No More Learning

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. ture of the purging . . . . cnto in Book IV OCCUIl
, Sn below, Oa. plor lht. . " II. ? SIC ~5.
. ~5
? ? ? ? ? Cyclic Furm
betwttn t:'Ou? pait of major events . r cydet in Fiut,altl W4II;. , which are . . ,panted by the 'siIroc<:' motif. Follov. ~nlJ cach of Ihese motif_otatemcnu ther<' is a rejuvenation of'lylc and tone; the I}'mbolic COl\tent ;. simplified and infOl'TlU'd by a youthful e~rgy.
A further deuUl of JO)'<<', pat"'"' of C)'cia; was almost cet'- tainly deriwd from theosophy, and probably from Bbvatsky in parti(ubr. Th;. il lhe intportant l\umber-motif, '43~'. The S. f;e/'I. ~ KIJ appul'1 to attribute it to J oyce'$ reading of the EdeW. ,? but a much obviouJ SOUree for the figure ;. 10 be found
in the ~ponl c. alculatiom 'nociatcd with tlu: ca1! cm "'OI'ld- eyelet, and especially those of the Hindul. Bla,-al'! ky anaches
gr<'at importance 10 the figure, and in Ihe firsl chapler of ',u U<Wi/. ed di>cUIICI in OOTlOiderabic detail the oyslem of eyel. " which if; . . . . . . . . . . on it. The impooing Grand Period. , . . . . ' Kalpa. ', . . Cl<pwned by her, may be summarised al follows',
111_. ,1in 0"1#-
lit (Krl. l. -)Yuga
2nd (Tlttya-)Vuga 3m (Dvapa. ra_)Yuga ilh (Kali. )Vuga
nJ. . ,tIn <:1<10-/,-
71 Maha_Yugas
+ one sandhi J ,d-ordn ryd_
'4 Manvanura. + one pndhi
1,7~8,ooo }'rs ,,~! j6,ooo )'fl
86VIOO )'fl 432,000 }'1'1
306,120,000 yl'1 , ,pB,ooo yrs
4,3,8,~7~,OOO yl'1 ',728,000 yrs
4,3~,00II,OOO )'111 - one Kalpa. , or Mahamanvantara
, SK is.
I /,it UOHiIi. I, vd. t, PI' 3" If.
5'
?
C~lit F()nn
We au at present said to be in the Kali-Yuga of the twenty_ eighth Maha_Yuga of the ! ICVUIth ManvantarL A talking clodt puodiet this piece of infunnatioOl and telL. U$ what point "'~ have readied in the 'Gnnd Period' ofFitatt,. . ,. . Wilt. by the beginningofBook IV,
'Upon the 111U1U trok. ,. truck, chim, it will be eucdyso fewer houl1 by Ie) many minul"" ofthe ope orthe dium oflhc ",. might of the muned of the Y""" oCthe age of the madamanvantu. . . . . ' (Sg8? 30)
Thue . re PQling a! lu';olU to the Yu,. . . in the Sanskril_ satu. . . . tnI contcxtoftheopo:ningofBook IV, "'hile lbe Manvan. tan and ~"'hamanvanlMa rum up U 21,1,'7 and 297. 30- The figura 432 or 43W appear 0. 1 1e. . . 1 nine lim. ,. ' and are ah. -. ys ~. . udued with the pattern nfthe <;yc. lea. In 11. 2Joytt permutes and combines them in a long scria or heady cakulatio~ whlch
mock at B! avatsky':
'They are never erring, ]>"r]>"lually recurring numbe. . . . un_ veiling to him who " udies the """rell of Nature, a truly divine ')"Ilem, an UWlip plan in COMnOg<IIIy, which resull! in nalunl oounk. divilions of times, oeuons. invisible influel>CU, . . . Iro- nomical phenomena, with thrir action and lUeticn on terra-- trial and even . . -aI narn,. . ,; on bini! , death, and growth, on health and di. ! caac. '
AI this point it would be u wdl to demomtn. tc bow J oyce pUll Klme of the abo. . . . : cyclic i<k. . . 10 work in organising an individual chapter. The fullowing i. an anal)"lis of IlL,. Ihe fint and moJt immediately acc"';ble ofShalln', 'four watch"" of the night'. Its Itructure, mainly Vic:nnian but incorporaling
a silenl . . . ndhi, i. a the pro~ for many other (hapten. PRELUDE
The opening paragraphs form a ,hart p~ludc which recalh ,he four-pat. agraph OVerture at Ihe bo. ginning of FiM#&"'" IVIZ. b.
