Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 29

Line 29: "'Will, I thought I might have a wonder in the ground, now, seeing as it's such a liffley day and all the flawers are in Bloom."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Well, I thought I might have a wander on the grounds, now, seeing as it's such a lovely day and all the flowers are in bloom."

"Will"
I guess when Lucia wants to say "well" she says "will" and vicey-versy (that's a call back to nicey-nercy!). I don't know about any Wills in Lucia's life but then I haven't read any biographies about her other than her Wikipedia.

"I thought I might have a wonder in the grounds"
Less of a walk around the grounds enjoying the scenery and more of a walk while deep in thought contemplating the past ("wonder in the grounds").

"liffley"
Another mention of the River Liffey in Ireland which is somehow a metaphor for Lucia. I'm not familiar with James Joyce's works so can't really speculate on how this connection is important.

"flawers are in Bloom."

The flaws of Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses. If we connect James with Bloom then one of the main "flaws" of Joyce could be considered his daughter Lucia who wound up homed in St. Andrew's Hospital because of her schizophrenia.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 28

Line 28: "Lucia's nicey-nercy, featherly Patrisia, sips besight her while she bibs her searly monin' cuppla Tees and mentalpatiently ensquires jest what the flameous rider's cross-i, dot-t doubter well be druin' with hersylph toda."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: Lucia's nice nurse, fatherly Patricia, sits beside her while she imbibes her early morning cup of tea and patiently enquires just what the famous writer's cross-eyed, dotty daughter will be doing with herself today.

"nicey-nercy"
"Nice nurse" but in a sing-song, childish way, as Lucia is being babysat, in a way, by Patricia. Also contains the suggestion of mercy.

"featherly Patrisia"
Weird to describe Patricia as "fatherly" but perhaps the kindness shown by her nurse reflects the kindness Lucia received from her father. We also get Patricia described as having feathers, and so probably bird-like. Maybe I should assume her name is actually "Patrisia" so I don't have to wonder why it was misspelled. It's probably just the British spelling.

"sips"
Patricia sits beside Lucia but Lucia, busy drinking tea, messes up the verb.

"besight"
Patricia keeps Lucia in her sights as she sits beside her, probably observing her to see if she'll be okay to wander the hospital grounds on her own. This reinforces the idea of Patricia as a parental figure, keeping careful watch of Lucia. Perhaps this is also why she's featherly, she's as a bird keeping watch of a young chick.

"while she bibs"
Lucia is drinking, or imbibing, her tea. "Bibs" suggests a baby's bib, once more suggesting Lucia is a youngster under the care and watchful gaze of a nanny. Of course Lucia is well into her 70s at this time.

"searly monin'"
Perhaps Lucia, like many people, is a bit gruff and liable to moan a bit in the morning before she as her cuppa (although she has earlier been portrayed as getting up with a "wry sing of de light," suggesting the opposite. Although maybe "wry" opposites the opposite?!).

"cuppla Tees"
The Non-Lucy-Lips version of this is simply "cup of tea" or "cuppa tea." So introducing the "l" and capitalizing the "T" of "Tees" probably means something. This is like trying to do a British Crossword puzzle. I just don't think I have the right neural pathways for it! Oh wait! I decided to look up "Tees Britain" and discovered the River Tees. Lucia has constantly been compared to water so that's that. Although what the "cuppla" has to do with anything, I can only guess. Maybe a bra?

"mentalpatiently"
And then Alan Moore throws in a really easy one for somebody like me! This was just meant to be "patiently" but Lucia sticks "mental" on the front of it, describing herself!

"ensquires"
Patricia is the sane squire, Sancho Panza, to Lucia's insane Don Quixote.

"jest"
I don't know what the joke is. Perhaps the suggestion that Lucia can make any real plans that the nurse doesn't already know about. Lucia probably spends every day in much the same way and so the nurse asking what she'll get up to is a daily joke between them.

"flameous rider's"
Suggestive of a flaming rider which would be what? Perhaps just a metaphor for a writer illuminating others. Also Lucia meaning light could be the flame and with all the incest, maybe there's a suggestion of that here with the rider of the flame? Man, I hope not!

"cross-i, dot-t"
Spoonerism of "dot your i's and cross your t's" in a clever way of referencing Lucia's mental illness, "cross-eyed and dotty."

"doubter"
"Doubter" instead of "daughter." What does Lucia doubt? Reality, mostly!

