Joyce on Geometry

Beannachtai na Feile Padraig.

In honor of the day, I’d like to post a passage of Finnegans Wake. There’s a beautiful section from pages 293 to 299 “explaining” Euclid I.1. It’s as good a place as any to start in on “the book of Doublends Jined”, so if this sort of thing intrigues you I hope you’ll get a copy and go from here. If nothing else I hope that my own exegeses are somewhat easier to follow.

This area of the text is particularly… texty. I’ll do my best to match the original as exactly as possible. Individual pages will be separated by hard rules. The passage itself follows the jump.

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	Coss? Cossist? Your parn! You, you make	WHY MY AS
	what name? (and in truth, as a poor soul is	LIKEWISE
	between shift and shift ere the teath he has	WHIS HIS.
	lived through becomes the life he is to die
	into, he or he had albut — he was rickets as to
	reasons but the balance of his minds was
	stables — lost himself or himself some som-
	nione sciupiones, soswhitchoverswetch had
	he or he gazet, murphy come, murphy go,
	murphy plant, murphy grow, a maryamyria-
	meliamurphies, in the lazily eye of his lapis,
Uteralterance or	Vieus Von DVbLIn, ’twas one of dozedeams
the Interplay of	a darkies ding in dewood) the Turnpike under
Bones in the	the Great Ulm (with Mearingstone in Fore
Womb.	ground).1 Given now ann linch you take enn
	all. Allow me! And, heaving alljawbreakical
	expressions out of old Sare Isaac’s2 universal
The Vortex.	of specious aristmystic unsaid, A is for Anna
Spring of Sprung	like L is for liv. Aha hahah, Ante Ann you’re
Verse. The Ver-	apt to ape aunty annalive! Dawn gives rise.
tex.	Lo, lo, lives love! Eve takes fall. La, la, laugh
	leaves alass! Aiaiaiai, Antiann, we’re last to
	the lost, Loulou! Tis perfect. Now (lens

¹ Draumcondra’s Dream country where the betterlies blow.
² O, Laughing Sally, are we going to be toadhauntered by that old Pantifox
Sir Somebody Something, Burtt, for the rest of our secret stripture?

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	your dappled yeye here, mine’s presbyoperian,
	shill and wall) we see the copyngink strayed-
	line AL (in Fig., the forest) from being con-
	tinued, stops ait Lambday1: Modder ilond
	there too. Allow me anchore! I bring down
	noth and carry awe. Now, then, take this in!
	One of the most murmurable loose carollaries
Sarga, or the	ever Ellis threw his cookingclass. With Olaf
path of outgoing.	as centrum and Olaf’s lambtail for his spokes-
	man circumscript a cyclone. Allow ter! Hoop !
	As round as the calf of an egg! O, dear
	me! O, dear me now! Another grand dis-
	cobely! After Makefearsome’s Ocean. You’ve
	actuary entducked one! Quok! Why, you
	haven’t a passer! Fantastic! Early clever,
	surely doomed, to Swift’s, alas, the galehus!
Docetism and	Match of a matchness, like your Bigdud dadder
Didicism, Maya-	in the boudeville song, Gorotsky Gollovar’s
Thaya. Tamas-	Troubles, raucking his flavourite turvku in
Rajas-Sattvas.	the smukking precincts of lydias,2 with Mary
	Owens and Dolly Monks seesidling to edge
	his cropulence and Blake-Roche, Kingston
	and Dockrell auriscenting him from afurz, our
	papacocopotl,3 Abraham Bradley King? (ting
	ting! ting ting!) By his magmasine fall. Lumps,
	lavas and all.4 Bene! But, thunder and turf, it’s
	not alover yet! One recalls Byzantium. The
	mystery repeats itself todate as our callback
	mother Gaudyanna, that was daughter to a
	tanner,5 used to sing, as I think, now and then
	consinuously over her possetpot in her quer

¹ Ex jup pep off Carpenger Strate. The kids’ and dolls’ home. Makeacake-
ache.
² A vagrant need is a flagrant weed.
³ Grand for blowing off steam when you walk up in the morning.
⁴ At the foot of Bagnabun Banbasday was lost on one.
⁵ We’re all found of our anmal matter.

