Page 211

 APPENDIX A 211 
AN INDEX OF MOTIFS IN 
FIXXE GA XS WA KE 
There is virtually no limit to the number and variety of ways in which the
multitude of leitmotivs in Finnegans 
wake might be classified and arranged, for in breaking 
down the process of composition to the organisation of such wisps of phrases
Joyce was clearly looking for the maximum possible flexibility of design.
I made several attempts to classify the motifs listed here but the results
never proved to be particularly useful. A simple alphabetical index is therefore
offered, although in the case of a few big motif-complexes a separate grouped
list is provided. Motifs based on proverbs, catchphrases and the like are
usually listed in their normalised forms. 
 With a few exceptions this index omits (i) all song-motifs,' and (2) all
' literary' motifs, i.e. quotations from works of literature.2 Some single
words function as independent leitmotivs and, of course, a large part of
Finnegans Wake is made up of motif-fragments—words and syllables derived
from important motifs but too fleeting in themselves to be called motifstatements.
The index makes no attempt to list any but the most important single-word
motif~ and motif-fragments. Similarly, I have excluded the hosts of words
and symbols that always hunt in couples but otherwise have no special leitmotivistic
significance, such as ' holly and ivy'. Such words and word-pairs can most
easily be traced with the aid of my Concordance.3 
 1 A very full list is available in M. J C. Hodgart and M. P. Worthington,
Song in the Works of James Joyce, New York, ~ 
 2 See Atherton, Appendix. 
' To be published shortly.