[No surviving envelope]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Faber & Faber Ltd
12 June 1949
My Dear Emily,

I had been hoping to hear from you, before now, about your plans for the summer, just when you left Andover, and so on. I know you have been very busy during these last months, but I never like not to know where you are, and what is the best address to reach you at any moment. So do please send me a note with the schedule on it.

ForCocktail Party, The;c9 one thing, the last act of my play only awaits the typist: and when I have it back I shall want to send you a copy for your perusal and censure if necessary. But I won’t send it until I [have] heard from you, as I don’t want anything more to go astray. I am now nervous of anything being misdirected from Andover or mis-delivered there.

WellFamily Reunion, Thecompared to Cocktail Party;i9, I hope and believe it is a better play, theatrically, than The Family Reunion. The best acts, in my own opinion, are the first and last; and if the acts are to be uneven in interest, those are perhaps the best places to do well in. I do wonder what you will think of it: it is much more sober in style than the F.R. with no lyrical passages; no chorus and no ghosts or spirits (three of the characters started out as somewhat more than human, but they have consistently taken on flesh and blood in the re-working). IGuinness, Alec;a5 have heard nothing yet about the casting – IBrowne, Elliott Martin1949 Edinburgh Cocktail Party;e7;a7 mean, I have not heard whether Alec Guinness has accepted, or who else Martin has in mind.

The usual after-effect of finishing any long piece of work with me is a disinclination to do anything else. The mind has become set, and it is difficult to turn to anything else. TheAlliance FrançaiseAnnual Meeting in Birmingham;a7 last two weeks I was working with several interruptions: first the Alliance Française General Assembly weekend at Birmingham; thenRichmonds, theTSE's Netherhampton weekends with;a7 Whitsun with the Richmonds in Wiltshire (very pleasant, but I was getting over a cold and slept a good deal of the time); and'Edgar Poe et la France'delivered again in Oxford;a9 the day after I got back IFluchère, Henri;b2 had to go to Oxford to deliver my Poe lecture again in French, to oblige Fluchère – to whom, after all, I am under obligation. IMerton College, Oxfordmakes TSE Honarary Fellow;a5 have to go to Oxford again for a night next week, in order to take my first dinner as an Honorary Fellow of Merton; andEliot, Marion Cushing (TSE's sister)1949 visit to England with Dodo;g1;a5 thenSmith, Theodora ('Dodo') Eliot (TSE's niece)1949 visit to England;d1;a4 Marion and Theodora will be here almost at once. Meanwhile'Broadcast appeal for the Testaccio Cemetery';a1, IKeats, JohnTestaccio Cemetery appeal;a7 haveShelley, Percy Byssheappeal for Testaccio Cemetery;a5 to work out aMallet, Victormakes Testaccio Cemetery appeal;a3 five-minute broadcast appeal for the Protestant Cemetary [sic] in Rome (where Keats and Shelley are buried) at the behest of Victor Mallet1 – IMasefield, Johntoo ill for public duties;a6 suffer from thede la Mare, Walterexempt from public duties;a6 handicap that neither Masefield nor De la Mare, either of whom would be suitable to make such an appeal, is in good enough health for this sort of thing (Masefield has been very ill) and there is nobody else in my generation. FinallyPound, EzraTSE's BBC broadcast on;d9, by the end of the month, IBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)TSE's EP broadcast for;e3 must try to have ready a broadcast about Ezra Pound: obviously a duty, once I have been asked by the B.B.C. to do it.

My own dates are: –July 7 – 11, the Garden Hotel, Cambridge.

——————————July 25 – August 3, the Swan Hotel, Southwold.

——————————August 20 – 27 The Beresford Hotel, Edinburgh.

and otherwise I am in London.

My dear, it is a very long time that I am without news of you. Do you find it difficult to write, or do you not like to write any more?

Lovingly
Tom

I just found myself typing the envelope CONCORD and had to tear it up. Is it possible that I sent the missing letter to Concord!

1.‘Broadcast appeal for the Testaccio Cemetery’ – recorded for the BBC Home Service (though there is no record of the date of broadcast) – CProse 7, 353–5. Sir Victor Mallett (1893–1969): British Ambassador to Italy, 1947–53. TSE had met him on his British Council tour of Sweden in spring 1942 (Mallett was Envoy to Sweden, 1930–42); again in Italy in Dec. 1947.

