Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 46

Line 46: "Iff she flaunces, as veneficent as elled Sent Knickerless hermself, an innerscent ulled lay-die in a wurli cardiagran out strawling on the institrusion lorns."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Off she flounces, as beneficent as old Saint Nicholas himself, an innocent old lady in a wooly cardigan out strolling on the institution lawns."

"Iff"
"Off" with a vowel change to remind everybody that Lucia is the River Liffey. This has something to do with Ulysses or Finnegans Wake. Not being a James Joyce scholar (or reader!), I can't speculate on the metaphor.

"flaunces"
A "flaunch" is "a cement or mortar slope around a chimney top, manhole, etc., to throw off water." Lucia "flouncing" across the lawn is reminiscent of water being thrown off something manmade. Here, Lucia, the River Liffey, water and light herself, is being thrown off the hospital and thrust into nature.

"veneficent"
"Venerable" combined with "beneficent." Old Lucia is respected and generous like Santa Claus. I believe there was an earlier allusion to The Venerable Bede which this would be a callback to but I don't know much about The Venerable Bede. You can check the Wiki on that guy and know as much as I do and then apply that knowledge to this yourself. I don't mean to sound short tempered or angsty; I just know I'll never hold in my head as much knowledge as Alan Moore does. I'm simply expressing the limits of my intelligence and asking you to do better!

"elled"
"Elle" or "she" in French, combined with "hermself" which follows the Saint Nicholas reference, this could just be a restatement that Lucia is the female version of Santa Claus. An "ell" is also a measurement. In this (Santa) clause, Lucia is being measured against Saint Nicholas for how venerable and beneficent she is.

"Sent Knickerless hermself"
The "her" in "hermself" is to assure the reader that it isn't Saint Nicholas who is going without underwear. "Sent Knickerless" probably just means she's been sent off on her walk without any pants (that's British for underwear! Trousers and slacks is British for pants!).

"hermself"
The next sentence makes the statement that Lucia isn't all woman. So this reads, in that context, as "Hermes" or "hermaphrodite." Lucia sees herself as somewhere between male and female.

"innerscent"
Probably the scent of Lucia's inner thighs because we were just told she was without knickers.

"ulled"
Moore's mangled version of "old." Why did he mangle it like this? I don't know! Maybe it invokes "pulled" as in "scored" in the dating scene so that we get Lucia's "inner scent" has allowed her to "pull" so that she can get a "lay." Or it's a reference to the Norse God (since we get a lot of those in this) Ullr who is sometimes seen as a kind of God of snow or skiing. This only fits in that we mentioned Saint Nicholas earlier and he lives in the snow (presumably!).

"lay-die"
When you die, you lay down (or is it lie down? I'll never understand when to use "lie" or "lay" because it's a binary decision. And when my brain is forced to remember binary things, it simply can't assign the proper definition to the proper concept. It just jumbles them all together. It's why I'll never consistently know which is further west, New Hampshire or Vermont). This could be more foreshadowing that this is Lucia's last day alive. Perhaps when she goes to lie down tonight, she will die.

"wurli"
"Wooly" but evoking "whirling" and possibly "world." Lucia "flounces" and "whirls" in her freedom on the hospital's lawn.

"cardiagran"
This is one of my favorites so far. Lucia is an old lady ("gran") with possibly a weak heart ("cardiogram").

"strawling"
"Strolling" combined with "trawling" which turns Lucia's fish metaphor on its head. Unless it just means she's in search of herself! Possibly "straw" with the suffix "ling" meaning Lucia is a little scarecrow. Does that work? Is that something?!

"institrusion"
Combination of "institution" and "intrusion." The hospital and staff are unwelcome here in Lucia's meandering outside the institution's buildings.

"lorns"
"Lawns" turned into "lorn." Lucia is ultimately lonely, having been abandoned long ago by her family to this intrusive institution.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 45

Line 45: "With a gae spring in her stoop, she-sex out on her walk in purgress, on her wake-myop parundulations, on her expermission, heeding oft acrux the do-we grass twowords the poertree-line of the spinny wetting in the da'stance."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "With a gay spring in her step, she sets out on her walk in progress, on her wake-me-up perambulations, on her expedition, heading off across the dewy grass towards the tree line of the spinney waiting in the distance."

"gae"
Scottish for "go". With a gay spring in her step, Lucia "goes" toward the trees.

"spring"
A light prance to Lucia's movement with a call back to the discussion of the seasons.

