{"id":1016,"date":"2026-09-28T19:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/?p=1016"},"modified":"2026-11-08T18:35:39","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T18:35:39","slug":"frognal","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/frognal\/","title":{"rendered":"Frognal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

Frognal<\/h1>\n

A Pindarick Ode<\/em><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

\n

I<\/h2>\n
\n

Blow the Trumpet, beat the Drum!1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The fatal hour hath come!2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The bold Accordion tune and melody provide<\/p>\n

On the resounding Ophicleide!3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Strike, too, th\u2019Umbilical Chord,4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

And with coarse laughter greet<\/p>\n

In ev\u2019ry street,<\/p>\n

The feather\u2019d Fraud!<\/p>\n

Proclaim aloud on Piccolo and Flute,<\/p>\n

In Towns, Small Islands, Domus, Rus,5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Th\u2019impostures vile and infamous<\/p>\n

Of Grub-street C . . t!6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Never again shall Frognal<\/em>\u2019s sylvan slopes,7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

(Long time the cradle of poetic hopes),<\/p>\n

Echo the frequent efforts of his Muse,<\/p>\n

In discords harsh8<\/a><\/sup> our language to abuse.<\/p>\n

E\u2019en now upon black Hampstead\u2019s swarthy Moor,<\/p>\n

The joyful cry ascends: \u201cNo! Nevermore.\u201d9<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

II<\/h2>\n
\n

Reblow the Trumpet, and the Drum rebeat!<\/p>\n

Potations neat<\/p>\n

In tumblers curiously engrav\u2019d10<\/a><\/sup> prepare.<\/p>\n

And from his secret lair<\/p>\n

Summon great Behemoth<\/em>, the Elephant<\/em>!11<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

A cold collation spread,<\/p>\n

And from his oozy bed,12<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Where his huge bulk13<\/a><\/sup> aslant<\/p>\n

The wine-dark Ocean14<\/a><\/sup> lies\u2014Hail<\/p>\n

To the cheerful feast<\/p>\n

The mighty beast,<\/p>\n

Frolick Leviathan<\/em>, the Whale!<\/em>15<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

And that sweet Frognal<\/em>\u2019s groves may henceforth be<\/p>\n

From C . . t\u2019s impov\u2019rished rhymes for ever free,<\/p>\n

Prepare, with solemn ceremony to greet,<\/p>\n

Him, whom the puny poets of Grub-street<\/em><\/p>\n

Know for their ancient enemy, and call<\/p>\n

Tarantula<\/em>, or Spider Vesperal!<\/em>16<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

III<\/h2>\n
\n

With garlands fresh, a Belvedere<\/em> adorn,<\/p>\n

And on the sacred lawn,<\/p>\n

Where Bina<\/em>\u2019s17<\/a><\/sup> fam\u2019d Gazebo<\/em> tops the skies,18<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

A fragrant couch devise\u2014<\/p>\n

Like to the bed,<\/p>\n

With od\u2019rous gums o\u2019erspred,<\/p>\n

Whereon th\u2019Arabian<\/em> Bird19<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The deathly summons heard,<\/p>\n

And with immortal longings20<\/a><\/sup> fir\u2019d,<\/p>\n

Lay down, and aromatic\u2019lly expir\u2019d.<\/p>\n

Here let them rest, as once on his Divan,<\/p>\n

Reclin\u2019d at ease the pamper\u2019d Turcoman<\/em>21<\/a><\/sup>\u2014<\/p>\n

And, while their limbs luxurious shapes assume,<\/p>\n

while heads grown drowsy with the sweet perfume<\/p>\n

Of cooling sherbet and Hesperian<\/em> fruit\u2014<\/p>\n

Discuss th\u2019abominable practices of C . . t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

IV<\/h2>\n
\n

With rolling eye, Leviathan<\/em> shall tell<\/p>\n

In accents transatlantic22<\/a><\/sup> what befell,<\/p>\n

When, far from Frognal<\/em>\u2019s oak-encircled hill,<\/p>\n

The Cambrian<\/em> squire23<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Set forth in quaint attire,24<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

