How does the Sirens episode of Ulysses end?
“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.
Edited by Aidan O'Leary · Last updated 30 October 2026
Where it appears
Episode 11, Sirens. Bloom outside a shop on Ormond Quay, reading the patriot Robert Emmet's speech from the dock.
Pprrpffrrppffff. Done.
What it means in plain English
The words of Emmet's speech, “When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then and not till then, let my epitaph be written”, are cut up by Bloom's wind and the tram's noise.
“Done” is both the end of the episode and the end of Emmet's speech.
Literary context
Robert Emmet led a rising in 1803 and was executed; his speech from the dock was famous in Ireland.
References
- Ulysses, Episode 11, “Sirens”
- Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, Ulysses Annotated (revised edition, 1988)
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Questions readers ask
Why does Bloom wait for the tram?
So nobody hears. He is a polite man.
Related terms
“Bronze by gold”
“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.
Mkgnao
“Mkgnao!” is the sound Bloom's cat makes in the kitchen of 7 Eccles Street in Episode 4. Joyce spells the cat's miaow exactly as he hears it, and varies it as the cat grows more insistent: “Mrkgnao!” and then “Gurrhr!” It is one of the book's most-loved small details.
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.