"Wherefore they wail."

(469.29-471.34)  Having delivered his "last fireless words," Shaun sets off, with the "twentyaid add one" girls "pouring to his bysistance."  A "hermetic prod or kick" causes Shaun "to sit up and take notice" as the girls "voiced approval in their customary manner by dropping kneedeep in tears over their concelebrated meednight sunflower, piopadey boy, their solase in dorckaness."  The girls wail and deliver a prayer, which McHugh notes (relying upon a letter Joyce wrote to Harriet Shaw Weaver) mirrors the Maronite liturgy and consists of 29 words.  This prayer likens Shaun to various trees (reemphasizing the tree/stone dichotomy that features throughout the book) and alternately addresses him as "oasis" (a source of refuge) and "Oisis" (an incarnation of Osiris or the offspring of Isis).  At the prayer's conclusion, the girls say, "Pipetto, Pipetta has misery unnoticed!"  This indicates the unique misery suffered by Isabel ("Pipetta") for her beloved Shaun.

Now the narrative begins to advance much quicker (we have reached the chapter's final four pages, after all).  Shaun is just about to tumble into the river, but first he takes a "familiar yellow label" from Isabel, lets fall a drop, smothers a curse, chokes a guffaw, spits, and blows his own trumpet.  The postman Shaun licks an "oval badge of belief" and affixes it to his brow and causes the girls to turn topsy turvy "with half a glance of Irish frisky . . . from under the shag of his parallel brows."  He waves goodbye, and the girls return the gesture as they call out to him and each other, shouting their 29 names, which all translate to the word "peace."  Shaun moves to embrace Isabel a final time, then moves to resume his journey, blessing the girls "with the sign of the southern cross."  His hat blows off his head just before he moves "away with him at the double . . . , let off like a wind hound."  The girls wave their handkerchiefs, and as Shaun fades from sight someone (Isabel, I think?) recites a prayer based upon the "Hail Mary" and says, "Where maggot Harvey kneeled till bags?  Ate Andrew coos hogdam farvel!" (which McHugh translates from Danish as, "How much have we held back?  To change course and so goodbye!").

Tomorrow, we reach the conclusion of this second chapter of the Wake's third book.