Alliance Française, TSE British Federation council for, TSE gives lecture to, Maison Française opened in Oxford, where TSE stays, honours TSE with dinner, Annual Meeting in Birmingham, reception for French president, Annual Meeting in Newcastle, Annual Meeting at Brighton, TSE addresses in Edinburgh, council meeting of, Annual Meeting in Bristol,
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), TSE's committee service for, its future discussed, TSE working on autumn programme for, TSE on educational broadcasting in general, Barbara Burnham production of Murder, lobbies TSE for next play, 'The Need for Poetic Drama', Metaphyical poet broadcasts for, 'The Church's Message to the World', Christmas Day 'Cats' broadcast, dramatic Waste Land adaptation, which is censored for broadcast, repeats 'Cats', plays Parsifal on Good Friday, broadcasts Hawkins interview with TSE, 'Towards a Christian Britain', 1941 production of Murder, Eastern Service broadcasts East Coker, broadcasts Webster talk, Tennyson talk, Dry Salvages, Poe talk, Dryden talk, Joyce talk, European Service broadcasts TSE's talk, TSE declines Christmas broadcast for, wants to record 'Milton II', broadcasts TSE's personal poetry selection, broadcasts Gielgud's Family Reunion, marks TSE's 60th birthday, Gielgud Family Reunion repeated, solicits TSE post-Nobel Prize, TSE's EP broadcast for, records TSE reading Ash-Wednesday, floats Reith Lectures suggestion, approaches Marilyn Monroe to star in Fitts's Lysistrata,
'Broadcast appeal for the Testaccio Cemetery',
Browne, Elliott Martin, meets TSE at Chichester, production of The Rock, meets TSE over possible collaboration, talks over outline of play, meets TSE with Martin Shaw, delighted with Rock choruses, discusses unwritten pageant scenes with TSE, predicament as The Rock's director, well connected in amateur circles, revising into the night with TSE, argues with Shaw at dress-rehearsal, presented to Prince Arthur, honoured by Rock cast-supper, producing Gordon Bottomley's play, speaks at Londonderry House with TSE, 1935 Canterbury Murder in the Cathedral, approached by TSE to 'produce', consulted throughout composition, goes silent, lunches with TSE and Speaight, directs and acts despite illness, pursues London Murder revival, 1935–6 Mercury Theatre Murder revival, engaged as producer by Dukes, keen that EH attend rehearsals, simultaneously part of BBC production, agrees about Speaight's decline, preferred as producer for TSE's next play, and Charles Williams's Cranmer, in which he plays 'the Skeleton', and TSE attend Tenebrae, taken to Cambridge after-feast, producing York Nativity Play, which TSE thinks Giottoesque, at Savile Club Murder dinner, producing Shakespeare's Dream, and Ascent of F6, and Tewkesbury Festival Murder confusion, 1939 production of The Family Reunion, due to be sent script, weighing TSE's proposal that he produce, enthused by script, suggests TSE see Mourning Becomes Electra, against Family Reunion as title, pleased with draft, quizzed on fire-safety, typescript prepared for, new draft submitted to, rewrite waits on, receives new draft, criticisms thereof, reports John Gielgud interest, mediates between Gielgud and TSE, TSE throws over Gielgud for, secures Westminster Theatre production, steps into company breach, then into still-greater breach, and the play's weaknesses, direction of Family Reunion, receives TSE's Shakespeare lectures, 1938 American Murder tour, re-rehearsing actors for, suffers fit of pre-tour gloom, yet to report from Boston, and Tewkesbury pageant, accompanies TSE to La Mandragola, on Family Reunion's future prospects, and possible Orson Welles interest, war leaves at loose end, advises TSE over next play, war work with Pilgrim Players, unavailable for modern-dress Murder, compared to tempter/knight successor, requests Pilgrim Players' play from TSE, New Plays by Poets series, as director, and This Way to the Tomb, and Family Reunion revival, urges TSE to concentrate on theatre, 1946 Mercury Family Reunion revival, in rehearsal, possible revue for Mercury Theatre, and The Lady's Not for Burning, Chairman of the Drama League, 1949 Edinburgh Cocktail Party, to produce, TSE's intended first reader for, receives beginning, approves first act, receives TSE's revisions, communciates Alec Guinness's enthusiasm, arranges reading, surpasses himself with production, in Florence, EH suggests moving on from, and the Poets' Theatre Guild, 1950 Cocktail Party New York transfer, compares Rex Harrison and Alec Guinness, TSE debates whether to continue collaboration with, suggests three-play TSE repertory, 1953 Edinburgh Confidential Clerk, receives first two acts, designing sets, 1953 Lyric Theatre Confidential Clerk, attends with TSE, 1954 American Confidential Clerk, 1954 touring Confidential Clerk, TSE and Martin Browne catch in Golders Green, seeks Family Reunion MS from EH,
see also Brownes, the Martin

