James Joyce’s Muse

Michael Peach

Considering the sheer variety
And literary genius of Joyce,
When looking for kindred spirits and parity
One hears the myriad-minded Shakespeare’s voice.
And though he loathed the autocratic Church,
Jim’s other twin was Aquinas, whom oft he quoted;
Like Will, this saint is central to the search
For that to which Ulysses at core’s devoted.
In short a great epiphany is Bloomsday,
A passionate apocalypse; and lo!
It is the opposite of Biblical Doomsday,
Which quenches love – the word all hearts do know.
++Yet his true muse was Nora, whose body and soul
++Inspired him to create a novel so whole.

Jerusalem
1 September 2021

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