > a f"'er with the deuce or roamer', numbers ell a fee and do liule ones). '
That iJ to . . . y: '3. 30, plul 20 minutes, pi'" 5 lIlinut"", plu" o minutes-Ihe minute_hand bo::ing Iherefore Iwo ",inut~. $ p"" the Roman XI (. ! /, in German) on the clncHaee: 3. 57 a. m. ' (Me",. . . Roamers ar. : well known watchmakers. ThaI 3. 3" . hnuld he defined as 'halfhack from Ihr. :e' ;. attributable to the general rt:v~"ibility of umc in this Book. ) The '57' may be
arrivedalbymeansoftwoothcrca1culauon~whi~h ~rehidden in the text to provide a furth" example of the principle that
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? Cydic Frmn
any given fMt in Fi"",C"1I. l W. . . . . . may be approached In a
variety nfways:
And, in Rnman:
L+ V+lI_ LVII
A d<>zcn li"e' later thr<< more minutes have elap:sed and four 0'dod:rin~ out thmugh a pair ofb<:H. like . pondees': 'h urore! }'earhou. . . ,! '. Th. dawn, a fearful hour for the. piritsofBook III, i. br. aking through th. m;"ts of 'leep. We arc ,till fou," page, from the end of. he chapter and hence we may ,. . . ume that the cyd. of Book I II lim. hes at the crucial houT of 4. 3~ a. m. (The chimes h. ard at 590. ' I are very likely those of 4. 30 a. m. )
Once again th? . . . , is a pause between Books. Book IV begillll and end. at 6 a. m. It ;, a timeless moment which yet contain, aU Ihe seem of the book. In the yearly f,. ,. me of reference
FiIm'ga1l. l W,,*, begim and end. at the vernal equinox, SO that in Book IV the ,un n. c, at 6 a. m. uactly. The ~un ;, in fru:t ri,ing I. l5 Book IV open. < (593-4) and i,! till riling a, it cnth. All the . umtan. e of the chaptn is in a stat<: or momentary change. oVer from One cycle to the next and i, here 'frozen' in the act. Book IV ;" indeed the mOSt imiX'rtant of a number of '51il1&' in 'thi, "Ilnighto ncW);cryrecl' (189. 35). The ~'m? god, Eunvicker, il dmw ly ! tepping Out of bed On the fi. -st page, hut hi, wife h:t$ not yet coaxed him awakt: by 619. ~5; he ;" jillt peeping o,",r Ihe horizon at 594. ~1 fr. , sending a b<:am of light thmugh the druith' circle and on 10 the altar; al S97. ~S if. he is . till in the ! arne position, while Ihe dawn angelus (6 a. m. ) i, upected
at any moment at 604. 10. There is an amming forewarning some fifty pages earlier, in 1l1. 4, Ihal Boo! : IV will end at uacdy';" o'dock. The court of twelve corrupt jnrymen con? demn Earwicker to 'three months' (S. 'i8)-that ;", to the th= month, of life which arc ""p,. . ,. . nted by 'his' cycle (1. 1-4; . . e below). This sentence, they say, is to be carried Out 'at six
, l brot? l"'t FiMt, = WOW the ,pond. ,.