4.E. MartinBrowne, Elliott Martin Browne (1900–80), English director and producer, was to direct the first production of Murder in the Cathedral: see Biographical Register.

Cocktail Party, The, copy inscribed to Miss Swan, Martin Browne's preference for a popular play, plot ruminated, still a distant prospect, deferred by war, at last begun, being written, EH begs TSE to continue, stimulated by the Martin Brownes, titled and nearly drafted, interrupted, attempts to reconcile EH to title, to be discussed with Brownes, to be continued in Princeton, end in prospect, TSE rewriting, alternative titles, its star appeal, 1949 Edinburgh Festival production, Martin Browne to produce, production schedule, the Martin Browne collaboration, 'reading' for, reviewed, cuts made during rehearsal, TSE's opening-night impressions, stage-set for, copy to be sent to EH, EH on, TSE disavows autobiographical basis, post-Edinburgh prospects, 1949 Theatre Royal, Brighton run, its fate, closing, 1950 New York transfer, TSE skeptical of, its fate, being negotiated, fixed, revisions made in mind of, alarmingly successful, royalties from, prospects beyond 1 June 1950, final act still being rewritten, its reception, EH's second opinion on, 1950 New Theatre production, preliminary week in Southsea, its fate, opening night, to close with provinicial tour, comes off at New Theatre, Mrs Nef's reading-group reading, in which TSE reads Reilly, and casting for Confidential Clerk, its first draft, difficult to produce in France, 1954 Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier production, reception, Muriel Spark on, EH detects hidden meaning in,
de la Mare, Walter, talks to TSE at tea-party, roped into Edith Sitwell poetry-reading, at which he reads, at which he is rated, exempt from public duties, his funeral,

4.Walterde la Mare, Walter de la Mare (1873–1956), poet, novelist, short story writer, worked for the Statistics Department of the Anglo-American Oil Company, 1890–1908, before being freed to become a freelance writer by a £200 royal bounty negotiated by Henry Newbolt. He wrote many popular works: poetry including The Listeners (1912) and Peacock Pie (1913); novels including Henry Brocken (1904) and Memoirs of a Midget (1921); anthologies including Come Hither (1923). Appointed OM, 1953; CH, 1948. F&F brought out several of his books including Collected Rhymes and Verses (1942) and Collected Poems (1948); and TSE wrote ‘To Walter de la Mare’ for A Tribute to Walter de la Mare (1948). See further Theresa Whistler, Imagination of the Heart: The Life of Walter de la Mare (1993).

