[No surviving envelope]
I have had your long letter of the 14th with me for several days, and had hoped to answer it fully at the weekend. But'Edgar Poe et la France';a6 I found myself obliged to give Saturday towards making a fair copy of the French translation of my discourse and my lecture – whichRoberts, Johnhis christening;a1 I have not quite completed, as I had to go on Sunday to a christening of Janet Roberts’s latest baby – IRobertses, the;a8 had not seem them for some months, and it seemed ungracious not to do so on this occasion – and stop to lunch with them afterwards; andFaber, Geoffrey;k7 then go to the other side of town to see Faber at the London Clinic, where he had just had an immense operation of three hours having all his teeth out. Andtravels, trips and plansTSE's scheduled December 1947 visit to Marseilles and Rome;g2TSE's preparations for;a6 I confess to feeling pretty languid and dispirited lately, because I suppose of the bafflement of my desired activities (at a time when, perhaps, I particularly need them to restore my equilibrium) by the necessity to prepare for a foreign visit which I would have avoided if I could. ItFranceFrench politics;b4post-war Anglo-French relations;a9 seems impossible to refuse a French degree, especially at a time when close relations with France are so important – but heaven knows, I could gladly do without any more degrees: and this one means a couple of months of my time gone in writing discourses for it, and will cost me about £25 I think in fares and expenses. After this visit to France and Italy I think I shall have done all that can be asked of me in literary international diplomacy for some time to come – until 1949 let us say. There is also the uncertainty about the immediate future in France, and not knowing whether, up to the last moment, travel may not be suspended. OnFluchère, Henri;a6 the other hand, Henri Fluchère, who is chiefly responsible for this affair of the degree, is to accompany me from London to Marseilles, which is where he belongs anyway: we shall be met by a car and driven to Aix; and after the three days – I have to speak once each day, twice in French and once in English – I shall be taken to the airport to fly to Rome, which is a matter of three hours. In RomeMallet, Victorin Rome;a2 IBottrall, Ronaldin Rome;a4 shall have the Bassianos and the Malletts, and Bottrall of the British Council (who was in Stockholm when I was there) will be responsible for me. A'Poetry in the Theatre';a4 lecture (in English), two readings, and two receptions (the Fiera Litteraria, a literary journal, and the Academia dei Lincei) are the formal occasions.1 And back to London on the 16th. But I feel very tired at the prospect. After that I shall want to do but little till after the end of the year; and in the new year I shall try to experiment of going to my office four, instead of five afternoons a week.
Theappearance (TSE's)teeth;c2new plate;b5 teeth, incidentally, are comfortable enough; and fortunately they seem to remain quite secure for talking purposes; but they tend to come loose while I eat, which could be embarrassing. I am to do without them on Thursday for 24 hours, while the dentist has them to make them fit better; but it will be several months before my jaw has taken its final shape – in January he makes an extra upper set, so that I can wear them turn about, and always have one while the other is being readjusted.
I was glad, first, of all your news of yourself, but somewhat alarmed by the threat of sinus trouble. That is a very unpleasant ailment indeed; and the great thing is to prevent its developing, because so often the operation, which is exhausting and expensive, does not seem to provide a complete cure. All you can do is to build up your strength, avoid taking colds, and not get over-tired. I know, this advice is easier to give than to act upon: there are times when one has to do things involving risk of chill, at a time when one is tired.
What you say about the deficiencies of the Concord producing does not surprise me; but it must be maddening to see exactly what is wrong and how to put it right, and not be in a position to do so. I imagine that the position of producer, in such an amateur society, is one jealously clung to, and that it is impossible to alter things without what amounts to a bitter revolution.
PleaseHayward, John;m9 let me know what gifts to John you refer to – he is, I believe, very conscientious about writing letters of thanks – in fact, more punctual than I am; so if he has had some remembrance from you which he has not acknowledged, it is probable that he thought it was something given to me for the household, in which he was only included by courtesy. OnClement, Margot;a4 the other hand, I have recently had a letter from Margot Clement which indicates clearly that two parcels have been sent by them which never reached me;2 and the last parcel I received from them had obviously been unofficially ransacked somewhere on its way.