"stoop"
Lucia's thoughts often contradict what's literally being said. So while she heads off to the trees with a gay spring in her stepped, she's actually stooped over, perhaps hobbling in her old age.

"she-sex out"
Why the dash here? To have the reader understand the "sex" in this moment has more to do with Lucia's gender than her lust? Perhaps she's simply "sexed out" because it's the morning and the young boys don't ramp up her sex drive until four o'clock when they walk by the hospital. So in the morning, she can simply get to her journey to the trees without being distracted by young butts.

"walk in purgress"
"Work in progress." One of Alma's paintings and a chapter in Jerusalem and also what James Joyce called Finnegans Wake as he was writing it and presenting snippets over the years.

"purgress"
"Progress" with "purge" and "grass" and "urge" and "ogress" (probably loads more!). "Ogress" only stands out for me due to the "she-sex" earlier. "Purge" may be the most relevant as Lucia's walk through the natural surroundings of the hospital help to purge her of negative thoughts and feelings associated with being locked up in the asylum. Also with "sex" earlier, her "urge" to continue her walk away from the confines of the hospital and into the far off grove of trees is primal.

"wake-myop"
More dashes but these more evidently due to the non-Lucy-Lips version of her thought: wake-me-up. The morning walks help to clear her head and make her ability to see things as they are less "myopic."

"parundulations"
"Perambulations." Lucia takes regular morning walks ("par", the norm, a regular activity for her) when the nurses allow it. "Undulating" probably refers to a sexual motion, referring back to "she-sex" and her earlier horny voyeurism.

"expermission"
Her expedition to the trees is a daily mission for her. She needs "permission" to make this journey.

"heeding"
As Lucia "heads" toward the trees, she pays close attention ("heeds"; she has woken up from her myopic, probably medicated/sedated, view) to her surroundings.

"oft"
Lucia makes this trip often, or as often as she is "permitted."

"acrux"
"Across" where "crux" literally means "cross" in Latin. Quite the clever bit while also recalling how Lucia is a puzzle and a crossword. "Crux" means the most important point at issue. It's the heart of the matter. Lucia is heading towards the main point of it all, perhaps metaphorically as well as literally. As she moves away from the hospital and the present, she goes deeper into her past and her memories to explore the issues that have gotten her to this point in her life.

"do-we"
Lots of words connected by dashes in this sentence. Perhaps because Lucia is dashing toward the grove? Yeah, probably not. But it would be a good thing to say to help fill out a paper on this chapter! "We" indicates that Lucia's thoughts are probably still with her and Giorgio, perhaps her and her dad since her dad is referred to at the end of this sentence.

"twowords"
Which two words?! This recalls Lucia as a crossword in that many clues in crosswords will indicate how many words an answer is. Perhaps the "crux" of the matter can be expressed in two words? Should I know what those two words are now? Are they statutory rape?

"poertree-line"
Lucia's way of speaking and thinking is "poetry." "Poverty line" as well being that Lucia lives in a mental hospital without access to any luxuries.

"spinney"
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a spinney is a small area of trees and bushes. It is Lucia's daily destination. Also "spin" as in dizzy, probably for the euphoria Lucia feels when she's allowed out of the ward.

"wetting"
"Wetting" couples with "do-we" earlier in that the grounds are still wet from the morning. It also sounds like "wedding" which also fits with "do-we" as in "I do" or a "pair of undulators" saying it ("We do").

"da'stance."
"Distance" with Lucia's "dad's stance." Her dad was often distant. Possibly referring to her dad's belief that Giorgio wasn't actually his kid which opens up the possibility for Lucia to have wedded Giorgio (you know, if things had worked out horrifically).

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 44

Line 44: "The sauce of her, now!"

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "The source of her, now!"
So what is Lucy's "source of life" now? The son, Giorgio? The actual sun? Jesus? Herself since she is a representation of all of those in the previous sentence?! Is she her own source of life (and lies!)?

"sauce of her"
Is this gross? This sounds gross. I suppose the things that make us who we are, our passions and our drives and our kinks, could be thought of as sauce. It's the stuff we stew in and the stuff which completes us and the stuff that makes us less bland.

"now!"
It wasn't always this way! She wasn't always her own source of life. So something has changed. She's had some kind of breakthrough. This is probably why she's having another bildungsroman late in life. We'll probably learn more about this as we read further.