With reeking tube25<\/a><\/sup> the feather\u2019d tribe26<\/a><\/sup> to kill.<\/p>\n

Shy Behemoth<\/em>, of youthful bards the friend,<\/p>\n

Tho\u2019 seldom seen t\u2019unbend,<\/p>\n

Whom fair dactylographs,27<\/a><\/sup> for all their pain,<\/p>\n

In silence must adore, and love in vain28<\/a><\/sup>\u2014<\/p>\n

Now suddenly made bold,<\/p>\n

Shall a rich tale unfold;<\/p>\n

And, while the servile Blackamoor<\/em>,<\/p>\n

With fiery Usquebaugh<\/em>,29<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

His lithe proboscis undertakes to fill,<\/p>\n

The beans shall spill!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

V<\/h2>\n
\n

Spider, Elephant<\/em>, and Whale<\/em><\/p>\n

One by one take up the tale\u2014<\/p>\n

Tarantula<\/em>, the wisest of the Three<\/p>\n

(His subtle lips unsealed),30<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In more than mortal majesty<\/p>\n

Now stands revealed!<\/p>\n

And, while the hautboys sound,31<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

And far above the ground<\/p>\n

In bursts of dazzling spray the rockets shoot\u2014<\/p>\n

He to the Conclave speaks,<\/p>\n

And seeks<\/p>\n

In honied tones t\u2019expose the specious C . . t.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet it be known how C . . t spent half his days32<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Soliciting th\u2019embrace of Ph\u0153bus\u2019 rays,33<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Hoping his wanton body to set free,<\/p>\n

Naked beneath the burning axletree!34<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Let human kind now hear the horrid truth<\/p>\n

Concerning practices e\u2019en more uncouth\u2014<\/p>\n

Of Alcmen\u2019s<\/em> nights, when distant from his spouse<\/p>\n

In Oxford\u2019s<\/em> Courts, he dwelt in deep carouse!35<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Of frantic efforts to encompass Fame<\/p>\n

In what men term th\u2019Antique and Royal Game!36<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

How in th\u2019urban Bagnio he sought to cheat<\/p>\n

Th\u2019increasing embonpoint with steamy heat!37<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

How he, with base mechanick instinct, spurn\u2019d<\/p>\n

The cutting edge that Occam skillf\u2019ly turn\u2019d.38<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

And how the Christian<\/em> ceremony he marr\u2019d,<\/p>\n

By reading Homer<\/em>\u2014blind egregious bard!<\/p>\n

These scandalous deceptions now made plain,<\/p>\n

No more shall C . . t the common weal profane!\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke. And all with acclamation loud<\/p>\n

Greet th\u2019amazing words. With aspect proud<\/p>\n

And floral tributes crown\u2019d,<\/p>\n

He, from the Belvedere<\/em> retir\u2019d,<\/p>\n

While those around,<\/p>\n

With cheerful malice fir\u2019d,<\/p>\n

Acclaim the Hero<\/em>, and prepare to leave the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

VI<\/h2>\n
\n

Frognal<\/em>, Farewell! No more thy verdant glade39<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Shall shudder at the croaking of his voice.<\/p>\n

Therefore Rejoice!40<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

For, henceforth, in Cimmerian<\/em> shade41<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

His twitt\u2019ring ghost must dwell\u2014<\/p>\n

In that same nether hell,<\/p>\n

Where ever-watchful lies<\/p>\n

Ouroboros<\/em>\u2014the Worm<\/em> that never dies.42<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

