Pomes Penyeach


Pomes Penyeach is a collection of thirteen short poems written by James Joyce.

Overview

Pomes Penyeach was written over a 20-year period, from 1904 to 1924, and originally published on 7 July 1927 by Shakespeare and Company, for the price of one shilling or twelve francs. The title is a play on "poems" and pommes which are here offered at "a penny each" in either currency. It was the custom for Irish tradespeople of the time to offer their customers a "tilly" or extra serving – just as English bakers had developed the tradition of the "baker's dozen", offering thirteen loaves instead of twelve. The first poem of Pomes Penyeach is entitled "Tilly" and represents the bonus offering of this penny-a-poem collection.
The poems were initially rejected for publication by Ezra Pound. Although paid scant attention on its initial publication, this slender volume has proven surprisingly durable, and a number of its poems continue to appear in anthologies to this day.
Pomes Penyeach contains a number of Joycean neologisms created by melding two words into a new compound. The word "love" appears thirteen times in this collection of thirteen short poems in a variety of contexts. Sometimes romantic love is intended, in tones that vary from sentimental or nostalgic to scathing. Yet at its best Joyce's poetry achieves, like his prose, a sense of vitality and loving compassion.

Contents

The contents of Pomes Penyeach are listed below, with the date and place of each composition:
"Tilly"

"Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba"

"A Flower Given to My Daughter"

"She Weeps over Rahoon"

"Tutto è sciolto"

"On the Beach at Fontana"

"Simples"

"Flood"

"Nightpiece"

"Alone"

"A Memory of the Players in a Mirror at Midnight"

"Bahnhofstrasse"

"A Prayer"