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 43

Line 43: "The bride-green yawns strich all orerrnd her, wid the poplores, erlms and faroof bildungs all roturnin' in her planetree obit, undherstood still art the cindre like the Son, the veri soeurce of lied."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "The wide green lawns stretch all around her, with the poplars, elms and far-off buildings all rotating in her planetary orbit, and her stood still at the centre like the sun, the very source of light."

"bride-green"
Lucia as bride. But does the "green" mean she's an innocent virgin as in inexperienced or does it mean she's totally done loads of guys (which she has possibly including Samuel Beckett although he was really pining for her father) as in Frost's poem about nothing gold can stay because it becomes all experienced and green? Or is this a reference to The Bride of Frankenstein which it totally could be because that movie came out in 1935. Remember how she referenced Frankenstein earlier?

"yawns strich"
Lucia is coming awake (yawning and striching) as she leaves the hospital to enter the natural grounds surrounding it. Perhaps this is why she feels like a green bride. It's like when Madonna was all, "You make me feel like I've never fucked before!" It's also an obsolete term for an owl which would be just like Moore to throw around obsolete words he probably uses on the regular. If I really wanted to spend a lot of time writing nonsense explications for this stuff, I'd be following the possibility of The Bride of Frankenstein and the owl as the main thematic aspects of Lucia's subconscious thoughts. But I don't have the time. I'm fifty already!

"all orerrnd her"
"All around her" while setting up the metaphor of the orrery with Lucia at the center (in the Non-Lucy-Lips version of her thought). Also suggestive of an error with "err" but what would that be? An error that Lucia is even here? Perhaps "bride-green" suggests "bridegroom" in reference to Giorgio which was an error?

"wid"
Suggestive of "widow" now that Giorgio has died? Giorgio is the only lover Lucia has thought about so far. I'm probably reaching with the Giorgio stuff although this really makes the whole Bride of Frankenstein thing work since Giorgio was a monster.

"poplores, erlms and faroof"
Come on, Alan! Don't get so abstract that my Lit degree can't even help like it will help me in the entry on "bildungs"! This all just sounds like trees (and a roof!) turned into absolute nonsense! This is the 43rd time that it hits me: this section should be worked out in a discussion group and not by me sitting alone and sad in a tiny office while I listen to "Only Women Bleed" through ear buds. Maybe I should attack these one at a time the way Frankenstein would.

"poplores"
Pop Tarts? Oh! The first obvious being that Lucia is unhealthily fixated on her father is "pop"! So maybe we're referencing the "lore" of her "pop" here. In other words, Finnegans Wake or Ulysses or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or whatever else he wrote. The actual Lucy-Lips change is the "lars" with "lores" which makes "lores" the important part of this word. "Lore" can equate to the past or to the fairy tales and mythology Lucia previously mentioned. It is oral tradition, wisdom and history passed by word of mouth. Which is what Lucia is doing with her Lucy-Lips. Although, technically, her language needs to be read to really understand it all. But ignore that because Alan Moore paints it as the words expanding and entering the listener's mind fully formed with all of their meaning, at least when the Angles speak.

"erlms"
"Elms" but with an "r" shoved into the middle. Perhaps "early"? "Her lms"? "Early Ms"? Maybe it's just comparing Lucia to the elms with "her limbs." You stumped me, Moore! Being raised on boring American crossword puzzles, I'm at a disadvantage with this kind of crossword clue, what we call "cryptic crosswords" in the states.

"faroof"
"Far off" but suggestive of the roof of the buildings in contrast with the trees. The buildings located around the grounds are "far off" and distant, no longer within the concerns of Lucia. Oh wait! Putting them all back together, maybe we get something like "the lore from far off realms"? Yep. Got it. That's definitely it and I don't have to think about it any more.

"bildungs"
"Buildings" but turned into "bildungs" as in bildungsroman, a story dealing with a person's coming of age or spiritual awakening. This might be due to Lucia constantly thinking about the formative moments of her past or it could suggest that Lucia, around 80 years of age, has become a new person and is facing a new set of formative years in her moments of freedom from Saint Andrew's Hospital, or from the "bildungs."

"roturnin'"
"Rotating" and "turning" as the spheres on the orrery of which Lucia is at the center. The two words together, describing the motion of the Non-Lucy-Lips sentence's main metaphor, become "returning." As in Lucia is returning to, possibly, her childhood through memory and the adventure of exploring the grounds, the "far off realms."

"planetree"
"Planetary" for the metaphor but more literally a flat expanse surrounded or dotted with trees (the planets in orbit around Lucia).

