What does “bronze by gold” mean in Ulysses?
“Bronze by gold” refers to the two barmaids of the Ormond Hotel, the bronze-haired Miss Douce and the golden-haired Miss Kennedy. The phrase opens Episode 11, “Sirens”, the musical episode, where Joyce writes prose as if it were a piece of music.
Edited by Aidan O'Leary · Last updated 30 October 2026
Where it appears
Episode 11, Sirens. The opening of “Sirens”, a page of fragments that previews the sounds of the episode.
Bronze by gold heard the hoofirons, steelyringing.
What it means in plain English
The barmaids hear the viceroy's cavalcade go past outside: hooves on the street, ringing steel. Joyce describes them by their hair colour, as if they were two notes or two instruments.
The first two pages are an overture, scraps of phrases that return later in full. The section ends with the word “Begin!”, and the episode starts again properly.
Literary context
In Homer, the Sirens sing to lure sailors. In the Ormond bar the sirens are the barmaids, and the song is the music Bloom hears while thinking of Molly and Boylan.
References
- Ulysses, Episode 11, “Sirens”
- Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated (revised edition, 1988)
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Questions readers ask
Who are bronze and gold?
Miss Lydia Douce (bronze) and Miss Mina Kennedy (gold), barmaids at the Ormond Hotel.
Why does Sirens open with fragments?
They are an overture: short motifs that will return when the episode plays out in full.
Related terms
Ormond Hotel
The Ormond Hotel on Ormond Quay is the setting of Episode 11, “Sirens”. Bloom eats liver and bacon in the dining room while Simon Dedalus and Ben Dollard sing in the bar, and Boylan leaves to visit Molly.
Fugue per canonem (Sirens)
Joyce described the technique of Episode 11, “Sirens”, as “fuga per canonem”, a fugue according to rule. The episode opens with an overture of fragments, then repeats and develops them like musical themes, in a hotel bar full of singing.
Pprrpffrrppffff
“Pprrpffrrppffff” is Bloom's fart, the last sound of Episode 11. Bloom reads Robert Emmet's last words in a shop window, and lets go under cover of a passing tram. Joyce ends his musical episode with a final note from the body.
The Croppy Boy
“The Croppy Boy” is an Irish ballad about a young rebel of 1798 who goes to confession, only to find the priest is a British officer in disguise who has him hanged. Ben Dollard sings it in the Ormond bar in Episode 11, and the bar is moved to silence.