I shall certainly send you a cable (and include Christmas greetings) on my return. ThePerkinses, the;m3 Perkins’s are constantly in my mind, andPerkins, Dr John Carroll (EH's uncle);g4 I am none the less distressed by your report of Uncle John which does not at all surprise me.
Speaking'Personal Anthology: Poetry broadcast with John Laurie, A';a1 of your readings, IBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)broadcasts TSE's personal poetry selection;d7 made a selection of poems (notLaurie, John;a1 mine but old poems, mostly well known, which were read on the B.B.C. by one John Laurie,3 an actor with a good Scottish voice (I had one or two Scotch poems among them):4 opinions varied, butactors and actressesas readers of poetry;a6 in general, actors do tend to fail to distinguish between poems which are dramatic, and of which the actor can bring out the dramatic qualities, and those which are not dramatic, in reciting which all that is wanted is a good voice, a sense of rhythm, and then letting the poem do its work. In other words, much afraid of being monotonous. But I am glad you enjoy this work, and hope you can get more of it to do.
Your letter is a good letter, Emily, and responds to much that has been all the time in my own mind. I think you put the matter very wisely and very understandingly. I have wavered, for some time past, between raising such questions myself, or waiting until you said something which gave me a clue to your own processes of thought. If there was any lack of warmth in the expression of my ‘birthday letter’, it was due to my uncertainty – which leads one to hurt, perhaps by omission rather than risk saying what, for any reason, might be the wrong thing at the moment. I must give the same care, and hope that I shall bring to bear the same understanding, that your letter shows, in replying, and I shall give a separate letter to it this week. Meanwhile I send you very loving thoughts.
MissTucker, J. Josephine;a4 Tucker’s'On Poetry: An Address by T. S. Eliot on the Occasion of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Concord Academy, Concord, Massachusetts, June 3, 1947';a3 publication of my little address was a surprise to me, as I had thought it was merely to appear in the school paper.5 But it was very nicely done indeed, and I think she has behaved with great courtesy throughout. She sent me one parcel from Virginia; but I had not suggested that she should do even that. Instead, I gave her the names of five men, in France, Germany and Italy, for CARE parcels (that is to say, to a cost of fifty dollars, which is all that I thought I should have been offered for making the address). I have heard from four of them of the receipt – all most grateful indeed. These CARE parcels are an unimaginable boon to people in Europe.
1.Seetravels, trips and plansTSE's scheduled December 1947 visit to Marseilles and Rome;g2Roman leg described by Roger Hinks;a8n TheHinks, Rogeron TSE's 1947 visit to Rome;a7n Gymnasium of the Mind: The Journals of Roger Hinks 1933–1963, ed. John Goldsmith (1984), 152–3: ‘2 December [sic] 1947. Tom Eliot’s first lecture (on “Poetry in the Theatre”) was a success in so far as an immense crowd of people flocked to the Aula Magna of the Collegio Romano to hear him. Or rather, I should perhaps say, to see him: for at least seven-eighths of the audience knew no English at all, and made no pretence of listening, but walked in and out, changed places, gossiped, flirted, read the paper, etc. They could hardly have behaved worse if they had been in church …
‘12 December 1947, Rome. Tom lectured again – this time in the hall of the Villa Patrizzi. In spite of the strike nearly 500 people were there, and on this occasion the behaviour of the audience was all that could be desired. T spoke on the impact of Poe on Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Valéry: an interesting subject, raising many problems of poetical inspiration and translation, touching upon the doctrine of “La poésie pure”, and asking (though not answering) why the reputation of Poe stands so much higher in France than in England or America. T thinks that Baudelaire was interested chiefly in the psychology of Poe, the highly intelligent man who, emotionally, never outgrew his adolescence; that Mallarmé was preoccupied by the technique of Poe’s versification; while Valéry concerned himself as usual with his own personal reasons for exploring the mechanics of poetic construction. T read The Journey of the Magi and the last section of The Waste Land with great effect.’