"well"
Back to Lucia and water imagery.

"be druin' with hersylph"
Suggestion of "druid" and "sylph," indicating Lucia will probably be wandering around outside in the natural grounds of the hospital.

"toda"
Toad. Toad? Anybody got anything better?!

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 27

Line 27: "As for her lital gill, the da's reel darter, shutter up in a lumatrick asylence, like at Pranginstein's or finalee herein Saif Handrue's house-piddle."

Non-Lucy-Lips version: "As for her little girl, the dad's real daughter, shut her up in a lunatic asylum, like at Ivry-sur-Seine's or finally here in Saint Andrew's hospital."

"lital"
"Lit" possibly in the sense that Lucia means light (although you'd get the same "lit" in "little" itself). Perhaps with a sense of "literal" as in Lucia is literally a fish that her mother has caught, since we're going with the Lucia as a fish metaphor in this sentence.

"gill"
Since Nora has been associated with the ocean being that her last name is Barnacle, and soon after called a "fishermum," we get Lucia in this sentence as her catch, being described as a "gill" and a "darter."

"reel darter"
Lucia, the darter, was caught by reel.

"shutter up"
Literally shut her up in an asylum to shut her up from spreading family secrets.

"lumatrick asylence"
"Luma" suggests "illuminate" but only vaguely. Seeing that Lucia means light, it seems worth mentioning. As in Lucia's illumination was tricked into an asylum where she was silenced. We also simply have "ma" as in the mother who "tricked" her into "sylence".

"Pranginstein's"
I only suggested that "Prangenstein's" stands for "Ivry-sur-Seine" because it's somewhat similar and it's where Lucia was kept before being transferred to Saint Andrew's. Obviously it also suggests "Frankenstein" but with a "Prang" in front which totally means something that I can't wrap my head around. I suppose just suggesting Frankenstein is enough, suggesting Lucia was a dangerous threat and had to be locked away or destroyed. Although she was a fish in the first half of the sentence so I'm probably missing quite a bit here.

"Saif Handrue's"
"Saif" is an Arabic word that means sword or scimitar, or the protector of something. It also suggests Saint Andrew's was a safe place. "Handrue's" has me stumped, aside from "rue," to regret. But why regret what the hand has done? Perhaps it was a ruse done with a bit of sleight of hand by her mother, getting her locked up in Saint Andrew's?

"house-piddle"
The hospital smells like piss.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 26

Line 26: "Old Gnawer had deicided then and there that her firstbore should carryon the dinnersty, no mutter that he mite halve been an utter mance."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Old Nora had decided then and there that her firstborn should carry on the dynasty, no matter that he might have been another man's."

"Old Gnawer"
"Old Nora" but with the suggestion that Nora is a monster who has consumed something essential of Lucia's.

"deicided"
Decided as a god would. Nora has absolute authority to make the decisions affecting her family. Also sounds a bit like killing a god.

"firstbore"
Giorgio is a bit of a dullard. Remember, he shows no signs of the Joyce wit or cleverness.

"carryon the dinnersty"
Following up on Nora as an "Old Gnawer," we now get the sense of her as a scavenger eating carrion.

"no mutter"
Perhaps in the sense that Nora was "no mother" to Lucia (and perhaps no mother to Giorgio as well, seeing him instead as a "peer" to copulate with). "Mutter" also suggests murmuring, perhaps in the way rumors and gossip are passed along, telling secrets of the type that would expose Giorgio as no James's son or expose the incest in the family.

"he mite"
With the pronoun, I believe it suggests Lucia sees Giorgio as a tick or a parasite. If he's not really James's son then he's an imposter and he has taken love and affection that would have been aimed at Lucia.

"halve"
Giorgio is only her half-sibling, being "another man's child," and thus only halfway belongs in the family.

"utter mance."
Perhaps "mance" (being a non-word, possibly a misspelling of "manse") is meant to imply "menace" and suggesting that Giorgio was an utter menace. It's also possible the "r" at the end of utter butting up against "mance" suggests "romance" and thus we get back at the question of incest.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 25

Line 25: "Of curse, it wurd make plaint for alter see why they t'woo had insested she be liplocked with insanatoriums, fear Luci-lippi was heir poppy's seed, his sperkle efferdent in all she set or dit, they way she allwise spoke her wheel, whoreas in Dirgeo was not a wit o' the same subsdance to be scene."

