We begin in the riverrun

So now that I’ve read more than a hundred pages of supplemental texts and taken over fifteen pages of handwritten notes, I think I’m ready to begin.

According to Campbell, the first four paragraphs of Finnegans Wake are some of the most dense of the book. He claims that they serve as somewhat of an overture for the themes that recur throughout, similar to the way in which the chapter “Sirens” in Ulysses begins with a musical overture. So, while I likely won’t do this for every page I read, I’ve decided to go through the first four paragraphs almost word for word and transcribe them below. Let’s start with the first “sentence”…

…riverrun

riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.

Finnegans Wake, James Joyce

Here we have the infamous first “sentence” of Finnegans Wake. And I say “sentence” because it actually begins in mid-sentence as a continuation of the last sentence in the book. This is in line with Joyce’s modeling of the Wake on Giambattista Vico’s The New Science and its cyclical view of all of history.

By the way, did I mention that I bought that book? I surely won’t be buying every work of literature that Joyce references (or will I?) but since the whole structure of the Wake is modeled on Vico’s work, I felt like it was kind of important.

I’ve included a small bit of the last sentence of Finnegans Wake below so you can see the “flow” (get it?):

A way a lone a last a loved a long the

Finnegans Wake, James Joyce

That’s how the book “ends”. No period. No end. It “riverruns” back into the first sentence. Anyway, let’s move on…

We know from my last post that rivers will play a key role here, given that one of the main “characters” is, in fact, a river, the River Liffey to be precise. That is Anna Livia Plurabelle, or ALP.

So, at the first mention of “Eve and Adam’s”, we think of Genesis from the Bible, of course. The Garden of Eden. The beginning of man. But there’s something else.

I’ve been to Dublin a number of times and didn’t realize that there is a church along the River Liffey called The Church of the Immaculate Conception, or the Church of Adam and Eve. I’ve included a map below.

Coincidentally, the Church of Adam and Eve is located very close to The Brazen Head pub, which is reputedly the oldest pub in Ireland, having been founded in 1198. I’ve had more than a few pints there.

But now let’s zoom back the map a bit to explore the “swerve of shore” and “bend of bay”:

I’ve charted out the first sentence of the Wake over a map of Dublin, Ireland. We have the Church of Adam and Eve along the “riverrun”, or River Liffey, or otherwise known as Anna Livia Plurabelle (ALP). Next we follow the “swerve of shore” and “bend of (Dublin) Bay” to “Howth Castle and Environs”, or HCE, or Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker.

We should also mention Howth Castle. Howth Castle exists on the tiny peninsula in the upper right hand / northeast corner of our map above. I’ve included a photo of it below:

According to Curious Ireland:

Howth Castle in north county Dublin has been the private residence of the Gaisford – St Lawrence family for over 800 years since 1177.

Remember the name “Lawrence”. That’s all I’m going to say right now.

One last thing… I didn’t find this in any of the guides I read but “commodius vicus” makes me think of the flushing of a toilet. Sure, “vicus” is a reference to Vico’s New Science and his cyclical structure of history but, if we follow the path the words lay out for us (see map above), it does in fact remind us of a toilet flushing. A “commodius recirculation” so to speak. The fall of man and recirculation for him to rise again.

Campbell, of course, refers to the Roman Emperor Commodus who, according to some timelines, presided over the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire. I think I prefer my toilet metaphor, particularly knowing what we know now of Joyce’s love letters to Nora. Of course, also knowing Joyce, who’s to say it’s not both references at the same time?

I think that’s it for now. As I mentioned, I will probably spend an inordinate amount of time on the first four paragraphs due to their density and the availability of information about them. After those, first few paragraphs, perhaps we’ll pick up the pace a little.

Cheers!