2.Letter not traced.
3.JohnLaurie, John Laurie (1897–1980), Scottish actor, noted for leading Shakespearean roles on stage, beginning in the 1920s, and for many film and television performances from the 1930s onwards. His greatest fame came in later years with his part in the much-loved TV comedy series Dad’s Army.
4.See ‘A Personal Anthology: Poetry broadcast with John Laurie’, broadcast on the BBC Third Programme, 13 Nov. 1947: CProse 7, 47–64.
5.On Poetry: An Address by T. S. Eliot on the Occasion of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of Concord Academy, Concord, Massachusetts, June 3, 1947 (Richmond, VA.: Whitter & Shepperson, 1947): CProse 7, 11–18.
2.RonaldBottrall, Ronald Bottrall (1906–89), poet, critic, teacher and administrator, studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge and became Lektor in English, University of Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland, 1929–31, before spending two years at Princeton. He was Johore Professor of English at Raffles University, Singapore, 1933–7, and taught for a year at the English Institute, Florence, before serving as British Council Representative in Sweden, 1941–5; Rome, 1945–54; Brazil, 1954–7; Greece, 1957–9; Japan, 1959–61. At the close of his career he was Head of the Fellowships and Training Branch of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations in Rome. His poetry includes The Loosening (1931) and Festivals of Fire (1934).
2.JamesClement, James Clement (1889–1973), Harvard Class of 1911, marriedClement, Margot Marguerite C. Burrel (who was Swiss by birth) in 1913. In later years, TSE liked visiting them at their home in Geneva.
11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.
11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.
4.RogerHinks, Roger Hinks (1903–63), Assistant Keeper, 1926–39, in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, from which he resigned in consequence of a scandal caused by his arrangements for deep-cleaning the Elgin Marbles. He later worked at the Warburg Institute, at the British Legation in Stockholm (where he met TSE in 1942) and for the British Council (Rome, The Netherlands, Greece, Paris). His writings include Carolingian Art (1935) and Caravaggio: His Life – His Legend – His Works (1953). See also ‘Roger Hinks’, Burlington Magazine 105: 4738 (Sept. 1964), 423–34; and The Gymnasium of the Mind: The Journals of Roger Hinks, 1933–1963, ed. John Goldsmith (1984).
3.JohnLaurie, John Laurie (1897–1980), Scottish actor, noted for leading Shakespearean roles on stage, beginning in the 1920s, and for many film and television performances from the 1930s onwards. His greatest fame came in later years with his part in the much-loved TV comedy series Dad’s Army.
4.VictorMallet, Victor Mallet (1893–1969), diplomat and author – who had served in Tehran, Buenos Aires, Brussels and Washington, DC – was Envoy to Sweden, 1940–5; later Ambassador to Spain, and to Italy; knighted, 1944; awarded GCMG, 1952. His wife was Christiana Jean Andreae.
3.DrPerkins, Dr John Carroll (EH's uncle) John Carroll Perkins (1862–1950), Minister of King’s Chapel, Boston: see Biographical Register.
1.TSE to Robert Speaight, 4 Nov. 1947: ‘Could you do me the kindness of dining with me on Wednesday the 12th to meet G. B. Angioletti who will be here under the auspices of the British Council. I do not know whether you know him though I am sure you are one of the people he would like to meet. He used to be Italian correspondent of The Criterion and is a very well known man of letters. I don’t think he speaks much English, but I am pretty sure of his French although I have only known him by correspondence in all the years of our acquaintance.’ The identity of the other man at the dinner party is not knownRoberts, John.
3.TSETucker, J. Josephine mischievously implies that EH’s boss, J. Josephine Tucker, Head of Concord Academy, 1940–9, might be the Ukrainian-born American singer, comedian and actor Sophie Tucker (1886–1966), ‘Last of the Red-Hot Mamas’. Josephine Tucker invited TSE to give the Commencement address at Concord Academy in 1946.