Gemini.Finnegans.Wake.52

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I’ve an eye on queer Behan and old Kate and the butter, trust me. She’ll do no jugglywuggly with her war souvenir postcards to help to build me murial, tippers! I’ll trip your traps! Assure a sure there! And we put on your clock again, sir, for you. Did or didn’t we, sharestutterers? So you won’t be up a stump entirely. Nor shed your remnants. The sternwhell’s crawling strong. I ween your missus in the hall. Like the queenoveire. Arrah, it’s herself that’s fine, too, don’t be talking! Shirksends? You storyan Harry chap longa me Harry chap storyan grass woman plelthy good trout. Shakeshands. Dibble a hyfork’s wrong with her only her lex’s salig. Boald Tib does be yawning and smirking car’s hours on the Pollockses’ wooly round tabouretcushion watching her sawing a dream together, the tailor’s daughter, stitch to her last.

This paragraph is a mix of gossip, reassurance to the sleeping HCE, and a detailed, admiring observation of his wife, ALP. A speaker warns a servant, Kate, against telling tales, then assures HCE that all is well, before describing ALP as a powerful, queen-like figure who tirelessly works to stitch the family’s world together.

## Household Watch 👀

The speaker begins by acting as a guardian of the household’s secrets. They are keeping a close eye on the servants, “queer Behan and old Kate,” to make sure they don’t cause trouble. The speaker issues a direct warning to Kate, a cleaning woman and witness to the family’s private life, telling her not to use her “war souvenir postcards” (her secret knowledge) to create her own version of HCE’s story (“build me murial” or memorial).

## Reassuring the Master 🛌

The speaker then turns to address the sleeping HCE directly, offering comfort and reassurance.

  • “And we put on your clock again, sir, for you.”: This means they have reset his world, put his time back in order, and restored the cycle.
  • “The sternwhell’s crawling strong.”: This is a beautiful image of his wife, ALP. Like a sternwheel riverboat, she (the river) is moving slowly but powerfully, keeping the family enterprise afloat.

## The Queen in the Hall 👑

The focus settles entirely on ALP, who is described with admiration as a powerful and beautiful queen.

  • She’s compared to “queenoveire” (Guinevere), the legendary wife of King Arthur, elevating her to mythic status.
  • A long, garbled sentence in pidgin English retells their primal love story, concluding that she is a “plelthy good trout” (a fine catch).
  • Her one flaw or limitation is revealed: “…only her lex’s salig.” This means her law is Salic. The Salic Law was a medieval code that barred women from inheriting the throne. ALP is a queen, but she is prevented from holding ultimate authority by this ancient patriarchal rule.

## The Weaver of Dreams 🧵

The paragraph ends with a final, powerful image of ALP at her endless work, watched by a lazy, cat-like figure, “Boald Tib.”

  • While others are idle, she is “sawing a dream together.” The verb is “sawing,” but the context is sewing. She is the “tailor’s daughter” who actively stitches the fabric of their lives, mending reality and dreams into one whole cloth. She will continue this tireless work until her very end, “stitch to her last.” She is the resilient, creative force holding their chaotic world together.

Or while waiting for winter to fire the enchantement, decoying more nesters to fall down the flue. It’s an allavalonche that blows nopussy food. If you only were there to explain the meaning, best of men, and talk to her nice of guldenselver. The lips would moisten once again. As when you drove with her to Findrinny Fair. What with reins here and ribbons there all your hands were employed so she never knew was she on land or at sea or swooped through the blue like Airwinger’s bride.

This is a nostalgic and regretful paragraph that focuses on HCE’s wife, ALP. It contrasts her current lonely existence with a cherished, romantic memory of a time when her husband was vibrant and alive, and it laments his absence.

## The Lonely Weaver 🕸️

The paragraph begins by describing ALP’s current state. She is seen “waiting for winter,” tirelessly working to keep the family hearth going and luring the next generation (“nesters”) into the cycle of life, even if it’s a dangerous one (like birds falling “down the flue”). This lonely work is justified by a cryptic proverb, “It’s an allavalonche that blows nopussy food,” a rewritten version of “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good.” This suggests that even a catastrophe (an “avalanche,” which also contains the mythic paradise of Avalon) can bring some benefit—another reference to the book’s central theme of the Fortunate Fall.

## A Longing for the Past 💔

The speaker then expresses a deep sense of loss, directly addressing the absent HCE.

  • “If you only were there to explain the meaning, best of men…”: Without him, the world lacks meaning for ALP. He was the one who could comfort her and make sense of things.
  • “…and talk to her nice of guldenselver.”: They long for the days when he would woo her with sweet talk and promises of “gold and silver,” like a suitor in a fairy tale.

## The Magical Carriage Ride 🎠

This longing triggers a specific, beautiful memory of a trip the two of them took to “Findrinny Fair.”

  • Findrinny is a mythical metal from Irish sagas, making the destination a magical, otherworldly place.
  • The memory is one of exhilarating, sensual excitement. While he was driving the carriage, “What with reins here and ribbons there all your hands were employed.” On the surface, this means he was busy with the horses, but the double-entendre strongly implies his hands were busy caressing her.
  • The experience was so thrilling and disorienting that she felt like she was flying: “she never knew was she on land or at sea or swooped through the blue like Airwinger’s bride.”

This final image transforms a simple memory into a myth. HCE becomes “Airwinger” (a pun on his surname, Earwicker), a winged god, and their carriage ride becomes a divine elopement, a moment of pure ecstasy when she was swept off her feet and carried into the sky. It’s a poignant contrast to her current, earthbound loneliness.