, S. . Coo>oordan<e.
, H. P. IIlav. . . . . y, 'n. . Sol. . . lH<triM,. voIt. , rain. Lorna, Calif. , '9011, vd. IT, p. 73.
"
? Age iii
(40PO -{'{. '{):
heroic
begin-
Cyclic Form
CYCLE I
Age i (fOS. ,6-{"S. oS): D<:scription <If Shalln as 'a picru,. . , primitive'; he does not 'p"u (fint
\'ironian Age).
A"" ii (f05. 04-{07. "9): Shaun ha, become a H~r"Q-'Bel <If
Ikam Walk'; ,here i. I an allusion 10 the heroic ,laying <If the Jabkr. wock and an elllenaining Raklai-
,jan description <If Shaun',
eating habits.
Introdllced by 'Ov. :rture and
nen'; this is the beginning Human Age, in which the god, can app"af only in dramatic rep"",enta- tion on a stage; Shann hal become
a popular rep~nlaliv<'-'vote of Ihe Irish'; the woro 'Amen' bring,
In an end the group of tIt",e Age. forming the main part of thi, first Viconian cycle.
~ iv (4'4? '4-. P 4. 18): A ,hort TUorsO brings ill back to tIte thwcralic Age with the introduc-
tion 10 the Fable. THU,", OER ( 4 I . p 9 )
CYCLE II
Age i (414. '2-4'9. ro): 'The Ondt and the Gracehoper' (Fable;" a charac:leri,tic of Vioo'. Ii",t ~ ) ; thwcracy is well to the fore Mnce a large I1umkr of Greek and Egyptian gods p. . . . ide over
this section; it . "nc\ud"" wilh
'Allmen'.
Age ii (419. 11-42'. 14): The qu""tion 'Now~' lead, U! into a
f""h 'exploolion', Ihi, time <If the 'Letter', which ;" an e"edlen!
58
of the
? Cyclic Form
~xample of 'extreme verbal scrupu_
loum. . . ' and of'taking pre<:aUliom by the u'"' ofcenain proper word,';
the s<<tion end. . at'Stop',
Age iii (~Q! 'I 5-oj. ~-l-(3): Vico', 'vulgar spetth'- the 's1anguag<"
of Shcm--io both used and dio- euucd; tbe section end. with 'Ex.
Ex. Ex. E>:. '
Age iv (4~P 4-i~4'~O) : A riam. rai"", the question of why
Age i
Shaun revile> Shern. As this is one of the moot basic questions in the book, . . di. cn#ion of it mmt entail a rehearsal of the whole cycLe, 1:. . _ ginning with the thunderbolt.
TReND"" (424. 20) CYCLE 1Il
(42,P3-425. 03) : Shaun I>oldJ fonh from his 'Kingdom ofHu. ven'.
Age ii (425. 04- 426. 04): Begins with 'Still'; Shaun docend. from Heaven, is incamated-
'muttermdk of his blood donor beginning to wark'-and then . peak> . . . . a prophet (Mohammed with 'immenue! UQeS').
Ag. . iii (426. 05;27. 08): }kgins with a lr. . rui! ionofShaun from prophet to commOn man- 'pug;_ liler? . ? broke down. . . o,""r_ powered by hinuelfwith ~ of thc tearailver . . . ? Iob of the world
. . ? load. of fC"llng in him. . . fruhfallen calef; the ""ction end. as Shann vanishClo in death: 'vanes-
shed, ? . Ah, mean! '
Age iv (427. <>9-427. I4): R~?