001.3 - Phall if you but will, rise you must

We are using the 1999 Penguin Classics edition of Finnegans Wake, with an introduction by John Bishop.

We’ll be starting on page 3, from 'What clashes here' -> 'setdown secular phoenish'

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Chaos, Collapse, and the Cycle of Renewal in Finnegans Wake

When we leap into page 4, it feels as if all chaos has broken loose. Joyce plunges us into destruction—the Fall, not just of an individual, but of everything. This is the fall of history, of civilizations, of structures both literal and symbolic. Yet, in true Joycean fashion, falling and destruction do not signify an end, but rather a necessary precursor to renewal. A collapse demands rebuilding. Joyce sweeps us through a cyclonic vision of history, where chaos is not linear but cyclical, spiraling endlessly in a whirlwind of destruction and rebirth.

“What clashes here of wills gen wonts”—wills and wants, wills and wits—Joyce presents us with a battle of forces, an internal struggle as much as an external one. Human conflict is as much about desires and limitations as it is about swords and war cries.

Then comes the cryptic “oystrygods gaggin fishygods!”—a collision of Ostrogoths and Visigoths, two branches of the Gothic people who shaped the fall of Rome. Joyce compresses history into a single, evocative phrase, conjuring images of barbarian invasions, wars, and the endless churn of power struggles. This is not just a physical war but a metaphor for ideological, religious, and cultural conflicts that define human history.

Joyce then introduces what appears to be a thunderword, but in this case, it functions as a chorus of war, of descent into chaos, perhaps even into the underworld itself. Here, he refuses to settle on one meaning, layering sound, myth, and language into a symphony of interpretation. Scholars have noted that this passage directly references Aristophanes’ The Frogs (405 BCE), where a chorus of croaking frogs chants “Brékekekex koax koax!” as they escort Dionysus on his journey to retrieve Euripides from Hades. The “Ualu”—Irish for crying—suggests mourning, while “Quaouauh” echoes a dog’s bark, possibly referencing Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the underworld. These are the sounds of transition, the chorus of voices ushering us through death, destruction, and the unknown.

Translating the Chaos into a More Direct English

The fighters of the Baddelaries are still struggling to outwit Malachus Micgranes, while the Verdons rain destruction on the white boy of Hoodie Head with their relentless attacks. There are sieges and swirling storms of chaos. Fear grips us, Sod’s descendants! “Save us, noble Sanglorians!” Cries of war and terror fill the air. Death tolls—ringing and tolling—echo through the destruction.

What hope remains for comforts or fortresses now emptied and aired out? What deals struck, what moral compromises made, all while false voices cry out with feigned passion? Here, as the heat of chaos meets the dusk, we see the fallen patriarch, the “father of sin,” sprawled out. But (O heavens above!) rising over it all is the soft glow of an advertisement, spanning the skies as though mocking the ruin below.

What is this? Is it Iseut? Are these the remains of the past? The ancient oaks now lie buried in peat, while new elms spring up where ashes once lay. If you fall, fall you may, but rise you must—the cycle demands it. And soon enough, the absurd drama will find its next stage, leading to a new resolution and rebirth.

What is Joyce Trying to Accomplish Here?

Joyce is conjuring history itself, compressing wars, myths, language, and philosophy into a single rolling moment. This passage is a flood, an overwhelming immersion into the idea that history is not linear but a spiral, endlessly repeating itself.

War and Conflict as Eternal – The references to the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and unnamed fighters remind us that human conflict is perpetual and universal. What seems like a moment in history is simply another iteration of the great struggle—political, religious, personal.

The Collapse of Civilization – Joyce portrays destruction not as a singular event but as a rhythmic, inevitable aspect of existence. The rise and fall of cultures, the clashing of “wills and wits,” the cyclical turning of time—these are the fundamental forces at play.

The Underworld and the Journey of the Soul – By incorporating The Frogs and mythological imagery (Cerberus, cries of mourning, thunder-like war sounds), Joyce suggests that this is also a psychological descent—a journey through the dream-world, the subconscious, and the underworld of history itself.

Modernity’s Absurdity – Amidst the grandeur of war and myth, Joyce drops in an advertisement, a commercialized intrusion on the cycle of history. It is both comical and disturbing, a reminder that while civilizations rise and fall, capitalism and consumerism find ways to persist, becoming the modern equivalent of the myths that once defined human experience.

Ultimately, Joyce is not just telling a story—he is making us experience the chaotic, layered nature of history, myth, and memory in real time. The text is not meant to be easy, just as history itself is not. It invites us to get lost in its storm, to drown in its meanings, and, like the fallen figures of the passage, to rise again, grappling with its endless, cyclical mysteries.

Refernces:

1. Heather, Peter. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. Oxford University Press, 2006.

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2. “Goths and Visigoths.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/goths-and-visigoths.

3. Burns, Thomas S. A History of the Ostrogoths. Indiana University Press, 1984.

4. “Goths.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2024, www.britannica.com/topic/Goth.

5. Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Translated by Thomas J. Dunlap, University of California Press, 1990.

6. Aristophanes. The Frogs. Translated by Ian Johnston, Richer Resources Publications, 2008.

7. Bishop, John. Joyce’s Book of the Dark: Finnegans Wake. University of Wisconsin Press, 1986.

8. McHugh, Roland. Annotations to Finnegans Wake. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.

9. Atherton, J. S. The Books at the Wake: A Study of Literary Allusions in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. Southern Illinois University Press, 1959.

10. Tindall, William York. A Reader’s Guide to Finnegans Wake. Syracuse University Press, 1996.