"obit"
"Orbit" but getting back to the all important spectre of death hanging over everything ("obit-" meaning perished; "obitus" meaning death in Latin). Also often used in place of "obituary" as this chapter could be seen as Moore's obituary for Lucia Joyce. Especially if she dies at the end of it! Shh! Don't spoil it for me!

"undherstood"
"And her stood" (British equivalent of the American "and her standing") but turned almost perfectly into the word "understood." Lucia understands something, perhaps to do with her coming death ("obit")?

"still art"
As a still life. Picture the moment: Lucia standing in a wide empty space with various trees surrounding her at different distances. A moment in the life of a spinning and vibrant solar system of trees and Lucia.

"cindre"
"Cindre" for "centre" because the sun, a glowing hot "cinder", rests at the center of the solar system, or, in this case, the orrery. Lucia is that glowing cinder, burning with lore of her strange past.

"like the Son"
Lucia, at the center of the orrery, compares herself to the sun. But she's also comparing herself to Jesus, possibly due to her persecution by others, possibly simply because of the things her schizophrenia has her believing. The mental connections caused by schizophrenia between everything in the universe can seem quite godlike and all-knowing.

"the veri soeurce of lied."
The sun and, in this case, Jesus are seen as "the very source of light." But here we get both "lied" and "veri" (as in the Latin for truth or reality). Lucia cannot discern the difference between reality and illusion due to her mental illness. It is her "light" that shines on and defines her surroundings. It's possible "soeurce" is meant to suggest Eurydice who was abandoned to Hades because of an act of love. Lucia was sent to the hospital by her father though he was quite against it because he felt it was the best thing for Lucia.

This was the first sentence in a new paragraph so some of the things I've speculated may work into larger metaphors through the paragraph. Or they may go nowhere!

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 42

Line 42: "Wye, summertimes she hurdly gnos whatch finny-form she's in at prisent, or if altimately alder not-houses might nut torn out to bye the selfshame plaice, one vurst istabilismend trance-ending innernotional bindaries and filt-wit fausty dactyrs tyin' to gut hauled ov hert sole."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Why, sometimes she hardly knows which funny farm she's in at present, or if ultimately all the nuthouses might not turn out to be the selfsame place, one cursed establishment transcending international boundaries and filled with fussy/Faustian doctors trying to get a hold of her soul."

"Wye"
Wye is a village in Kent. According to Wikipedia, it's name derives from the Old English word for "idol" or "shrine." This is the first word of this sentence so maybe it's just directing the reader to think along religious or small villages in the United Kingdom lines. In railroad terms, a wye is a triangular junction. So maybe we're chugging into a train metaphor.

"summertimes"
"Sometimes," perhaps most often in the "summer" because that's when Lucia will most likely be enjoying the hospital's grounds, Lucia hardly knows where she is. This also suggests that the look of the place transforms in summer (and probably spring but I think we worked through the spring motifs already) and is hardly recognizable from the probably bare and dour grounds in the middle of winter.

"she hurdly gnos"
A "hurdle" is an obstacle which one must get over or past. Here, as she's thinking about the asylum, it probably represents Saint Andrew's Hospital. "Gnos" almost certainly refers to "gnostic" or knowing/knowledge. It's replacing the word "knows" in a clever bit of wordplay.

"whatch"
Lucia hardly knows to "which" booby "hatch" she's been confined.

"finny-form"
Lucia refers to the hospital as a "funny farm." But a "finny-form" could be a fish which she has been compared to previously.

"prisent"
The asylum she is "presently" in is a "prison."

"altimately"
"Ultimately" Lucia might find herself in "alternate" asylums.

"alder not-houses"
I'm not sure why the "alder" for "other" other than her mind is still on the natural beauty of the grounds she's about to explore around the "nut house" which is in no way a real home to her ("not-houses"). Perhaps the alder is mentioned because of its nut-like seeds?

"nut torn out to bye"
Lucia, being mentally ill (the colloquial "nut") has been "torn out" of her life to which she had to say "goodbye."

"selfshame plaice"
Being relegated to a "funny farm" causes Lucia to feel "shame" for her "self" which she might not feel if it hadn't been stigmatized to this degree. A "plaice" is another kind of "finny-form," or fish.