And Ye, Frognalian<\/em> Champions!<\/p>\n

Worthy scions<\/p>\n

Of crafty Odysseus<\/em>\u2014<\/p>\n

Ye, who first found a use<\/p>\n

For gests mysterious and practical;<\/p>\n

Who th\u2019ingenuous43<\/a><\/sup> C . . t ensnar\u2019d<\/p>\n

With spring\u00e8s44<\/a><\/sup> magical\u2014<\/p>\n

Farewell! The glorious work is done,45<\/a><\/sup> the Tyranny o\u2019er-pass\u2019d.<\/p>\n

The goose is cook\u2019d, the Vict\u2019ry won, the C . . t successf\u2019ly grass\u2019d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[John Hayward]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nNotes<\/summary>\n
    \n
  1. 1.<\/a>\n

    \u2018Sound the trumpet, beat the drum\u2019 was the last of the three Odes that Purcell wrote between 1685 and 1687 to celebrate the birthday of James II.<\/p>\n

    See too John Dryden, \u2018Alexander\u2019s Feast; or, the Power of Music\u2019, 3rd stanza:<\/p>\n

    A song in honour of St Cecilia\u2019s Day 1697<\/p><\/div>\n

    The praise of Bacchus then the sweet musician sung,<\/p>

    Of Bacchus ever fair and ever young:<\/p>

    The jolly god in triumph comes;<\/p>

    Sound the trumpets, beat the drums!<\/p>

    Flush\u2019d with a purple grace<\/p>

    He shows his honest face:<\/p>

    Now give the hautboys breath; he comes, he comes!<\/p>

    Bacchus, ever fair and young,<\/p>

    Drinking joys did first ordain;<\/p>

    Bacchus\u2019 blessings are a treasure,<\/p>

    Drinking is the soldier\u2019s pleasure:<\/p>

    Rich the treasure,<\/p>

    Sweet the pleasure,<\/p>

    Sweet is pleasure after pain.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  2. 2.<\/a>\n

    See John<\/em> 12: 23.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. 3.<\/a>\n

    Ophicleide: a brass wind musical instrument, consisting of a large tapering tube bent double and provided with finger keys; now superseded by the tuba.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. 4.<\/a>\n

    The pun on chord\/cord is of course deliberate.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  5. 5.<\/a>\n

    In the study of Latin, it is common to learn the mnemonic for nouns which have the locative form: \u2018cities, towns, islands smaller than Rhodes, and domus<\/em> and rus\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  6. 6.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018C[oo]t.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  7. 7.<\/a>\n

    William Wordsworth, \u2018September 1819\u2019, ll. 1\u20132:<\/p>\n

    The sylvan slopes with corn-clad fields<\/p>

    Are hung, as if with golden shields<\/p>

    +<\/p>

    On as we move a softer prospect opes,<\/p>

    Calm huts, and lawns between, and sylvan slopes.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  8. 8.<\/a>\n

    Robert Chester, Loves martyr: or, Rosalins complaint. Allegorically shadowing the truth of loue, in the constant fate of the ph\u0153nix and turtle. A poeme enterlaced with much varietie and raritie; now first translated out of the venerable Italian Torquato C\u00e6liano<\/em> (1601):<\/p>\n

    Away with Musicke for your strings do iarre,<\/p>

    Your sound is full of Discords, harsh and ill<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  9. 9.<\/a>\n

    See \u2018The Raven\u2019 (1849), by Edgar Allan Poe, ll. 1\u20136 and 37\u201348:<\/p>\n

    Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,<\/p>

    Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,<\/p>

    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,<\/p>

    As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.<\/p>

    \u2018\u2019Tis some visitor,\u2019 I muttered, \u2018tapping at my chamber door\u2014<\/p>

    Only this, and nothing more.\u2019<\/p>

    \u2026<\/p><\/div>\n

    Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,<\/p>

    In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.<\/p>

    Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;<\/p>

    But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door\u2014<\/p>

    Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door\u2014<\/p>

    Perched, and sat, and nothing more.<\/p><\/div>\n

    Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,<\/p>

    By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.<\/p>

    \u2018Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,\u2019 I said, \u2018art sure no craven,<\/p>

    Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore\u2014<\/p>

    Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night\u2019s Plutonian shore!\u2019<\/p>

    Quoth the Raven, \u2018Nevermore.\u2019<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  10. 10.<\/a>\n

    A likely reference to the silver tumblers awarded to Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford (Toby Faber, grandson of GCF, email to Haffenden, 5 Sept. 2024).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  11. 11.<\/a>\n

    Job<\/em> 40: 15\u201319: \u2018Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  12. 12.<\/a>\n

    Shakespeare, The Tempest<\/em>, V, i, ll. 175\u20137:<\/p>\n

    I wish<\/p>

    Myself were mudded in that oozy bed<\/p>

    Where my son lies.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  13. 13.<\/a>\n

    \u2018huge bulk like a sea monster\u2019 \u2013 Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop<\/em>, ch. 5, 40.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  14. 14.<\/a>\n

    Homer, Odyssey<\/em> 7. 243 ff. Odysseus tells King Alkinous (Alcinous) of his travels:<\/p>\n

    Far from here there lies an island called Ogygia. The daughter of Atlas has her home there, Kalypso (Calypso), a goddess of awesome power and many wiles. She is seldom visited, whether by mortals or by immortals; but I, alas, was brought by ill fortune to her hearth, a sole survivor when Zeus with his flashing thunderbolt shattered and shivered my rapid ship in the midst of the wine-dark ocean.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  15. 15.<\/a>\n

    JDH to FVM, 8 May 1939: \u2018Little spiders do not live on intimate terms with Leviathan. Yet I have this conviction, with so few meetings to justify it, that you are a very old & very valuable & very much cherished friend. Perhaps there is something in Whale\u2019s personality that enables them to leap over all the common barriers of time & space & indifference & take the shortest way to the heart.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  16. 16.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018Mr. H.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  17. 17.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018The residence of Mr. H.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  18. 18.<\/a>\n

    There is a gazebo of modest size in the gated private garden at Bina Gardens.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  19. 19.<\/a>\n

    Shakespeare, Cymbeline<\/em>, I. vi, ll. 620\u20132:<\/p>\n

    IACHIMO: All of her that is out of door most rich!<\/p>

    If she be furnish\u2019d with a mind so rare,<\/p>

    She is alone the Arabian bird \u2026<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  20. 20.<\/a>\n

    Shakespeare, Antony & Cleopatra<\/em>, V. ii, ll. 279\u201380:<\/p>\n

    CLEOPATRA: Give me my robe. Put on my crown. I have<\/p>

    Immortal longings in me.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  21. 21.<\/a>\n

    Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great<\/em>, Part II: Act 4, 3: \u2018Holla, ye pampered jades of Asia.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  22. 22.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018Mr. M. a citizen of the U.S.A.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  23. 23.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018Mr. F., who had a country retreat in the Principality.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  24. 24.<\/a>\n

    Robert Browning, \u2018The Pied Piper of Hamelin\u2019, 5th stanza:<\/p>\n

    Come in!\u2014the Mayor cried, looking bigger:<\/p>

    And in did come the strangest figure!<\/p>

    His queer long coat from heel to head<\/p>

    Was half of yellow and half of red;<\/p>

    And he himself was tall and thin,<\/p>

    With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,<\/p>

    And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,<\/p>

    No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin,<\/p>

    But lips where smiles went out and in\u2014<\/p>

    There was no guessing his kith and kin!<\/p>

    And nobody could enough admire<\/p>

    The tall man and his quaint attire \u2026<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  25. 25.<\/a>\n

    Rudyard Kipling, \u2018Recessional\u2019 (1897), 5th stanza:<\/p>\n

    For heathen heart that puts her trust<\/p>

    In reeking tube and iron shard,<\/p>

    All valiant dust that builds on dust,<\/p>

    And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,<\/p>

    For frantic boast and foolish word\u2014<\/p>

    Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  26. 26.<\/a>\n

    Anna L\u00e6titia Barbauld, \u2018To Mrs Priestley, with some Drawings of Birds and Insects\u2019 (1773), ll. 19\u201320:<\/p>\n

