1n6xZiV

n6 / A M E S [ 1902-1903 ]And so Joyce recovered his urbanity on the eve of departure. Moneyarrived from Dublin, and he left on Monday night, December 22, calledon Yeats in London between trains, and reached Dublin the night ofDecember 23.*In Dublin he discovered he had lost a friend. The photo-postcard whichhe had sent to Byrne, with the poem written in the space for a message,had pleased Byrne very much. He showed it to Cosgrave and said proudlythat no man in Dublin knew more about Joyce than he did. Cosgrave,making the retort irresistible, slyly took a similar photograph from hispocket and showed it to Byrne saying, 'Perhaps that's something you didn'tknow.' Byrne read Joyce's description in dog-Latin of Paris whoredomwith consternation; he had explicitly warned Joyce not to confide in Cosgrave,and the details were evidently shocking to him. He handed bothpost cards to Cosgrave saying, 'You can have this one, too.' 25Cosgrave told Stanislaus Joyce in great amusement what had happened,and gave him Byrne's card, saying he didn't need two. Joyce heardthe story on his return, and experienced some snub from Byrne, for hesaid rather pompously to Stanislaus, 'I think I have been mistaken inByrne.' Stanislaus, who had been jealous of Byrne's preeminence in hisbrother's intimacy, took off his hat and solemnly began to intone the TeDeum. James began to refer to Byrne as 'His Intensity' and 'the Sea-Green Incorruptible.' 26What made the collapse of his principal friendship more serious wasthat Joyce had no relationships with women that were not coarse or distant.In his writing more is at stake in the friendship of Stephen andCranly (Byrne) than in the relationship of Stephen and Emma Clery.Friendship becomes, in fact, a focal point, for if friendship exists, it impugnsthe quality of exile and of lonely heroism. If the world is notaltogether hostile, we may forgive it for having mistreated us, and so beforced into the false position of warriors without adversaries. Joyce allowshis hero to savor friendship before discovering its flaws,and then withthe theme of broken friendship represents Stephen's broken ties with Irelandand the world, tIn actual life Joyce searched in vain tor any foundation for his feelingthat Byrne's change in attitude towards him was a betrayal, but in hisbooks he propounded various theories to explain it. The first,suggestedby Stephen's brother Maurice, is that 'Cranly wants to become more andmore necessary to you until he can have you in his power.' 27Stephen* Yeats wrote to Lady Gregory to tell her, 'I have had Joyce all morning on his way backto Dublin for Christmas. He has now given up the idea of medicine and will take upliterature. He said some rather absurd things and I rather scolded him but we got on verywell.' 24t 'Away then; it is time to go. . . . His friendship was coming to an end. Yes; he wouldgo. He could not strive against another. He knew his part.' A Portrait of the Artist (516[360-61]).