Non-Lucy-Lip Version: "Of course, it would make plain for all to see why they too had insisted she be locked within a sanatorium, for Lucia was her father's daughter, his sparkle evident in all she said or did, the way she always spoke her will, whereas in Giorgio was not a whit of the same substance to be seen."

"curse"
Perhaps an indication that Lucia was cursed by her mother and brother to be locked in an asylum because of the terrible things she knew. Or the "curse" just references the incest taking place within the family. I should note once again that this incest could very possibly all stem from Lucia's schizophrenia and how it distorts her world and the things she observes.

"wurd make plaint"
"Would" with the suggestion of "words." All of Lucia's unconscious thoughts, memories, hallucinations, and beliefs come out in the garbled words of her Lucy-lips. All of her thoughts lying under the surface are made plain to see by the strange words she speaks.

"plaint"
"Plaint" as in plaintive, sounding sad and mournful. Lucia's confessions of her family life are a sad tale of childhood trauma. Also suggestive of "plaintiff" as in somebody who brings a case against somebody else in a court of law. Interpreting this word as "plaintiff" becomes important for the rest of this sentence as we see that Lucia was possibly put into an asylum by her family because of the terrible secrets she could bring against them with her "wurds".

"alter see"
Lucia's memories are almost certainly altered through the veneer of her mental illness. "Plain for all to see" suggests her eye witness testimony to her family's incest would be obvious if she were to recount them to people. But the "plain to see" butts up against "alter" in that her witness isn't exactly reliable.

"t'woo had insested"
Some "woo" and "incest" to remind everybody of the things Lucia knew that she believes got her placed within this sanatorium. Of course the two people having an incestuous relationship would want to lock the only witness to that relationship in an insane asylum so that she couldn't talk, or wouldn't be believed if she did.

"liplocked with insanatoriums"
"Locked within sanatoriums" with an emphasis on "insanity." Beginning the entire phrase with "lip" suggests Lucia was put there to be kept silent or "liplocked." It could also be a reference to her entire way of speaking which is described throughout the novel as having "Lucy Lips."

"fear"
"For" has been replaced with "fear" to suggest that Nora and Giorgio feared Lucia because of what she knew but also resented her because she was so obviously James Joyce's daughter while the parentage of Giorgio, Nora's love and James' "sun", was in doubt.

"Luci-lippi"
The name for the way Lucia speaks stated nearly outright here: "Lucy lips." This also probably refers to the dramatic monologue "Fra Lippo Lippi" by Robert Browning in which the narrator of the poem exposes terrible secrets through a seemingly normal monologue. It's what everybody "fears" Lucia will do, and what she is currently doing. Locking her away at least makes it seem as if the things she says are simply the ramblings of a crazy person (which they may be! See? Even I'm buying into Nora and Giorgio's plan!).

"heir poppy's seed"
Lucia is obviously James' daughter, heir to his name and legacy and way of seeing the world. "Poppy's seed" also suggests opiates with which Lucia is probably constantly (and currently) partially sedated.

"his sperkle"
She was definitely conceived by the sperm of James Joyce while Giorgio may not have been.

"efferdent"
"Evident" mixed with "effervescent." Lucia's personality, vivacious and "sperkling," recalls that of her father.

"set or dit"
"Said or did." The "set" could recall Lucia's belief that the doctors are actors and she is going through some kind of performance or living a fake reality. "Dit" is how one refers to the dots in Morse Code. Perhaps the suggestion being that Lucia is speaking in code (and she is!). Or perhaps this entire phrase, "set or dit," means something I'm missing.

"they way she"
Possibly sounds like "they wish," as in the family wished Giorgio could also have been so obviously James' son.

"allwise"
Lucia is wise in all things. Or at least her schizophrenia has her convinced she is (which is one thing schizophrenia is particularly good at).

"spoke her wheel"
Spokes have "the desirable characteristic of bending, twisting, and flexing when exposed to too much lateral, axial, or radial force" (quote from some a Google search on why wheels need spokes). Lucia is known for "speaking her will" but what are the truths and desires of which she speaks? Are they reality or based on the trauma of too much lateral, axial, and radial forces causing her mind to bend (Round the Bend), twist, and flex?

"whoreas"
Who is the whore this time? Maybe everybody!

