IV.A.1: Pomes Penyeach
Holograph Manuscripts (1918–1919):1
Material Description and Collation
The manuscript is a copybook with blue paper covers in Joyce’s hand in black ink. It consists of 24 leaves (48 pages) of unruled paper, of which only the first 12 recto pages are inscribed and the remaining 36 pages are blank.
Title
Joyce wrote “Verses” on the front cover recto in red crayon (the covers are not reproduced in the JJA).
Measurements
The manuscript measures 22.0 x 17.7 cm.
Pagination
Joyce numbered the rectos of pp. [1]–[12] “1”–”12″ in the upper right corners in black ink and pp. [1]–[10] and [12] again “1”–”10″ and “12” in blue crayon; p. [11] is crossed through diagonally in blue crayon and is not numbered a second time.
Contents
The manuscript contains faircopies of 11 of the 13 poems collected in Pomes Penyeach (Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1927; see Slocum and Cahoon A24):
| MS IV.A.1: Poem / Date: | Pomes Penyeach: Date / Page: |
| p. [1r]: “1” and “1”: “Ruminants / Dublin: 1904” | p. [7]: “Tily / Dublin 1904.” |
| p. [2r]: “2” and “2”: “Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba / Trieste: 1913” | p. [8]: “Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba / Trieste 1912.” |
| p. [3r]: “3” and “3”: “A Flower Given to My Daughter / Trieste: 1913” | p. [9]: “A Flower Given to My Daughter / Trieste 1913.” |
| p. [4r]: “4” and “4”: “She Weeps Over Rahoon / Trieste: 1914” | p. [10]: “She Weeps Over Rahoon / Trieste 1913.” |
| p. [5r]: “5” and “5”: “Tutto è Sciolto / Trieste: 1914” | p. [11]: ” Tutto e Sciolto / Trieste 1914.” |
| p. [6r]: “6” and “6”: “Flood / Trieste: 1914” | p. [12]: “On the Beach at Fontana / Zurich 1915.” |
| p. [7r]: “7” and “7”: “Nightpiece / Trieste: 1915” | p. [13]: “Simples / Trieste 1915.” |
| p. [8r]: “8” and “8”: “Simples / Trieste: 1915” | p. [14]: “Flood / Trieste: 1914.” |
| p. [9r]: “9” and “9”: “On the Beach at Fontana / Zurich: 1915” | pp. [15]–[16]: “Nightpiece / Trieste 1915.” |
| p. [10r]: “10” and “10”: “Alone / Zurich: 1916” | p. [17]: “Alone / Zurich 1916.” |
| p. [11r]: “11”: “Lament for the Yoemen (from the German of Felix Beran) / Zurich: 1916” |
p. [18]: “A Memory of the Players in a mirror at Midnight / Zurich 1917.” |
| p. [12r]: “12” and “12”: “Bahnhofstrasse / Basel: 1918” | p. [19]: “Bahnhofstrasse / Zurich 1918.” |
| NA | p. [20]–[21]: “A Prayer / Paris: 1924.” |
Except for “A Flower Given to My Daughter” (on p. [3r]), the texts of the other poems here differ from their published versions (see the final manuscript/typescript of the collection that is in the Huntington Library; JJA 1.251–273).
The twelfth poem on p. [11r] is Joyce’s translation of Felix Beran’s poem “Des Weibes Klage”. Joyce crossed through the poem in blue crayon and in its place he put “A Memory of the Players at Midnight” in Pomes Penyeach.
The poems “A Memory of the Players in a Mirror at Midnight,” which may not yet have been completed at this time (see MS VI.A.2), and “A Prayer,” which was only written in spring 1924 (see MSS VI.A.3 and A.4), are not included in this manuscript.
Dating
Joyce probably wrote this manuscript in 1918–1919 in Zurich.
Other Markings
Joyce wrote the note: “* published in Saturday Review (London)” below the text of the poem on p. [2r]. Page [24v] is marked “71–20” upside down in the lower left corner in pencil; it is probably a stationer’s mark.
Publication
Only pp. [1r]–[12r] of this manuscript have been reproduced in black and white photo-facsimile on JJA 1.229–368. Revised versions of these poems were first collected in Pomes Penyeach (Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1927).
- La Hune, item 176; Slocum and Cahoon, item E.6.a.