Emily Hale to T. S. Eliot
IHale, Emilycongratulates TSE on OM;r5 shall christen this rather uniquely scented paper from Colorado via Dorothy Elsmith by writing you my congratulations upon that very signal honor which has come to you from the government of your adopted country.1 Such a distinction – and I suppose by all newspaper accounts it really is distinguished, must make you feel humbly proud at this further running over of your cup of literary and public distinctions – if you will forgive the analogy. As I have not been in Concord since Dec. 22nd, nor had my mail forwarded from there, I am wondering whether I shall find the letter from you on your return from Rome, which you said you would probably write – and I wonder too, in that letter if there will be an announcement of your knowledge of this last honour to come to you. Your cable, by the way, was received here and greatly relieved me, as I had thought of you much in Rome under such stormy conditions, tho’ not as bad as expected, I think. I hope you have had a little respite after the long weeks of preparation and physical strain. I suppose you were fêted to the limit – but I hope there were moments of genuine leisure – either with friends or in renewing acquaintance with Roman sights. YouPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt)asks TSE to present slides to RHS;h9 will have received my aunt’s request for you to present her pictures to the R.H.S. by the time this letter reaches you. That you will be touched, I have no doubt, and that you will accept is a sine qua non. I should like to be present on the occasion, for the gift is really a very generous, handsome one – over 465 slides.2
My nearly two weeks here has gone very well on the whole – I have been of use to Aunt Edith, of course, and I think it has brought us closer together. At least, I understand better and better how to fit into the picture and she has been truly appreciative. Altho’ a visit to the oculist yesterday reported little change for the worse, there is none for the better, which, of course, is hard indeed. However, I think she is learning to adapt herself better to the situation – but that element in the over-all picture will be the slowest to come – if ever, because of her temperament.
ChristmasEmmanuel Episcopal Church, BostonEH attends midnight service at;a1 Eve I went for the first time to a midnight service – very beautiful at nearby Emmanuel Church – andKing's Chapel, BostonEH attends Christmas services at;b5 we had had good services atHale, EdwardEH recalls;a6 our own King’s Chapel during this season – last evening bringing our very beautiful communion service, which my father often took charge of years ago.
WhileFoss, Mary;a3 I have been absent from my three comforting rooms, Mary Foss has been living in them very happily and appreciatively until yesterday. I gave up going to New Bedford for several reasons, because I felt I had not the urgent need which the earlier teaching days made so agreeable, and because of necessary appointments with Aunt Edith. I shall go later however. It has been a long time, if ever, that I have had the great desire to return to rooms of my own which I feel after the stay here. TheTucker, J. Josephine;a6 rooms below me which Miss Flaherty is giving up – as I think I wrote you earlier – have been rented to two younger teacher friends of mine at C. A. one of whom – Miss Young – met you at Miss Tucker’s supper party last June. They will be congenial, thoughtful neighbors ‘from under’, I think, but I shall truly miss little Miss Flaherty for several reasons – especially as I have grown to know her so well since the sister’s death – and too, the sense of her very careful over-sight of the building gave me a great feeling of freedom from responsibility, and a sense of physical security. Now, altho’ Miss F. lives with a friend in Concord, not far away, that feeling will be somewhat lessened, and I shall miss her self-effacing, very thoughtful presence. But I suppose there will be other gains from the girls residence, and the whole arrangement is not permanent before next year.
Later in the evening. I have just telephoned the family congratulations to you the word of your honor reached me at Mabel’s where I was paying a New Year call – and Aunt E telephoned [sic] of the announcement in the N.Y. Times. The day has been full of strain for me – possibly because of my family’s attitude about the whole affair which seems to leave me out of the picture entirely, which, of course, is not yet the state of mind I feel!
Therefore, between trying to meet the [two] personalities of those relatives as well as disciplining myself in order to do so, and trying to follow the fine thought of some New Year and Christmas texts, I think it is time I went back to Concord, to wrestle with my angel there, and I also will end this letter. Again with the most admiring congratulations – your loving friend
P.S. You can answer this!
1.‘NewEnglandEnglish traditions;c4Order of Merit;a2East Coker, Somerset
TSEAylward, James de VineTSE on Order of Merit to;a2n to James de Vine Aylward, 2 Jan. 1948: ‘But in justice to Mr. [Clement] Attlee (to say nothing of the rabble) I must explain that I had it on good authority that this particular honour is outside of the patronage of the Government of the day; andLabour Party, the;a2n that it is bestowed by the King, on the advice of whomever he chooses to advise him. I don’t think I should have valued much any honour offered by this [Labour] Government, or indeed, I am sorry to say, by its weak alternative.’
2.EdithPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt)asks TSE to present slides to RHS;h9 Perkins had written to TSE (her husband acting as her amanuensis) on 22 Dec. 1947: ‘Dear Tom:- You will remember, I think, that I have given the lantern slides of English and Scottish Gardens to the Royal Horticultural Society [in London].
‘It has always been my hope that I might present the slides myself. Alas! that seems impossible.
‘Now I am going to ask a favour of you. Would you be willing to make the presentation? … You have seen some of the slides – there are 465 in all …
‘You will know the satisfaction it has given me to have my slides in England in the care of the Society. Your presentation of the slides would be a great favor to me and I am sure that in the thought of our friendship you would willingly comply with my request if possible […]
‘With our love, /Affectionately / Aunt Edith.’
1.JamesAylward, James de Vine de Vine Aylward (1870–1966) had been a colleague at Lloyds Bank; author of The Small-Sword in England: Its History, its Forms, Its Makers, and its Masters (1946); The House of Angelo: A dynasty of swordsmen, with special reference to Domenica Angelo and his son Henry (1953). TSEAylward, James de VineTSE on;a1 to Hayward, 29 Nov. 1939: ‘J. de V., up to August 1914, was a fairly successful portrait painter of horses, though of course not in the runnings with Munnings … [He] became my second in the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, because he was the only man in the Colonial and Foreign Department who could read French and German except myself.’
1.MaryFoss, Mary Foss was an old friend of EH: they were contemporaries at Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT, where they acted in plays and were members of a Shakespeare club. EH would often visit the Fosses at their home in Concord, and she taught the daughter, Sally Foss, while at Concord Academy.
1.EdwardHale, Edward Hale (1858–1918), Unitarian minister, father of Emily Hale: see Biographical Register.
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.