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	homolocous humminbass hesterdie and ist-
	herdie forivor.1 Vanissas Vanistatums! And
The Vegetable	for a night of thoughtsendyures and a day. As
Cell and its Pri-	Great Shapesphere puns it. In effect, I re-
vate Properties.	mumble, from the yules gone by, purr lil mur-
	rerof myhind, so she used indeed. When she
	give me the Sundaclouths she hung up for
	Tate and Comyng and snuffed out the ghost
	in the candle at his old game of haunt the
	sleepper. Faithful departed. When I’m dream-
	ing back like that I begins to see we’re only
	all telescopes. Or the comeallyoum saunds.
	Like when I dromed I was in Dairy and was
	wuckened up with thump in thudderdown.
	Rest in peace ! But to return.2 What a wonder-
	ful memory you have too ! Twonderful
	morrowy! Straorbinaire! Bene! I bring town
	eau and curry nothung up my sleeve. Now,
	springing quickenly from the mudland Loosh
	from Luccan with Allhim as her Elder tetra-
	turn a somersault. All’s fair on all fours, as
	my instructor unstrict me. Watch ! And you’ll
	have the whole inkle. Allow, allow! Gyre O,
	gyre O, gyrotundo ! Hop lala ! As umpty
	herum as you seat! O, dear me, that was very
	nesse! Very nace indeed! And makes us a
The haves and	daintical pair of accomplasses! You, allus for
the havenots: a	the kunst and me for omething with a handel
distinction.	to it. Beve! Now, as will pressantly be felt,
	there’s tew tricklesome poinds where our
	twain of doubling bicirculars, mating approxe-
	metely in their suite poi and poi, dunloop
	into eath the ocher. Lucihere ! I fee where you

¹ Sewing up the beillybursts in their buckskin shiorts for big Kapitayn
Killykook and the Jukes of Kelleiney.
² Say where! A timbrelfill of twinkletinkle.

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	mea. The doubleviewed seeds. Nun, lemmas
	quatsch, vide pervoys akstiom, and I think as
	I’m suqeez in the limon, stickme punctum, but
	for semenal rations I’d likelong, by Araxes,
	to mack a capital Pee for Pride down there
	on the batom1 where Hoddum and Heave, our
	monsterbilker, balked his bawd of parodies.
Zweispaltung as	And let you go, Airmienious, and mick your
Fundemaintalish	modest mock Pie out of Humbles up your
of Wiederher-	end. Where your apexojesus will be a point
stellung.	of order. With a geing groan grunt and a
	croak click cluck.2 And my faceage kink and
	kurkle trying to make keek peep.3 Are you
	right there, Michael, are you right? Do you
	think you can hold on by sitting tight? Well,
	of course, it’s awful angelous. Still I don’t feel
	it’s so dangelous. Ay, I’m right here, Nickel,
	and I’ll write. Singing the top line why it
	suits me mikey fine. But, yaghags hogwarts
	and arrahquinonthiance, it’s the muddest thick
	that was ever heard dump since Eggsmather
	got smothered in the plap of the pfan. Now,
	to compleat anglers, beloved bironthiarn and
	hushtokan hishtakatsch, join alfa pea and
	pull loose by dotties and, to be more
	sparematically logoical, eelpie and paleale by
	trunkles. Alow me align while I encloud
	especious ! The Nike done it. Like pah,4 I peh.
	Innate little bondery. And as plane as a poke
	stiff.5 Now, aqua in buccat. I’ll make you to
	see figuratleavely the whome of your eternal

¹ Parsee ffrench for the upholdsterer would be delightered.
² I’ll pass out if the screw spliss his strut.
³ Thargam then goeligum? If you sink I can, swimford. Suksumkale!
⁴ Hasitatense?
⁵ The impudence of that in girl’s things!