"Dirgeo"
A dirge is a lament for the dead. At the time this bit of Lucia's story takes place, Giorgio is recently dead (by up to five years, depending on exactly when this story takes place. But not more than six as Lucia died six years after Giorgio) and James and Nora dead many decades previous. It's probably meant to make the reader think of Finnegans Wake as well.

"not a wit"
Giorgio showed not a "whit" of his father's personality but also Giorgio was not clever or "witty."

"subsdance"
Giorgio was perhaps a "substitute" in that the sperm from which he was conceived was not James's. Lucia was a professional dancer for some time. "Subsdance" could mean Giorgio was either a sub-par dancer and thus evidence he could not be Lucia's full sibling or perhaps he was, in some way, her substitute dance partner in that they were engaged in a sexual relationship while Giorgio was also engaged in a sexual relationship with Nora.

"scene"
Again, this all seems like a stage play to Lucia, unable to differentiate reality from fantasy.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 24

Line 24: "She maddily recalls her fishermum warmin' up the jung mastur's bait incide her muth on chillywilly ofterrnoons, or thinkshe-thinkshe does."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "She dimly recalls her mother warming up the young master's penis inside her mouth on cold afternoons, or thinks she does."

"maddily"
Lucia dimly or recalls in a muddled way, a disgusting image. But she's unsure of this (as she admits at the end of the sentence) and it could just be a false memory created by her madness ("maddily").

"fishermum"
Her mom, Nora Barnacle, becomes a fisherman here in the metaphor of a fisherman keeping the worms in his mouth to keep them warm and wiggling to more readily attract the fish.

"jung"
Lucia Joyce was a patient of Jung's for a short while during which (or soon after) she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This calls back to her remembering this "maddily," suggesting that this memory could easily be a hallucination of her mental illness.

"mastur's bait"
Hee hee. I mean, gross. Not that anybody would consider your mother noshing on your penis as masturbation but Moore gets his point across anyway.

"incide"
The spelling indicates the incestuous act.

"her muth"
I don't know. I guess taking the "o" out of mouth hints at the word "mother"?

"chillywilly"
Continuing the "fisherman puts the worms in this mouth to keep them warm" metaphor for Nora putting Giorgio's penis in her mouth. "Chilly willy" equals "cold penis."

"ofterrnoons"
Perhaps hinting at the word "often," as in Lucia believes she saw this multiple times (thus "afternoons," plural).

"chillywilly ofterrnoons, or thinkshe-thinkshe does."
This feels like Lucia is getting a bit glitchy in her thinking, perhaps indicating her inability to recall truth from paranoia and hallucinations. This kind of schizophrenic thinking can turn thoughts into deep layers of meaning that need to be uncovered, thus Lucia thinks something and then she thinks she thinks something else about that something and then she may think she thinks she thinks, and so on.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 23

Line 23: "How the peer of hum were all-ways clost, unhearthily so in her cestimation, from the grendle to the crave?"

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "How the pair of them were always close, unhealthily so in her estimation, from the cradle to the grave?"

"peer of hum"
There are 48 pages of this shit. I'm not going to understand it all (or maybe even half)! Peer could mean looking or gazing, perhaps between mother and son a bit too intensely. It could also mean as in a peer group but that's probably reaching so I'm going to stop considering it now. The "hum" could be that they were in a weird rhythm or constantly close and whispering, sounding like a single droning noise. In any case, this evokes both a visual and an auditory suggestion of the two of them tightly knit.

"all-ways clost"
In every way, perhaps in ways unimaginable and obscene, they were constantly close. But if this relationship were actually incestuous, one might consider that they were both lost in every way, morally, legally, ethically, spiritually . . . you name it! All ways, man!

"unhearthily so"
Incest would be an unhealthy activity to partake in (I'm assuming because it's gross to think about on a personal level (although kind of hot on a porn level)). It could also be "unhearthily" in that it breaks up the family, the "hearth" being the heart of the home.

"in her cestimation"
"In her cestimation. "In cestimation." "In cest." "Incest." This has been an episode of The Electric Company you never wanted to see.

"grendle to the crave"
Partially mutated spoonerism of "cradle to the grave" with a nice Grendel reference tossed in, being that in Beowulf, the monster was a bit of a momma's boy too. And of course the "crave" to suggest that Giorgio was just too hot for his mother to ignore. Also remember how the dragon in Beowulf was just a really lengthy penis reference? That doesn't have anything to do with this though.