"one vurst istabilismend trance-ending innernotional bindaries"
Lucia sees Saint Andrew's Hospital as the Dead-Dead Gang see it in the previous Book: one establishment composed of all the different asylums across time and space. Lucia especially often cannot tell if she's in Saint Andrew's Hospital or one of the French asylums she spent time in or the place in Switzerland where she was treated by Carl Jung. And her thoughts and perceptions bleed into the space around her, changing it fundamentally so that it becomes all of those places all at once.

"vurst"
Possibly suggestive of "worst" in that they combine to create the worst place mentally and spiritually where a person can be kept. But it also suggests "versed" as in to gain knowledge ("gnos"), just not the kind society would deem beneficial or acceptable. Perhaps "first" as in the "ur" hospital.

"istabilismend"
The place is meant to "stabilize" a patient's mind and to "mend" their mental illness. But perhaps the medication and observations of the staff actually d"istabilis"e their minds.

"trance-ending"
Either the hospital is meant to "end" the "trance" or mental illness of the person deposited within its walls or regular life outside the walls can be seen as a "trance" of rote, meaningless nonsense which mental illness "ends." Schizophrenics would certainly understand the idea of their illness giving them insight and knowledge, waking them from the living trance that the rest of us are in by showing them a different (and more substantial in many ways) reality. It's why they often stop taking medication, seeing it as dulling their senses and cutting them off from their link to all knowledge.

"innernotional bindaries"
A person's inner thoughts could be their "inner notions" which the hospital "binds" with medication. Most of these descriptors of the "cursed establishment transcending international boundaries" describe a place that ultimately "binds" knowledge, knowledge of oneself (inner notions) and perhaps the universe (meditative trances that could bring a person closer to meaning). It binds whatever processes (stabilizes) that cause a schizophrenic to see how it all connects.

"filt-wit"
The hospital and the doctors "filter" the "wit" of patients. More evidence that Lucia feels they are trying to suppress her imagination, beliefs, and insights which her mental illness allows her.

"fausty dactyrs"
This could simply be translated as "fussy doctors" but with the bit at the end of the sentence where Lucia mentions they're trying to take her soul, she might actually mean "Faustian doctors." Although then they'd be Mephistopheles, right? Anyway, the short cut of calling a deal with devil Faustian is what's going on here. "Dactyrs" could be because the doctors are always poking and prodding her with their fingers. It could also just be a reference to Faust, a poem, although I don't know if it were written in dactyls or not.

"tyin'"
I'm sure Lucia has often been restrained by doctors, nurses, and orderlies.

"to gut hauled ov hert sole."
"To gut" can be to eviscerate, metaphorically here (I hope!). The doctors often "hert" or disappoint Lucia. She is often forced or pushed ("hauled") to do things she doesn't want to. Perhaps "hauled ov" suggests "hauled or raked over the coals," something the doctors often to to her to keep her in line when she's acting out or in a terrible mood. All of this leaves her feeling alone ("sole").

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 41

Line 41: "Heir at Feint Andruse Cycle-logical Infirmitry it is entimely passible, in Lussye's questimation, to slep from the birthly whelm intru a terrortree o' feary-tell and eld mirthology, where every mutterforth is an immadiate and enternal troth."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Here at Saint Andrew's Psychological Infirmary it is entirely possible, in Lucia's estimation, to slip from the earthly realm into a territory of fairy tale and old mythology, where every uttered/muttered word is an immediate and eternal truth."

"Heir at Feint Andruse Cycle-logical Infirmitry"
Lucia takes on the baggage (possibly treatment), or inheritance, of Saint Andrew's Hospital.

"Feint Andruse Cycle-logical Infirmitry"
A feint is a deceptive blow. A ruse is a deceptive gambit. Lucia sees Saint Andrew's as trying to deceive. This fits into her paranoia and the way she sees the doctors as actors and the nurses as pretending at their compassion. Lucia sees the program at Saint Andrew's as a constant cycle of deceptive logic, tricking the patients into believing they need to be there while tricking the patients' friends and families that they're helping them to get better. The patients are kept infirm even though Lucia tries ("itry") to come to a place where she can mend the seam in her mind and life.

"entimely passible"
Saint Andrew's consumes Lucia's life, time passing without any noticeable difference between the days.

"Lussye's questimation"
Lucia spelled in a way that evokes Ulysses. Ulysses' quest was merely to get home, the same as Lucia's here. But it took him ten years. Lucia's has taken quite a bit more ("entimely passible") and, spoiler, she'll never make it home. She is stuck in the cycle of deceptive healing here at the hospital (as she sees it! Don't sue me for libel, Saint Andrew's Hospital!).