She was flirtsome then and she’s fluttersome yet. She can second a song and adores a scandal when the last post’s gone by. Fond of a concertina and pairs passing when she’s had her forty winks for supper fater kanekannan and abbely dimpling and is in her merlin chair assotted, reading her Evening World. To see is it smarts, full lengths or swaggers. News, news all the news. Death, a leopard, kills fellah in Fez. Angry scenes at Stormount. Stilla Star with her lucky in goingaways. Opportunity fair with the China floods and we hear these rosy rumours.

This paragraph paints an affectionate portrait of ALP (Anna Livia Plurabelle) in her later years. It describes her enduringly lively character and her evening ritual of sitting in her “magic” chair, absorbing all the news of the chaotic world from the evening paper.

## An Enduring Charm 💃

The speaker begins by affirming that ALP’s vibrant personality has not faded with time. “She was flirtsome then and she’s fluttersome yet.” She is still lively and charming, enjoys joining in a sing-along (“second a song”), and loves a good bit of gossip (“adores a scandal”) in the quiet of the evening.

## The Evening Ritual 🛋️

The paragraph gives a detailed and cozy description of her evening routine.

  • After a light supper or a nap that follows the daily conflict between her sons (“fater kanekannan,” a pun on “after Cain and Abel”), she settles into her armchair.
  • This is no ordinary chair; it’s her “merlin chair,” a place of magic and enchantment, like the seat of the wizard Merlin.
  • From this spot, she becomes “assotted” (dazed with affection) as she reads her newspaper, the “Evening World,” connecting to the wider world outside her home.

## All the News of the World 📰

The contents of the newspaper she reads are a jumbled mix of typical headlines, representing the chaotic flow of information that makes up life. The stories range from the sensational to the political to the trivial:

  • Exotic Violence: “Death, a leopard, kills fellah in Fez.“
  • Local Politics: “Angry scenes at Stormount.“ (Stormont is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly).
  • Celebrity Gossip: “Stilla Star with her lucky in goingaways.“ (A nod to “Stella,” Jonathan Swift’s companion).
  • Distant Tragedy: “Opportunity fair with the China floods.“ (A strangely detached view of a disaster).

## Rosy Rumours 🤔

Despite the grim and chaotic nature of the news, the paragraph ends on a hopeful note: “and we hear these rosy rumours.” This is what ALP is ultimately looking for. She is the river of life, and her evening ritual is to absorb everything the world pours into her—death, conflict, gossip, and disaster—always listening for the “rosy rumours” of hope, renewal, and the continuation of the story. On a late Saturday night in Ireland, this image of someone winding down with the paper, digesting the week’s events, is a familiar and timeless ritual.

Ding Tams he noise about all same Harry chap. She’s seeking her way, a chickle a chuckle, in and out of their serial story, Les Loves of Selskar et Pervenche, freely adapted to The Novvergin’s Viv. There’ll be bluebells blowing in salty sepulchres the night she signs her final tear. Zee End. But that’s a world of ways away. Till track laws time. No silver ash or switches for that one! While flattering candles flare. Anna Stacey’s how are you! Worther waist in the noblest, says Adams and Sons, the wouldpay actionneers. Her hair’s as brown as ever it was. And wivvy and wavy. Repose you now! Finn no more!

This is the final paragraph of the first chapter, and it acts as a powerful conclusion and transition. It focuses on the ever-present wife, ALP, prophesies her distant death before pulling back to celebrate her enduring vitality, and ends with a momentous, paradoxical command.

## The Ever-Present Heroine 💃

While the men (“Harry chap”) make the same repetitive “noise,” the female principle, ALP, is the one who navigates the story. “She’s seeking her way, a chickle a chuckle, in and out of their serial story.” Like her river, she flows through the conflicts of her family, laughing gently as she finds her path through the romantic dramas that surround her.

## A Distant, Beautiful Death 🌊

The narrator offers a beautiful, melancholy prophecy of ALP’s eventual death, the moment when the river meets the sea.

  • “There’ll be bluebells blowing in salty sepulchres the night she signs her final tear.”: Her death will be a sad but natural event, like a flower blooming on a seaside tomb. It will be the final drop of water from the river before it joins the ocean.
  • The narrator immediately pulls back from this sad image, declaring, “But that’s a world of ways away.” Her end is not coming anytime soon. She will not show signs of age (“No silver ash or switches for that one!”); for now, she is alive and vibrant.

## Anna the Resurrected 👑

The focus shifts back to her timeless beauty and vitality. She is addressed affectionately as “Anna Stacey,” a pun on Anastasia, the Greek word for “resurrection.” She is Anna, the ever-living, the principle of renewal. Her figure is admired, and her hair is noted to be “as brown as ever it was. And wivvy and wavy,” just like the river she embodies.

## The Final Command: An End and a Beginning 🏁

The chapter concludes with a powerful, two-part command that is famously paradoxical.

  • “Repose you now!”: This is addressed to the male hero, HCE/Finnegan. The wake is over, the story of his fall and resurrection has been told for now. It is a command to rest.
  • “Finn no more!”: This final phrase is a masterstroke of ambiguity with at least two opposing meanings:
    1. Finnegan, no more! It’s a command for the hero to be finished, for his cycle of falling and waking to cease.
    2. The End (Fin), no more! Since fin is French for “the end,” it also means “There is no end!” It’s a declaration that the story is not over and the cycle will continue.

This perfect paradox—a command to end that simultaneously declares there is no end—brilliantly concludes the opening chapter and sets the stage for the rest of the book’s cyclical journey.

20/09/2025, P28.34 , to be continued.