I have now shown at some length how the first four paragraphs of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake may be read as a short prologue to both the opening chapter and the novel itself. The following four paragraphs (RFW 004.09-005.40) can also be swallowed in a single mouthful. These seventy-two lines retell the story of Finnegan’s Wake, the Irish-American ballad from which Joyce adapted the title of the novel. It is curious that this is one of the few moments in the book when Joyce draws directly upon this popular song. There are of course many other places in Finnegans Wake where a line or a phrase from the song is echoed in the text, but this passage is probably the only extended section—all four paragraphs of it!—where the song provides the foundation of the text.
Listening to the Text
Several recordings of this passage are now available online. They are rather a mixed bag, but no one really knows how one is supposed to read this book. What tempo should one adopt? How should one pronounce words that are not to be found in any dictionary?
There is something very Irish about a text that sounds different everytime you hear it. Traditionally, our myths and legends were not written down as literature to be read or recited—like, say, the Bible, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, Beowulf or the Nibelungenlied. Instead, a trained storyteller known as a seanchaí—or custodian of tradition—was entrusted with this material. The seanchaí was expected to improvise oral performances of these tales, adding his own flourishes and fleshing out the bare bones. Every performance, then, was meant to be unique.
On Waywords and Meansigns, the whole of Finnegans Wake has now been recorded three times. Each recording is an imaginative blend of music and the spoken word. Mariana Lanari & Sjoerd Leijten lead the way with their musical rendition of the first chapter:
- RFW 004.09-005.40: Time 5:00 - 13:07
Barry Smolin and Double Naught Spy Car are responsible for the opening pages in the second of these recordings:
- RFW 004.09-005.40: Time 4:51 - 11:25
The Here Comes Everybody Players recorded the first ten pages of the original edition (RFW 003.01-008.40) in the third of Waywords and Meansigns’ recording:
- RFW 004.09-005.40: Time 4:11 - 11:57
Patrick Horgan recorded the whole of the Wake in 1985, primarily as an audiobook for the blind. It is still warmly recommended, though the quality of the audio is quite poor.
- RFW 004.09-005.40: Time 5:37 - 11:30
Another recording, by The Most Ever Company, is available on YouTube.
- RFW 004.09-005.40: Time 3:06 - 9:05
My own recording of this section, for what it’s worth, is available on DSound.
References
- James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, The Viking Press, New York (1958, 1966)
New York (1910) - Danis Rose, John O’Hanlon, The Restored Finnegans Wake, Penguin Classics, London (2012)
Audio Credits
- Mariana Lanari & Sjoerd Leijten: © Mariana Lanari & Sjoerd Leijten, Waywords and Meansigns, First Edition, Creative Commons License
- Barry Smolin and Double Naught Spy Car: © Barry Smolin and Double Naught Spy Car, Waywords and Meansigns, Second Edition, Creative Commons License
- The Here Comes Everybody Players: © The Here Comes Everybody Players, Waywords and Meansigns, Third Edition, Creative Commons License
- Patrick Horgan: Property of the U. S. Government
Video Credits
- The Most Ever Company: Standard YouTube License
Image Credits
- Waywords and Meansigns: © Robert Berry, Fair Use