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	geomater. And if you flung her headdress on
	her from under her highlows you’d wheeze
	whyse Salmonson set his seel on a hexen-
Destiny, In-	gown.1 Hissss!, Arrah, go on! Fin for fun!
flunce of Design	You’ve spat your shower like a son of Sibernia
upon.	but let’s have at it! Subtend to me now! Pisk!
	Outer serpumstances beiug ekewilled, we care-
	fully, if she pleats, lift by her seam hem and
	jabote at the spidsiest of her trickkikant (like
	thousands done before since fillies calpered.
	Ocone ! Ocone !) the maidsapron of our A.L.P.,
	fearfully! till its nether nadir is vortically where
	(allow me aright to two cute winkles) its naval’s
Prometheus or	napex will have to beandbe. You must proach
the Promise of	near mear for at is dark. Lob. And light
Provision.	your mech. Jeldy! And this is what you’ll say.2
	Waaaaaa. Tch! Sluice! Pla! And their, redneck,
	(for addn’t we to gayatsee with Puhl the Pun-
	kah’s bell?)mygh and thy, the living spit of
	dead waters,3 fastness firm of Hurdlebury Fenn,
	discinct and isoplural in its (your sow to
	the duble) sixuous parts, flument, fluvey and
	fluteous, midden wedge of the stream’s your
	muddy old triagonal delta, fiho miho, plain
	for you now, appia lippia pluvaville, (hop the
	hula, girls!) the no niggard spot of her safety
	vulve, first of all usquiluteral threeingles, (and
	why wouldn’t she sit cressloggedlike the lass
	that lured a tailor?) the constant of fluxion,
	Mahamewetma, pride of the province4 and
	when that tidled boare rutches up from the
	Afrantic, allaph quaran’s his bett und bier!5

¹ The chape of Doña Speranza of the Nacion.
² Ugol egal ogle. Mi vidim Mi.
³ It is, it is Sangannon’s dream.
⁴ And all meinkind.
⁵ Whangpoos the paddle and whiss whee whoo.

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Ambages and	Paa lickam laa lickam, apl lpa ! This it is an her.
Their Rôle.	You see her it. Which it whom you see it is
	her. And if you could goaneggbetter we’d soon
	see some raffant scrumala riffa. Quicks herit
	fossyending. Quef! So post that to your pape
	and smarket ! And you can haul up that languil
	pennant, mate. I’ve read your tunc’s dimissage.
	For, let it be taken that her littlenist is of no
	magnetude or again let it be granted that Doll
	the laziest can be dissimulant with all respects
	from Doll the fiercst, thence must any what-
	youlike in the power of empthood be either
Ecclasiastical	greater THaN or less THaN the unitate we
and Celestial	have in one or hence shall the vectorious ready-
Hierarchies. The	eyes of evertwo circumflicksrent searclhers
Ascending. The	never film in the elipsities of their gyribouts
Descending.	those fickers which are returnally reprodictive
	of themselves.1 Which is unpassible. Quarrel-
	lary. The logos of somewome to that base any-
	thing, when most characteristically mantissa
	minus, comes to nullum in the endth:2 orso,
	here is nowet badder than the sin of Aha with
	his cosin Lil, verswaysed on coverswised, and
	all that’s consecants and cotangincies till Per-
	perp stops repippinghim since her redtangles
	are all abscissan for limitsing this tendency of
	our Frivulteeny Sexuagesima3 to expense her-
The peripatetic	selfs as sphere as possible, paradismic peri-
periphery. It’s	mutter, in all directions on the bend of the
Allothesis.	unbridalled, the infinisissimalls of her facets
	becoming manier and manier as the calicolum
	of her umdescribables (one has thoughts of
	that eternal Rome) shrinks from schurtiness

¹ I enjoy as good as anyone.
² Neither a soul to be saved nor a body to be kicked.
³ The boast of the town.

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	to scherts.1 Scholium, there are trist sigheds to
	everysing but ichs on the freed brings euchs to
	the feared. Qued?

¹ Hen’s bens, are we soddy we missiled her?

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