'Edgar Poe et la France', prepared for Aix and Rome, too French for the Italians, repeated at Jesus College, finally delivered at Aix, delivered again in Oxford,
see also From Poe to Valéry
Eliot, Marion Cushing (TSE's sister), described, her reading habits, not a suitable confidant, TSE reflects on reunion with, Symphony concerts with TSE, to the cinema with TSE, delighted with first Norton lecture, recommends TSE hairdresser for baldness, attends second Norton lecture, hosts birthday party for Margaret, remembered in St. Louis, worried by Dodo's manner, TSE's pride in, vigilant on TSE's health, on Randolph family holiday, congratulates TSE on separation, 1934 summer in England with Dodo, July arrival anticipated, arrangements for, visit to Chipping Campden, off to Salisbury, walks to Kelmscott, returns from Winchester, forces Regent's Park on TSE, excessively humble, next to Ada in TSE's affections, protects TSE from overbearing Hinkleys, supported Landon over FDR, co-hosts Murder party, 1939 summer in England with Dodo, trip in doubt, Southwold week planned, due 19 June, taken to Dulwich, ballet and dinner with, Southwold holiday with, given to post-lunch naps, sends Christmas supplies to Shamley, as correspondent, easiest Eliot in Ada's absence, experiences crisis, importance as sister, Henry's fondness for, devoutly Unitarian, ignorant of Henry's true condition, undernourished, abortive 1948 summer in England, cancelled, which comes as relief, hosts family dinner-party, letter about Nobel Prize to, TSE leaves money with, 1949 visit to England with Dodo, June arrival anticipated, plans for, EH bids 'bon voyage', visit to Cambridge, return from Southwold, Borders tour, Basil Street Hotel stay, Thanksgiving with, reports on Dr Perkins's funeral, efforts to support financially, tethered to Margaret, joins TSE in St. Louis, 1954 trip to England with Dodo, visit to Ely and Cambridge, in light of Margaret's death, invoked against EH, TSE to Theresa on,

1.Marian/MarionEliot, Marion Cushing (TSE's sister) Cushing Eliot (1877–1964), fourth child of Henry Ware Eliot and Charlotte Eliot: see Biographical Register.

Family Reunion, The, and TSE as Orestes, plot sought for, progress stalled, referred to as 'Orestes play', written against countdown to war, should be artistically a stretch, plot still not settled on, begun, compared to Murder, TSE on writing, described (mid-composition), and Gunn's Carmina Gadelica, described to GCF, EH questions Harry's entrance, draft read to Martin Brownes, projected autumn 1938 production, depletes TSE, and Mourning Becomes Electra, its Greek inheritance, alternatively 'Follow the Furies', first draft promised to EH, as inspired by Tenebrae, being rewritten, work suspended till summer, fair copy being typed, waiting on Browne and Dukes, 'Follow the Furies' quashed by EH, aspires to be Chekhovian, Dukes keen to produce, criticised by Martin Browne, under revision, submitted to EH's theatrical wisdom, for which TSE credits her, possible John Gielgud production, Gielgud-level casting, Browne's final revisions, with the printers, Henry loaned draft, Donat and Saint-Denis interested, in proof, progress towards staging stalled, Saint-Denis interest tempered, possible Tyrone Guthrie production, possible limited Mercury run, its defects, publication scheduled, first draft sent to EH, Michael Redgrave interested in, March 1939 Westminster Theatre production, waits on terms, rehearsals for, which are photographed, opening night contemplated without EH, last-minute flutters, opening night, reception, coming off, TSE's final visit to, Dukes bullish on New York transfer, EH spurs TSE's reflections on, and Otway's Venice Preserv'd, American reception, and Orson Welles, F&F's sales, 1940 American production, Henry harps on the personal aspect, its cheerfulness, EH acknowledges part in, 1943 ADC production, in Dadie Rylands's hands, described, certain lines expressing TSE's frustrations, EH discusses with pupils, plays in Zurich, 1946 Birmingham production, 1946 Mercury revival, rehearsals for, opening night, TSE attends again in company, Spanish translation of, VHE's death calls to mind, its deficiencies, BBC Gielgud broadcast version, first aired, to be repeated, goes nominally with The Cocktail Party, Swedish National Theatre production, compared to Cocktail Party, EH's response to, more 'personal' than Cocktail Party, performed in Göttingen, 1950 Düsseldorf production, 1953 New York production vetoed, 1956 Phoenix Theatre revival, described, Peter Brook congratulated on, Martin Browne seeks MS of,
Fluchère, Henri, mourns The Criterion, his translation of Murder, TSE takes to, translating Aix lecture, lectures on Apollinaire, as TSE's companion in Aix, TSE's debt to, promised foreword by TSE, on Cocktail Party in Paris, hosts TSE in France, Shakespeare,
Guinness, Alec, as Hamlet, in Martin Browne's Coriolanus, desires to act for TSE, keen on Cocktail Party, at Cocktail Party reading, praised by The Times, in The Cocktail Party, 'most intelligent' British actor, desires London Cocktail Party production, superior to Rex Harrison, at TSE's Cocktail Party buffet, would turn down anyone for TSE, presses TSE for new play, wouldn't work for Sherek,

5.AlecGuinness, Alec Guinness (1914–2000), distinguished English actor: see Biographical Register.

