An untitled poem tells an audience one of two possible things; Either the poet is just really lazy (which

is seldom the case) or a title would get in the way of the actual poetry. Such is the case of a freeform poem that Stephen Dedalus writes in his journal in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. He mentions that he "thinks" that "she" would like his poem (Joyce 234). Who is she? Given the context of the situation, it can be presumed that he is talking of the ever elusive Emma Clery, a woman who represents the ideal woman for Stephen. Although he meets her within the next week of writing this, he notes that she seems to be like any other girl in nearly every aspect of her livelihood. Albeit, the poem is not written about Emma, only for her. We only know that it is for her given the next diary entry in Stephen's journal. Through similes, rhetorical questions, and the setting of the poem, the poem comes to be Stephen's thoughts on the lives of a lonely person. Stephen's similes in the poem use what would be seen as predated in his time. Such as "silence" being "cloven...as by an arrow" or "hoofs that shine...as gems". While people would definitely recognize the term, it would have been much more modern to have used bullets or metal in the similes, as those were what were popular at the time. Stephen purposefully uses terms that would remind someone of love - cupid's arrows, hearts shining like gems - to reinforce his ideas behind loneliness. Sometimes, all a person ever wants is to be loved. After meeting Emma a few days later, Stephen confesses to his journal that he, "liked her" and, "I felt, all the rest before now," only to quickly dismiss the idea that he found someone that he could finally like and be liked back by this girl which he set impossibly high standards for (Joyce 235-6). After the similes in the poem, Stephen ends it with posing two questions, "What heart? -bearing what tidings?". What possesses these travelers to be traveling so late in the night and why is it so important? Stephen describes the poem the next day as, "vague words for a vague

emotion" (Joyce 235). Is this vague emotion some kind of description for a lonely lover or something that Stephen cannot describe himself? It could be him talking about the insurmountable love he believes that he has for Emma, or at least, of the idea of her. It is difficult to answer a question to which the answer cannot be known. It only raises more questions to ask. How many travelers were there? Were there more that simply could not be heard? Why were they out this late at night? Stephen only asks two questions, but they are two he will never be able to answer to his cowardice at confronting his own emotions. Why were they out that late? In a place that, "has turned from dreams to dreamless sleep". It raises a considerable point that in nearly all of Joyce's works, his characters do the majority of their thinking in the wee hours of the morning. Gabriel Conroy, Molly Bloom, and the character of this poem. It could simply be that Joyce likes the night, or it could be that night is a literary motif for the unknown and unknowable. The protagonist of this poem, and yes, Gabriel and Molly come to some pretty philosophical conclusions about existence and what-not during their late not pondering, where they are in the company of other people, but are still alone. The other characters they are sharing their nights with could be pondering the same exact questions as they are without them ever knowing. Stephen wants to know if other people are as lonely as he is and if they share and wallow in it as he does. Stephen is present in two of Joyce's novel, as are several other minor characters, and all his stories even take place in Dublin. In his literary world, all of Joyce's characters are connected through this guy or that guy or through this idea or that one. It is no wonder that his characters share more similarities than would seem a coincidence. They all are facing the same conflicts of life - love, jobs, life versus death - and several of them often come to the same conclusion on these topics. This poem is just another way Stephen deals with the challenges of his life and

brings up other crises other characters have dealt with in his own words. Stephen is the literary alter-ego of James Joyce; his writings often offer the ideals that Joyce tries to push through in his works.
Poem: Faintly, under the heavy night, through the silence of the city which has turned from dreams to dreamless sleep as a weary lover whom no caresses move, the sound of hoofs upon the road. Not so faintly now as they come near the bridge; and in a moment, as they pass the darkened windows, the silence is cloven by alarm as by an arrow. They are heard now far away, hoofs that shine amid the heavy night as gems, hurrying beyond the sleeping fields to what journey's end--what heart? --bearing what tidings?