    But humbler themes my artless hand requires,<\/p>

    Nor higher than the feather\u2019d tribe aspires.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  27. 27.<\/a>\n

    Dactylograph: typist.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  28. 28.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018It is said a former secretary, one Donovan, a virgin, wept on Mr E\u2019s shoulder.\u2019<\/p>\n

    Brigid O\u2019Donovan was TSE\u2019s secretary, Jan. 1935 to Dec. 1936. TSE was to write the following reference for her \u2013 addressed to the Clerk of the County Council, Hertford \u2013 on 8 Mar. 1940:<\/p>\n

    Miss O\u2019Donovan was my secretary here for several years \u2013 I do not recall the exact length of time, but that could be obtained \u2013 and also assisted me in editing the Criterion<\/em>, a quarterly review. In this capacity she had to interview many visitors, including a good number of people whom I did not wish to see, and always, so far as I know, handled them with both firmness and tact. She made a very good impression upon those who came in contact with her, as several people mentioned to me privately. As she left me, not in order to look for a more highly paid job, but to find one which would give more scope to her energies and initiative, I should certainly suppose that her first motive in applying for any post was that the nature of the work attracted her, though I know that she had to earn her own living. She certainly did not suffer from illnesses when she was with me \u2013 \u2026 I should put her energy decidedly high.<\/p>

    Miss O\u2019Donovan is decidedly a lady, and I believe her to have a high character, an alert social conscience and even a religious temperament. My relations with her were always most satisfactory and I have pleasure in recommending her for any post that she wishes to obtain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    O\u2019Donovan\u2019s memoir, \u2018The Love Song of T. S. Eliot\u2019, Confrontation<\/em> (Long Island University, NY), Fall\/Winter 1975, 3\u20138, was reported in the TLS<\/em>, 23 Jan. 1976:<\/p>\n

    The secretary, who has never appeared in print before, is daughter of Gerald O\u2019Donovan who was Rose Macaulay\u2019s beloved friend; Rose introduced Brigid \u2013 her god-daughter \u2013 to Eliot at Faber and Faber in October 1934, and he gave her the job (he told Rose) on the strength of her big black hat.<\/p>

    Brigid O\u2019Donovan worked for him \u2026 for twenty months. He was always soberly dressed with neat back and sides, and \u2018never cross\u2019. Apart from general publishing matters, his chief work was editing Criterion<\/em>, which lost money: \u2018I don\u2019t know why Faber and Faber kept it on, but I think it was to please TSE and give him more work to do.\u2019 Most of what went into Criterion<\/em> \u2018came from TSE\u2019s friends\u2019. He was an unmethodical and sporadic editor; most of the proofreading and production seems to have devolved on to Miss O\u2019Donovan. She made an effort to get things on to a more orderly footing, but then realized that \u2018TSE wouldn\u2019t love it any more if it had to be done as regular work.\u2019<\/p>

    The secretaries were responsible for letters rejecting manuscripts from unknown writers; the only rule was that they had to be three paragraphs long. Eliot \u2013 at this time working on Murder in the Cathedral <\/em>\u2013 was also writing constantly to his friends, and dictated to Miss O\u2019Donovan \u2018quite personal letters\u2019 (though of course, as she says, she does not know what letters she did not<\/em> type). Another duty was to cope with Mrs (Vivienne) Eliot, from whom he was separated, and who would turn up at the office to see him without warning: \u2018I would go down and explain that it was not possible for Mrs Eliot to see her husband, and that he was well. Mrs Eliot, I now understand, suffered from schizophrenia, but at the time I had no idea what was the matter. She was a slight, pathetic, worried figure, badly dressed and very unhappy, her hands screwing up her handkerchief as she wept. Meanwhile Eliot slipped out of the building, and on return would be on edge for the rest of the day.\u2019<\/p>

