The Ballad of Pierce O'Reilly (Humpty Dumpty)

The Ballad of Persse O'Reilly - a poem from the book Finnegans Wake written by James Joyce.

Explanatory notes on verses 7 and 8 of the poem

These two verses are dense with multilingual puns, historical allusions, and Dublin geography, typical of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. They focus on the arrival of a foreign invader-a figure often associated with the Viking, Norse, or later Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland-and the subsequent interaction with Dublin's native elements.

Here are explanatory notes on Verse 7 and Verse 8:

Verse 7: The Foreign Arrival

This verse establishes the historical and geographical setting for the arrival of the antagonist, later identified as H.C. Earwicker (HCE), but here referencing the early invaders of Dublin.

• "Sweet bad luck on the waves washed to our island / The hooker of that hammerfast viking"
• Hooker: Refers to a small, traditional Irish fishing boat (a Galway Hooker), ironically juxtaposed with the vessel of a large, powerful Viking.
• Hammerfast viking A compound phrase suggesting a mighty, strong, and swift Viking invader. This immediately grounds the character in the history of Dublin, which was founded by Vikings (Norsemen).

• "And Gall's curse on the day when Eblana bay / Saw his black and tan man-o'-war."
• Gall's curse: "Gall" is the old Irish word for foreigner or stranger, often specifically applied to the Norsemen and later the Anglo-Normans. The verse pronounces a curse upon their arrival.
• Eblana bay: An ancient name for Dublin (Ptolemy's Eblana). This clearly places the event in Dublin Bay.
• Black and tan man-o'-war: This is a historical/political pun.
• Literal: Describes the dark, war-weathered colors of an old warship.
• Allusion: Refers to the infamous "Black and Tans," the temporary constables recruited by the British government during the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), notorious for their brutality. This compresses centuries of foreign invasion/occupation into a single image.

• "Saw his man-o'-war / On the harbour bar."
• Harbour bar: The shallow, often treacherous ridge of sand or rock at the entrance to a harbor (Dublin's historically difficult Bull Wall or Great South Wall). The bar symbolizes the barrier between the native land and the foreign power.

Verse 8: Confusion and Identity

This verse captures the chaotic, polyglot babble resulting from the confrontation between the native elements and the Viking figure. The foreigner's response is an absurd mixture of languages, primarily Norse/Norwegian, suggesting linguistic confusion and alien identity.

• "Where from? Roars Poolbeg."
• Poolbeg: Refers to the Poolbeg Lighthouse and the area around the Great South Wall, acting as a personified, native guardian of the Dublin port, demanding the newcomer identify himself.

• "Cookingha'pence, he bawls"
• A nonsense phrase, possibly a pun on a Danish or Norse place name, or simply a garbled foreign shout. "Ha'pence" (halfpence) introduces a theme of commerce and exchange, which often accompanies conquest.

• "Donnez-moi scampitle, wick an wipin'fampiny"

• Donnez-moi: French for "Give me..."
• scampitle: Likely a corruption of "scamp," suggesting the person is asking for trouble or a rogue.
• The rest is garbled English/Irish, perhaps representing the distorted, drunken speech attributed to the foreigner.

• "Fingal Mac Oscar Onesine Bargearse Boniface"

• This is the absurd, mock-heroic, multi-layered name given to the invader/HCE. It contains multiple identities:
• Fingal: Refers to the region north of Dublin, originally a Viking settlement (Fionn Gall - "fair foreigners").
• Mac Oscar: An Irish patronymic, blending the foreign figure into Irish lineage.
• Onesine Bargearse Boniface: A satirical, crude, and mock-pious list of names combining Greek, French, and Latin/Saints' names, suggesting a universal, yet vulgar, immigrant figure.

• "Thok's min gammelhole Norveegickers moniker"

• This phrase is a mangled rendering of Scandinavian/Norse: "That's my gammelhole [old hole] Norvegian moniker [name]." It explicitly labels the figure as Norwegian (Norse) and is filled with crudity, referring to the "old hole" from which he came.

• "Og as ay are at gammelhore Norveegickers cod. / A Norwegian camel old cod. / He is, begod."
• Og as ay are at: Norse/Danish words (Og = and).
• gammelhore: A pun on gammelhole (old hole) and "old whore."
• cod: A pun on "fish" (cod), "a fool/joke," and perhaps the Dublin slang for a hoax. The phrase mockingly labels the Viking as an "old Norwegian camel" and an "old cod (fool/fish)," confirming his foreign, absurd identity.

Go to the poem itself: The Ballad of Pierce O'Reilly (Humpty Dumpty) >>

Go to the main Finnegans Wake page >>

.