modesty - moderation, freedom from excess or exaggeration, self-control + astronomical majesty.
skew - In special collocations, denoting that the thing in question deviates from a straight line, or has some part not at right angles with the rest, as skew arch, bridge, girder, etc + (notebook 1931): 'a skew arch' → Bowman: The Story of Lewis Carroll 44: (from a diary of Isa Bowman's visit to Oxford, written by Carroll) 'Then they went to New College... & saw, close to the entrance, a "skew" arch (going slantwise through the wall) one of the first ever built in England' + (rainbow).
chroma (gr) - colour + Home Sweet Home (song).
floodlit - illuminated with flood-lights
flabbergast - to astonish utterly, to confound
firmament - the arch or vault of heaven overhead, in which the clouds and the stars appear
bump - a protuberance such as is caused by a blow or collision; a swelling, an irregular prominence
get the needle - to become angry or upset, to lose one's temper + Matthew 19:24: 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle'.
iridescence - the intermingling and interchange of brilliant colours as in the rainbow, soap-bubbles, and mother-of-pearl; a play of glittering and changing colours
ruby - a very rare and valuable precious stone, of a colour varying from deep crimson or purple to pale rose-red (PICTURE) + jewels in foundations of Holy City (Revelation 21:19-20): i) jasper, ii) sapphire, vii) chrysolyte, viii) beryl.
beryl - a transparent precious stone of a pale-green colour passing into light-blue, yellow, and white (PICTURE)
chrysolite - a name formerly given to several different gems of a green colour, such as zircon, tourmaline, topaz, and apatite. Since about 1790 restricted to the precious olivine, a silicate of magnesia and iron found in lava. Its colour varies from pale yellowish-green (the precious stone) to dark bottle-green (PICTURE).
jade - a silicate of lime and magnesia, a hard, translucent stone, in colour light green, bluish, or whitish (PICTURE)
sapphire - a precious stone of a beautiful transparent blue (PICTURE)
jasper - an opaque cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, of various colours, usually red, yellow, or brown, due mostly to the admixture of iron oxide (PICTURE).
lazule = lapis lazuli - a complex silicate containing sulphur, of bright blue colour (PICTURE).
orca (l) - a kind of whale + orca - the killer whale, Orcinus orca + orcus (l) - lower world, death + orca (it) - sow + arcobaleno (it) - rainbow (symbol of peace).
Bellona - proper name of the Roman goddess of war; transf. a spirited woman of commanding presence
Etna - active volcano on the east coast of Sicily
Athos - mountain in northern Greece + Thanatos - in Greek mythology, a demon personifying death (from Greek thanatos: death).
extinct - to put out, quench (fire, light, anything burning or shining)
vulcanology - the science or scientific study of volcanoes
molten - liquefied by heat + oldens + molten lava + love of Moses.
heckler - one who severely questions another + Hekla - volcano in Iceland.
Ophiuchus - "Serpent-holder": one of the ancient constellations, figured as a man holding a serpent; also called 'Serpentarius' + *S* (or *Y*).
muliercula (l) - immoral or lewd woman; little woman (constellation 'Virgo'?) + *A*.
occlude - to prevent the passage of (a thing) by placing something in the way
Saturn + Satan + Sata - Egyptian serpent god (Budge: The Book of the Dead ch. LXXXVII: '"I am the serpent Sata whose years are many. I die and I am born again each day"') + *E*.
piccolo (it) - small + Piscis (constellation) + pesciolini (it) - little fishes + *IJ*.
nova (l) - new
Adonis (gr) - beautiful youth loved by Aphrodite + ardor (l) - burning heat, ardent desire + William Shakespeare: Venus and Adonis.
prisca (l) - ancient, of old, antique
Parthenope (gr) - "Maiden-face": Siren, drowned herself when Odysseus escaped.
bonny - pleasing to the sight, comely, beautiful + bona fides - good faith, freedom from intent to deceive.