Keats, John, his love-letters disparaged, but suggested as joint-reading, then promised to EH, TSE recants superior attitude to, his letters guarantee his talent, his letters, Testaccio Cemetery appeal,
Mallet, Victor, in Rome, makes Testaccio Cemetery appeal,
see also Mallets, the

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.

Masefield, John, compared to TSE qua playwright, declines role in Kalevala celebrations, roped into Sitwell poetry reading, at the same, where he is rated, too ill for public duties,
Merton College, Oxford, and Karl Culpin, Edmund Blunden visited at, TSE recognised by college porter, TSE on his time at, makes TSE Honarary Fellow, Gaudy at,
Pound, Ezra, within Hulme's circle, at The Egoist, indebted to Harriet Weaver, epistolary style, on President Lowell, TSE recites for Boston audience, distinguished from Joyce and Lawrence, TSE's reasons for disliking, attacks After Strange Gods, as correspondent, needs pacification, and TSE's possible visit to Rapallo, recommended to NEW editorial committee, anecdotalised by Jane Heap, of TSE and David Jones's generation, his strange gift to Joyce recalled, delicacies of his ego, Morley halves burden of, lacks religion, his letters from Italy censored, one of TSE's 'group', indicted for treason, TSE on his indictment, his legal situation, correspondence between TSE and Bernard Shaw concerning, visited by TSE in Washington, defended by TSE in Poetry, Osbert Sitwell on, his treatment in hospital protested, his insanity, TSE's BBC broadcast on, The Pisan Cantos, TSE writes introduction for, TSE chairs evening devoted to, further efforts on behalf of, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, The Literary Essays of Ezra Pound, 'The Seafarer',
see also Pounds, the

3.Ezra PoundPound, Ezra (1885–1972), American poet and critic: see Biographical Register.

Richmonds, the, TSE's new South Kensington neighbours, TSE's alcholic weekend with, host TSE in Sussex, TSE's Netherhampton weekends with, make their home over to maternity hospital,
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, as against Dante, his letters, furnished original Burnt Norton epigraph, TSE and Epipsychidion, appeal for Testaccio Cemetery,
Smith, Theodora ('Dodo') Eliot (TSE's niece), 1931 visit to England, described, to lunch with Lucia Joyce and Barbara Hutchinson, TSE's almost fatherly affection for, in contrast to her sister, at Eliot family Thanksgiving, attends second Norton lecture, TSE reports on from Boston, TSE cultivates, and Marion's 1934 visit to England, visit to Chipping Campden, visit to Salisbury, walk with TSE to Kelmscott, Regent's Park visit, TSE on, 1935 visit to England, taken to the ballet, at the Russian ballet's Aurore, to tea with cousins, her way of addressing relations, TSE tells Trevelyan about, 1936 visit to England, ballet outing, taken to Cheetham's pageant, taken to Kensington Gardens, returns to America with TSE, 1938 visit to England, with Chardy, and Marion's 1939 visit to England, in doubt, Southwold week, taken to Dulwich, taken to ballet and dinner, writes to TSE, visited in Baltimore, 1949 visit to England, taken to Cambridge, then to Southwold, tours the Borders with TSE, 1950 visit to England, taken to The Cocktail Party, due for the summer, recovering from operation, arrives from Scotland, 1953 visit to England, in Edinburgh for Confidential Clerk, 1954 visit to England, 1955 visit to England, reports on the American weather, 1956 visit to England,

2.TheodoraSmith, Theodora ('Dodo') Eliot (TSE's niece) Eliot Smith (1904–92) – ‘Dodo’ – daughter of George Lawrence and Charlotte E. Smith: see Biographical Register. Theodora’sSmith, Charlotte ('Chardy') Stearns (TSE's niece) sister was Charlotte Stearns Smith (b. 1911), known as ‘Chardy’.