Gin a body catch a body

     While reading The Catcher in the Rye, I was curious about the source of Holden's desire to be a "catcher in the rye."  He and Phoebe have slightly different explanations for the source; he says it is a children's song, she says it is a Burns poem, both of which are correct.  The phrase "if a body meet a body coming through the rye" (which Holden misremembers as "catch") comes from the Robert Burns poem "Comin' thro' the rye."  However, there is a children's folk song of a similar nature and same title which predates Burns.  Several versions of the text of the poem (and the song) exist.  Here is the the poem as listed on its Wikipedia page (highlighting added for emphasis): 

O, Jenny's a' weet,^[A] poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry:
She draigl't^[B] a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!

Chorus:
Comin thro' the rye, poor body,
Comin thro' the rye,
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!

Gin^[C] a body meet a body
Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need a body cry?^[D]

(chorus)

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the glen
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warl'^[E] ken?^[F]

(chorus)

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the grain;
Gin a body kiss a body,
The thing's a body's ain.^[G]

(chorus)

Ilka lassie has her laddie,
Nane, they say, ha’e I
Yet all the lads they smile on me,
When comin' thro' the rye.

^A weet – wet
^B draigl't – draggled
^C gin – if, should
^D cry – call out [for help]
^E warl – world
^F ken – know
^G ain – own

     

     Though many versions of this poem exist (and ones from more reputable sources), I decided to include this version because it seems to contain the most of the motifs of the different versions, as well as the notes on the Scottish words ("ilka" means "every").  If you would prefer to read a translated version, you can access that here: http://www.thehypertexts.com/Robert%20Burns%20Translations%20Modern%20English.htm . In addition, here is a link to a recording of the song, sung by Marian Anderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfNuSPSEmlo .  The notion presented by the announcer that the "rye" referred to is a river is erroneous.  

    Where this gets interesting is when one compares it to Salinger.  The poem and song deal with a romantic encounter while "comin thro' the rye."  This theme is repeated in several other places, through the glen, and through the grain.  The narrator bemoans that he or she does not have a "lassie" or "laddie," but the rest of the people still are kind to the narrator.  That the narrator is alone in their lack of a companion is a weak parallel to the separation and disillusionment Holden feels toward general society, and is a parallel to his solitude.  It is likely not possible to know whether or not Salinger intended this.  It is also important to note that, of the many versions of the song, some emphasize the romantic aspect of it, to the point of adding implicitly sexual elements.  This is an interesting comparison to Holden's glorification of childlike simplicity.  Whatever, if anything, Salinger was trying to allude to with his selection of this poem/song, we will probably never know.  However, I think it is very significant that it is traditionally a children's song, considering the importance of childhood in the novel.  As to Holden's view of the poem, that it is so bizarre and based on a misquote makes me suspect that Salinger himself had a similar reading of it from his younger years.

Joyce and Sound

     One of the striking aspect's of Joyce's narration in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is his (and Stephen's) attention to sound.  This appears in several ways, but is most prevalent in the following: Stephen's noticing of onomatopoeia in words and reflections of that in their meaning, and Joyce's meticulous transcription of sound.

     First, let us look at the way young Stephen associates words' sounds with their meanings.  There are several words he does this with.  First, on page 8, he associates the meaning of the word "suck" with the sound made when the action takes place.  "Suck was a queer word...But the sound was ugly.  Once he had washed his hands in the lavatory of the Wicklow Hotel and his father pulled the stopper up by the chain after and the dirty water went down through the hole in the basin. And when it had all gone down slowly the hole in the basin had made a sound like that: suck."  Then, on page 12, "That was to kiss.  His mother put her lips on his cheek; her lips were soft and they wetted his cheek; and they made a tiny little noise: kiss."  Already Stephen associates the meaning of words with sound, which shows both deep contemplation into language and a close attention to the sound of language.  We see this in other parts, as at the end of Chapter I, when he describes the sound of the cricket bats and compares it to water.

     There is one instance, in Chapter four, when Stephen associates happenings in his life with sound.  In Chapter IV, while he leaves the quasi-college visit with his father, he feels content with his decisions, and we read the following passage, on page 178:

It seemed to him that he heard notes of fitful music leaping upwards a tone and downwards a diminished fourth, upwards a tone and downwards a major third, like triple-branching flames leaping fitfully, flame after flame, out of a midnight wood. It was an elfin prelude, endless and formless; and, as it grew wilder and faster, the flames leaping out of time, he seemed to hear from under the boughs and grasses wild creatures racing, their feet pattering like rain upon the leaves.

In this we see Stephen literally translate his feeling into music.  In addition, he associates the sound of the music with the image of running animals., an interesting parallel, considering his "flight" in the book.  This shows the extraordinary way Stephen perceives sound, and presages how Joyce uses it in his later work.

     This heightened sense sound adds another interesting angle to the book.  It is worth mentioning that before deciding to become a writer, Joyce considered being a musician.  It makes sense that the young boy associating sounds of words with their meanings (we can assume this is fairly autobiographical) would eventually coin the word "quark" to represent a seagull's cry, and spell a cat's cry "mkgnao".  Joyce even uses sound to enhance the plot: take the end of Chapter II with all the assonance and "s" sounds during Stephen's encounter and its contrast with the highly clunky, consonant-ridden beginning of Chapter III.  In the end, we see (and hear!) a bit of how much sound influences Joyce's writing, and the integral place it holds therein.