Earth + Eros (gr) - god of sexual love + Ares (gr) = Mars (l) - god of war + *VYC*.
mores - habitual behaviour, fixed customs + Mars
surgent - one who (or that which) rises in rebellion or opposition (obs. rare.) + surgens (l) - rising.
zenith - the point of the horizon at which a heavenly body rises
Arcturus - also called ALPHA BOÖTIS, one of the five brightest stars in the night sky, and the brightest star in the northern constellation Boötes + Arktos (gr) - the great bear star; the North.
anatolia (gr) - east + Anatole, Anatoile (gr) - apocryphal star from whence Adam's name [Anatole, Dusis, Arcis, Mesembria]
Hesperus - in Greco-Roman mythology, the evening star, son or brother of Atlas. He was later identified with the morning star, Phosphorus, (Latin: Lucifer), the bringer of light + Hesperos (gr) - the evening star; the West.
mesembria (gr) - midday, noon; the South + Mesembria, Messembrion (gr) - some form of this name occurs on all lists of apocryphal stars from which Adam is named.
mansion - Astrol. A twelfth part of the heavens as divided by great circles through the north and south points of the horizon; a sign of the zodiac considered as the seat of the greatest influence of a particular planet.
noth - obs. Sc. variant of nought + north
Apep (also spelled Apepi, and Aapep, or Apophis in Greek) - an evil god, the deification of darkness and chaos (isfet in Egyptian), and thus opponent of light and Ma'at (order/truth). As the personification of all that was evil, Apep was seen as a giant snake/serpent, crocodile, or occasionally as a dragon. → "[Concerning the invisible god] some say that he is Aapep when he riseth up with a head bearing upon it [the feather of] Maat (Truth)" (THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD)
Wadjet (Wadjyt, Wadjit, Uto, Uatchet) - Egyptian snake-goddess, a lady of flame. According to myth Wadjet was the daughter of Atum (or later Ra) who was sent her as his "eye" to find Tefnut and Shu when they were lost in the waters of Nun. There is also a suggestion that she was very closely linked to the principle of Ma´at (justice or balance). → "Uatchet, the Lady of Flames, is the Eye of Ra." (THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD) + a peep and watch it.
chase me, Charley - a catch-phrase + Chase Me Charlie - a 1918 Charlie Chaplin compilation film.
fluency - a smooth and easy flow; a flow of words + flounces - ornamental appendages attached to the hem of a skirt or dress.
Ural (more freq. Urals, Ural mountains) - a mountain-chain forming the north-eastern boundary of Europe with Asia
mount - in early use, a mountain, lofty hill
Stromboli - volcano on the Lipari islands
Wurst (ger) - sausage + what a wurst.
tow - the fibre of flax, hemp, or jute prepared for spinning by some process of scutching; the act of hauling something (as a vehicle) by means of a hitch or rope
lemongrass - genus of about 55 species of grasses native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World and Oceania (PICTURE)
bulrush - a name applied in books to Scirpus lacustris, a tall rush growing in or near water; but in modern popular use, more usually, to Typha latifolia (PICTURE), the 'Cat's Tail' or 'Reed-mace'; In the Bible applied to the Papyrus of Egypt.
obsidian - a dark-coloured vitreous lava or volcanic rock, of varying composition, resembling common bottle-glass; volcanic glass + ophidian - snake.
Empfang (ger) - reception + Enfants de Marie (fr) - Children of Mary, Catholic girls' organisation.
