What does Bloom write in the sand in Ulysses?
Bloom writes “I. AM. A.” with his stick in the sand of Sandymount Strand at the end of Episode 13, then stops: there is no room. The unfinished message to Gerty MacDowell has never been completed, and readers have offered many endings for it.
Edited by Aidan O'Leary · Last updated 30 October 2026
Where it appears
Episode 13, Nausicaa. Bloom, alone on the strand after Gerty has gone, scratching letters in the sand.
AM. A. No room. Let it go.
What it means in plain English
He begins with “I.” after asking himself “Write a message for her. Might remain. What?” He thinks of Martha Clifford's letter, then adds “AM. A.” and gives up.
He rubs out the letters with his boot: “Hopeless thing sand. Nothing grows in it.”
Literary context
Suggested endings include “cuckold”, “naughty boy”, “Jew” or simply nothing at all.
References
- Ulysses, Episode 13, “Nausicaa”
- Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated (revised edition, 1988)
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Questions readers ask
What would Bloom have written?
Joyce never says. The gap is the point.
Related terms
Gerty MacDowell
Gerty MacDowell is the young woman Bloom watches on Sandymount Strand at sunset in Episode 13. The first half of the episode is told in the gushing style of the romantic magazines she reads. She leans back to show her legs; Bloom masturbates; then she limps away.
Cuckoo
“Cuckoo” is the cry of the cuckoo clock that ends Bloom's part of Episode 13. The cuckoo lays eggs in other birds' nests, and the word gives us “cuckold”, a man whose wife is unfaithful. The clock calls it out to Bloom, whose wife has just been with Blazes Boylan.
Martha Clifford and Henry Flower
Martha Clifford is a woman Bloom writes to in secret under the false name Henry Flower. He collects her letter at the post office in Episode 5. Their flirtation is all on paper; they have never met. The letter includes a pressed flower and a famous mistake.
Sandymount Strand
The beach where Stephen walks alone in 'Proteus' (Episode 3) and where 'Nausicaa' (Episode 13) is set.