Gemini.Finnegans.Wake.20
In the ignorance that implies impression that knits knowlege that finds the nameform that whets the wits that convey contacts that sweeten sensation that drives desire that adheres to attachment that dogs death that bitches birth that entails the ensuance of existentiality. But with a rush out of his navel reaching the reredos of Ramasbatham. A terricolous vivelyonview this; queer and it continues to be quaky. A hatch, a celt, an earshare the pourquose of which was to cassay the earthcrust at all of hours, furrowards, bagawards, like yoxen at the turnpaht. Here say figurines billycoose arming and mounting. Mounting and arming bellicose figurines see here. Futhorc, this liffle effingee is for a firefing called a flintforfall. Face at the eased! O I fay! Face at the waist! Ho, you fie! Upwap and dump em, Face to Face! When a part so ptee does duty for the holos we soon grow to use of an allforabit.
On this Tuesday night, the book zooms out to a grand, philosophical scale, describing the very engine of existence and the origins of human civilization.
The Cycle of Everything
The paragraph opens with a single, chain-reaction sentence that describes the cycle of existence. It’s a loop that begins with ignorance and leads inevitably through desire, attachment, death, and back to birth:
In the ignorance that implies impression that knits knowlege that finds the nameform that whets the wits that convey contacts that sweeten sensation that drives desire that adheres to attachment that dogs death that bitches birth that entails the ensuance of existentiality.
This is the relentless, repeating cycle that drives the world of the Wake, similar to the Buddhist concept of Dependent Origination. It’s the “why” behind all the stories.
Breaking the Earth’s Crust
The paragraph then presents a vivid image of an early human, an earth-dweller (terricolous). We see their tools: A hatch, a celt, an earshare (a hatchet, a prehistoric axe, and a ploughshare).
The purpose of these tools was to cassay the earthcrust (break the earth’s crust), ploughing furrowards, bagawards, like yoxen at the turnpaht. This is a picture of the birth of agriculture, the moment humans began to make their mark on the world. At the same time, it’s a perfect metaphor for the birth of writing: making furrows (lines) on a surface (the page).
The Birth of the Alphabet
The paragraph concludes by explaining the principle behind writing. We are shown a liffle effingee (a little effigy or pictograph), a sign representing a thing. This leads to a profound conclusion:
When a part so ptee does duty for the holos we soon grow to use of an allforabit.
When a small part (ptee for petty) is used to represent the whole (holos, Greek for whole), we get used to an alphabet (allforabit).
The invention of the alphabet is presented as the moment civilization could begin in earnest. A small set of signs could now represent the entire world of ideas, just as a few seeds could grow to feed a city. This entire complex book, Joyce reminds us, is built from this simple “allforabit.”
19/08/2025, P.19.02, to be continued.