Maurya - the name of a dynasty that ruled northern India from 321 to 184 b.c.; a member of this dynasty
Belshazzar - last king of Babylon, whose doom was foretold by the writing on the wall, which Daniel interpreted
schotschrift (Dutch) - lampoon + shrift - penance imposed by the priest after confession, absolution; confession to a priest + Schrift (ger) - writing + Kurzschrift (ger) - stenography (literally 'short writing') + shortshift
*V* camouflaged (Joyce's note)
blancmange - a sweetmeat made of dissolved isinglass or gelatine boiled with milk, etc., and forming an opaque white jelly
syrop (Archaic) - syrup + maple syrup - a syrup obtained by evaporating maple sap or dissolving maple sugar + (disguised as sweets to tempt little girls).
obeisance - a bodily act or gesture expressive of submission or respect (almost always, a bending or prostration of the body in token of this)
sitinems (Slang) - trousers
orp - to fret, to murmur discontentedly + orb + (syrop) + Obedientia Civium Urbis Felicitas (l) - Citizens' Obedience is City's Happiness.
sheikh - the chief of an Arab family or tribe; the headman of an Arabian village
fat of the land - the choicest produce (of the earth) + live on the fat of the land - to live very comfortably esp. without much effort of one's own.
Gyges (gr) - king of Lydia. In the account of Herodotus, Lydian king Candaules insisted upon showing Gyges his wife when unrobed, which so enraged her that she gave Gyges the choice of murdering her husband and making himself king, or of being put to death himself (PICTURE). + gigas (l) - giant.
treadmill - a horizontal cylinder made to revolve by the weight of persons treading on boards arranged as equidistant steps around its periphery; Formerly in use as an instrument of prison discipline.
overground - situated over or above ground, raised above the ground
chitchat - to gossip + Schatz (ger) - treasure, sweetheart.
spanking - very big, large, or fine; exceptionally good in some respect, freq. with implication of showiness or smartness
a bee in one's bonnet - i.e. a fantasy, an eccentric whim, a craze on some point
lollapaloosa (U.S. Slang) - 'the cat's pyjamas', a big lie; an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event
slanger (Danish) - serpents, snakes
Heva (l) - Eve (first woman) + Master McGrath (song): '"Three cheers for old Ireland" says Master McGrath'.
Magrath + SDV: — Creeping into through the children of Mary class disguised as a judge a blancmange with two sorts of false heads on him of jam on him with melasses. Three cheers for the name of Magrath!
eminence - height, altitude; the highest development, the 'flower' + emanens (l) - spreading.
white dwarf - Astr., a small, faint, very dense star (usu. but not necessarily white in colour) lying below the main sequence, and representing the stable phase assumed by stars having less than 1.4 solar masses when their nuclear reactions cease.
surrounded + sarabande - a slow dance + {Speaker: Yawn as *A*}
kitzel (ger) - tickle
Melba, Nellie (186 1-193 1) - Australian soprano, sang Juliet to Jean de Reszke's Romeo in Goumod's opera + my elbow.
misdemean - to misbehave, misconduct oneself
rebuke - to reprove, reprimand, chide severely + SDV: — I would misdemean to reply rebuke to the libel of snots inasmuch as a sovereign was presented [to all] by that noblest of magistrates with nice admired engravings showing meaning all his manly parts in during the act, as required by statues.
libel - a leaflet, bill, or pamphlet posted up or publicly circulated; spec. one assailing or defaming the character of some person
snot - the mucus of the nose; Applied to persons as a term of contempt or opprobrium + sluts.
shamble - pl. The place where animals are killed for meat; a slaughter-house.
canaille - a contemptuous name given to the populace; the 'vile herd', vile populace + Grand and Royal Canals, Dublin.
shortie = shorty - a short article of clothing
Askepot (Danish) - Cinderella
Nile Lodge - a famous Galway house built in 1805 by one of Admiral Nelson's officers at the Battle of the Nile against Napoleon (its design echoes that of a ship's bridge) + Nile river.
cash-and-carry (shop)
Amazon - pl. A race of female warriors alleged by Herodotus, etc. to exist in Scythia + Amazon river.
bagger - one who encloses in bags; spec. a miser (obs.) + baggerman (Dutch) - a barge or barge-like vessel used for dredging + bakerman + bark at the moon - to clamour or agitate to no effect.
chokefull - filled so as to leave no vacant space; cram-full; stuffed full; full to suffocation
R.S.V.P.: répondez, s'il vous plaît (French) - please reply (a request for a reply to an invitation)