    Miss O\u2019Donovan\u2019s own relationship with him was always strained: \u2018From the start I fell in love with him.\u2019 He kept his distance. But she was made of sterner stuff than Prufrock, and after nearly two years of agonized love she took the opportunity of his absence in America to hand in her notice.<\/p>

    O\u2019Donovan added in her memoir (p. 6): \u2018[TSE] usually had some amusing and sarcastic comment to make about every incident or individual who came our way, not excluding members of the firm. Nevertheless, he was a warmhearted and affectionate man, and everyone was very fond of him \u2026 When it came to teasing [Geoffrey] Faber it was hard to say whether Morley or TSE led the field, but they both gave it considerable thought and preparation.\u2019 (Apropos TSE\u2019s remark about her \u2018religious temperament \u2013 p. 8: \u2018As a let-out from being in love, I took to religion. In a highly embarrassing interview TSE advised me to see Evelyn Underwood, and gave me an introduction to her. For three years I went to her office in Campden Hill Square.\u2019)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Anne Ridler, \u2018Confidential Clerk\u2019 (letter), TLS<\/em>, 6 Feb. 1976:<\/p>\n

    I have not seen Confrontation<\/em> but to judge from the account given in your Commentary (January 23), the picture drawn by Brigid O\u2019Donovan of T. S. Eliot\u2019s work at Faber and Faber is a distorted one. To correct it, I refer your readers to the article on Eliot as a publisher, contributed by his colleague F. V. Morley to the symposium edited by Richard March and Tambimuttu (London, 1948), where he says: \u2018Conscientious, scrupulous, careful, attentive: one or other of those uncommon epithets is needed to describe Eliot as publisher.\u2019 As to the Criterion<\/em>, I took over the job of secretary from Brigid O\u2019Donovan, and it is true that in those later years of its existence the impetus of its early period had slackened, and the times were not propitious; but it is quite untrue to suggest that it was kept on \u2018to please TSE and give him more work to do\u2019. As to proof-reading, it was always understood that this was the secretary\u2019s job: why on earth should the editor have been expected to do it?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Ridler to Valerie Eliot, 27 Jan. 1976: \u2018I must say that Brigid gave absolutely no<\/em> sign to the naked eye of languishing for love, but of course that\u2019s nothing to go by!\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  29. 29.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018Mr E was a ready drinker of whisky.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  30. 30.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018A teasing reference to the cautious policy of the then Prime Minister of England, Mr. Stanley Baldwin.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  31. 31.<\/a>\n

    See the ominous stage direction in Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus<\/em>, V. iii, after l. 25:<\/p>\n

    Hautboys sound. The Company sit down at table.<\/em><\/p>

    Enter TITUS dressed like a Cook, LAVINIA veiled, Young LUCIUS, and others. TITUS places the dishes on the table.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  32. 32.<\/a>\n

    John Milton, Sonnet 19, ll. 1\u20132:<\/p>\n

    When I consider how my light is spent,<\/p>

    Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  33. 33.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018Mr F\u2019s sunbathing pranks.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  34. 34.<\/a>\n

    Milton, \u2018On the Morning of Christ\u2019s Nativity\u2019 (1629), ll. 83\u20134:<\/p>\n

    He saw a greater sun appear<\/p>

    Than his bright throne, or burning axle-tree could bear.<\/p><\/div>\n

    Cf<\/em>. TSE, \u2018Burnt Norton\u2019 II:<\/p>\n

    Garlic and sapphires in the mud<\/p>

    Clot the bedded axle-tree.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  35. 35.<\/a>\n

    Robert Burns, \u2018Scotch Drink\u2019:<\/p>\n

    Gie him strong drink until he wink,<\/p>

    That\u2019s sinking in despair;<\/p>

    An\u2019 liquor guid to fire his bluid,<\/p>

    That\u2019s prest wi\u2019 grief and care:<\/p>

    There let him bowse, an\u2019 deep carouse,<\/p>

    Wi\u2019 bumpers flowing o\u2019er,<\/p>

    Till he forgets his loves or debts,<\/p>

    An\u2019 minds his griefs no more.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  36. 36.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018Mr F. a poor golfer.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  37. 37.<\/a>\n

