Line 20: "Is Dis Nod my sun, her darkglassed da had cried in his tormental angruish, to witch the briny mare durst not deply."
Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "'Is this not my son?', her regardless dad had cried in his torment and anguish, to which the briny mare dared not reply."
"Dis"
Capitalized so probably in reference to the Roman god of the underworld who was originally associated with fertile agricultural land. So Lucia associates Giorgio with both fertility and Hell.
"Nod"
The land where Cain was forced to wander, reinforcing the idea of Giorgio as a metaphorical Cain.
"sun"
Giorgio was the light of James Joyce's life so finding out that he might not actually be his biological child would darken his world.
"darkglassed"
I've interpreted "darkglassed" as "regardless" simply because it sounds the most like this formation and James could be seen as being regardless in the way he treated his family, thus it would be years before he might even question Giorgio's actual parentage. "Darkglassed" would also seem to be a synonym for "regardless" in that it would make it hard for a person to see what is around them, thus not paying much attention to the situation around them. As in not being able to see that his son was fucking his daughter. He wore "dark glasses" both because his vision was obscured to what was right in front of him and also possibly to dampen the light of love he had for his son.
"tormental"
Torment as in haunted or suffering. Mental as in, well, the same, I guess! But also with the hint of madness or insanity. Perhaps his mental torment was nothing more than a crazy notion built up after hearing some terrible gossip from his wife's former lover.
"angruish"
"Anguish" and, I suppose, "angry" or "anger," possibly even "argue." This gossip has put James in a state of mental anguish and made him so angry that he's arguing with his wife.
"witch"
Nora Barnacle whom James currently considers to be a huge jerk. Although what did he expect? Her not to fuck a guy around the same time she began fucking him?!
"briny mare"
I didn't translate this into anything new in the Non-Lucy-Lips Version because it seems to stand on its own as is. "Mare" is close enough to "ma" that it possibly could be that although what "briny" would imply in that case, I'm not sure. Anyway, Nora has been thought of as a farm animal earlier so equating her with a female horse is right up every member of the Joyce family's alley, it seems. "Briny mare" also evokes a sea horse which, if you can manage to squint your brain just right, brings back the mermaid motif which I completely don't understand. "Briny" can mean "salty" which is what Nora probably was at this moment even though she doesn't speak in Lucia's memory. I'm sure she was angry, possibly "spiny" which "briny" might also suggest.
"durst"
Archaic form of "dared," possibly to remind everybody of all the Biblical nonsense going on? Definitely not a Limp Bizkit reference.
"deply"
"Reply" but with the hint of "dared not deny." Perhaps she dared not deny because it was the truth but also because denying it would have simply made James angrier.
Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "'Is this not my son?', her regardless dad had cried in his torment and anguish, to which the briny mare dared not reply."
"Dis"
Capitalized so probably in reference to the Roman god of the underworld who was originally associated with fertile agricultural land. So Lucia associates Giorgio with both fertility and Hell.
"Nod"
The land where Cain was forced to wander, reinforcing the idea of Giorgio as a metaphorical Cain.
"sun"
Giorgio was the light of James Joyce's life so finding out that he might not actually be his biological child would darken his world.
"darkglassed"
I've interpreted "darkglassed" as "regardless" simply because it sounds the most like this formation and James could be seen as being regardless in the way he treated his family, thus it would be years before he might even question Giorgio's actual parentage. "Darkglassed" would also seem to be a synonym for "regardless" in that it would make it hard for a person to see what is around them, thus not paying much attention to the situation around them. As in not being able to see that his son was fucking his daughter. He wore "dark glasses" both because his vision was obscured to what was right in front of him and also possibly to dampen the light of love he had for his son.
"tormental"
Torment as in haunted or suffering. Mental as in, well, the same, I guess! But also with the hint of madness or insanity. Perhaps his mental torment was nothing more than a crazy notion built up after hearing some terrible gossip from his wife's former lover.
"angruish"
"Anguish" and, I suppose, "angry" or "anger," possibly even "argue." This gossip has put James in a state of mental anguish and made him so angry that he's arguing with his wife.
"witch"
Nora Barnacle whom James currently considers to be a huge jerk. Although what did he expect? Her not to fuck a guy around the same time she began fucking him?!
"briny mare"
I didn't translate this into anything new in the Non-Lucy-Lips Version because it seems to stand on its own as is. "Mare" is close enough to "ma" that it possibly could be that although what "briny" would imply in that case, I'm not sure. Anyway, Nora has been thought of as a farm animal earlier so equating her with a female horse is right up every member of the Joyce family's alley, it seems. "Briny mare" also evokes a sea horse which, if you can manage to squint your brain just right, brings back the mermaid motif which I completely don't understand. "Briny" can mean "salty" which is what Nora probably was at this moment even though she doesn't speak in Lucia's memory. I'm sure she was angry, possibly "spiny" which "briny" might also suggest.
"durst"
Archaic form of "dared," possibly to remind everybody of all the Biblical nonsense going on? Definitely not a Limp Bizkit reference.
"deply"
"Reply" but with the hint of "dared not deny." Perhaps she dared not deny because it was the truth but also because denying it would have simply made James angrier.
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