"to slep from the birthly whelm"
"To slip from the earthly realm" is both to die and to travel in some magical or supernatural way into another world. This can also be done by sleeping ("slep") by way of dreaming. Slipping from the "birthly" realm also suggests dying as birth gives life and leaving life is death. Am I being patronizing enough in my explications? I'm trying my best to rise above my legacy of constantly getting "expand on this thought" comments on college papers.

"whelm"
This can mean to engulf or to bury, both of which Lucia sees as having happened to her. But it also means to surge like a tide. Lucia, being water, may have it in her yet to overcome the restraints (jesses) put on her by the staff and medication so that she can "slip the earthly realm" and fly free.

"intru"
Lucia slips the earthly realm "into" the "truth" of fairy tales and mythology.

"terrortree"
The "territory" of fairy tales and mythology can be full of "terror." Also she is wandering into the grounds of Saint Andrew's Hospital which contains groves of trees which she will explore.

"feary-tell"
Fairy tales are tales told to invoke fear so that the listener can learn society's mores.

"eld mirthology"
"Eld" is simply another way of expressing "old age." Lucia has become an old woman here in the daily cycle of the hospital, time passing quickly from birth to death in the stagnancy of "heir" days. Lucia finds the stories in "mythology" amusing or "mirthful."

"mutterforth"
I translated this into "uttered word/muttered word" although that seems a stretch. I'm not sure what else it could be though. Every word "muttered forth" from Lucia's lips literally contains immediate and eternal truths as her Lucy-Lips language contains multitudes of unconscious meanings in each single statement. "Muttering" is also hard to understand as is Lucia's language. Mutter could also be "mother" which could be connected to "immadiate" as it contains "I'm mad at."

"immadiate"
Perhaps Lucia's immediate feelings are often rage ("immad", "I'm mad"). This would make sense based on what she sees as an imprisonment in a place that is constantly trying to fool her. And we see that the doctors and nurses take special care to observe her moods before letting her out on the grounds on her own. Today she has shown them she's in a pleasant mood (probably fooled them as much of her Lucy-Lips dialogue suggests her anger still surges beneath the surface) and so is allowed out to explore the grounds on her own.

"enternal troth."
"Troth" is both "truth" and a "pledged loyalty," as one might do when on a "quest." Lucia is "entering" into a "troth." But who is she pledging her loyalty to? Surely not the staff at the hospital. Possibly herself, as she's on "Lussye's quest"? Her eternal truth is to return to home and family (although her family are all dead by now and she has no home to return to).

Alan Moore's Jerusalem: Book 3: Vernall's Inquest: Round the Bend: Line 40

Line 40: "Her, she carn miander reedily betwin her pa'stime and her fewcheers; betorn hear an' dare; betwhether wan welt under noxt."

Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Here, she can meander readily between her past and her future; between here and there; between one world and the next.
Lucia wanders the grounds thinking about her life and her travels and what might be when she dies.

"Her"
Lucia is herself here on the grounds, away from the influence of family, friends, doctors, and nurses.

"carn"
Can but with cairn, a memorial made of stones, as a grave. Lucia has been interred in this place which will eventually become a memorial to her (as she will eventually be buried on the grounds and people will visit on Bloomsday).

"miander"
To wander but along a predetermined course, as a river (Lucia is a river!). Lucia has been MIA (Missing In Action) since being interred in this hospital.

"reedily"
Reeds grow on the banks of rivers and sway lazily.

"betwin"
Perhaps a suggestion of Giorgio, her sibling although not quite her twin. Perhaps "be twin" suggests Lucia is like a slender reed. Suggestive of winning a bet although I don't know how that fits with Lucia's life.

"pa'stime"
"Pa's time." Her past was the time of her and her father.

"fewcheers"
Her future has little to cheer about.

"betorn"
Remember how Lucia has "quit the seam"? Her mind is torn between her life before the asylum and her life after, between there (her "pa'stime") and here (her "fewcheers").

"hear an' dare"
Her past is now just stories that can be told, or heard. The future is what she may dare to do.

"betwhether"
Whether Lucia is in the past or the future, alive or dead, it is sometimes hard to bet on.

"wan welt"
Lucia is pale and weak, perhaps even showing signs of being beaten or restrained by the doctors and aides from the previous sentence.

"under noxt"
Lucia has lived in the world of her freedom and dancing. She is currently in the world of the asylum which feels like being interred in a crypt or buried "under" ground. The entire thing is noxious, poisonous, unpleasant.