    GCF frequented Turkish baths, most especially an establishment on Northumberland Avenue, London. See \u2018Ode to a Roman Coot\u2019, n<\/em>.5, above.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  38. 38.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018Mr F. at one time shaved with an electrical machine \u2013 since discarded.\u2019<\/p>\n

    \u2018[C]utting edge\u2019 and \u2018Occam\u2019 advert to the principle of \u2018Occam\u2019s Razor\u2019, which is attributed to the English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher William of Ockham, or Occam (1287\u20131347), author of Summa logicae<\/em> (c.<\/em> 1323). The lex parsimoniae<\/em> refers to the problem-solving principle that when faced with competing hypotheses of seemingly equal merit, the best solution is most probably the simplest.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  39. 39.<\/a>\n

    Sir Walter Scott, \u2018Bothwell Castle: A Fragment\u2019 (published by J. G. Lockhart in the Memoirs<\/em>), 4th stanza:<\/p>\n

    Full where the copsewood opens wild<\/p>

    Thy pilgrim step hath staid,<\/p>

    Where Bothwell\u2019s towers in ruin piled,<\/p>

    O\u2019erlook the verdant glade<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  40. 40.<\/a>\n

    Revelation<\/em> 12: 12: \u2018Therefore rejoice, ye<\/em> heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  41. 41.<\/a>\n

    The Greek <\/em>plural noun Kimm\u00e9rioi <\/em>refers to a mythical people mentioned in book 11 of the Odyssey <\/em>as living at the edge of Oceanus, <\/em>the stream that surrounds the earth, in a city wrapped in mist and fog, where the sun never shines, and near the entrance to Hades.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  42. 42.<\/a>\n

    Ouroboros: ancient circular symbol, often used in bracelets or other jewellery, depicting a snake or dragon devouring its own tail; it embodies the eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth: the never-ending round.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  43. 43.<\/a>\n

    ingenuous \u2260 ingenious?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  44. 44.<\/a>\n

    A springe is \u2018a snare for catching small game, esp. birds\u2019 (OED<\/em>). In Shakespeare, the word appears twice in Hamlet <\/em>and once in The Winter\u2019s Tale<\/em>. Hearing of Hamlet\u2019s love letters to his daughter Ophelia, Polonius calls them \u2018springes to catch woodcocks\u2019 (I. iii, l. 124). After being poisoned by his own envenomed rapier, Laertes says, \u2018Why as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric.\/I am justly killed with mine own treachery\u2019 (V. ii. ll. 336\u20137). And the inimical Autolycus, preparing to fleece the Shepherd\u2019s Son for his purse, says, \u2018If the springe hold, the cock\u2019s mine\u2019, falling to the ground and pretending to have just been assaulted by the footman \u2018Autolycus\u2019 (Winter\u2019s Tale<\/em>, IV. iii, l. 35).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  45. 45.<\/a>\n

    \u2018The happy morn is come, Triumphant over the grave\u2019: hymn by Thomas Haweis (1734\u20131820), stanza 3:<\/p>\n

    Christ hath the ransom paid;<\/p>

    The glorious work is done \u2026<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/details>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Frognal A Pindarick Ode I Blow the Trumpet, beat the Drum!1 The fatal hour hath come!2 The bold Accordion tune and melody provide On the resounding Ophicleide!3 Strike, too, th\u2019Umbilical Chord,4 And with coarse laughter greet In ev\u2019ry street, The feather\u2019d Fraud! Proclaim aloud on Piccolo and Flute, In Towns, Small Islands, Domus, Rus,5 Th\u2019impostures […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1016","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1016"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1109,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1016\/revisions\/1109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}