Waxing Poetic: The Twilight Turns From Amethyst by James Joyce

     James Joyce (1882-1941) was an Irish novelist and poet who was one of the most influential writers in the early 20th century.  He is best known for the novel Ulysses, a modern re-telling of The Odyssey written in the stream of consciousness technique.  I recently read Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation by Noël Riley Fitch.  Joyce is a major figure in the book because Sylvia Beach published the novel from her Paris bookstore, Shakespeare & Co., when no publisher in the U.S. would touch it.

    Reading the book got me interested Joyce and his other writings.  His poetry is less well known than his fiction.  The following poem is from the collection Chamber Music, first published in 1907.  The poems did not sell well but they received some critical acclaim.  Ezra Pound admired the "delicate temperament" of these early poems.  In 1909, Joyce wrote to his wife, "When I wrote [Chamber Music], I was a lonely boy, walking about by myself at night and thinking that one day a girl would love me."  The lyricism of these early poems has led to a number of musical adaptations.


The Twilight Turns From Amethyst

The twilight turns from amethyst
To deep and deeper blue,
The lamp fills with a pale green glow
The trees of the avenue.

The old piano plays an air,
Sedate and slow and gay;
She bends upon the yellow keys,
Her head inclines this way.

Shy thought and grave wide eyes and hands
That wander as they list -- -
The twilight turns to darker blue
With lights of amethyst.