[No surviving envelope]
I have not the slightest hope of this reaching you before you leave, but if you have left the address, and if you go by sea (which Mrs. Perkins thinks you will do) it should be in Scotland before ye.1 IHale, Emilyappearance and characteristics;v7her voice;b7 only say that to hear your voice is always a delight for me, and that if I went blind, or if you lost your Looks (which you won’t do) that wd. always be enough for me. I think I had a successful day. GettingMilton Academy, BostonTSE's Commencement Address for;a2 to bed at 1:30 I of course overslept, and Charley Morse called for me before I was dressed, so that I had to speed to Milton without breakfast. I had dreaded the speech to the graduating class more than anything I have had to do; because it is hard to talk to boys, and hard for me to talk just from a few notes – this could not be read from ms.2 But I think (considering that I had no breakfast) thatField, Dr William Luskwhich satisfies him;a4 this went off satisfactorily, anyway, it seemed to satisfy Bill Field. ButPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt)in audience at Milton Academy;b2 your Aunt was present, and can give you a better account than I can. Apparently they listened, as they laughed at all the jokes. CocktailsScaife, Roger L.;a1 at Roger Scaife’s3 with two masters and one Penrose Buck Hallowell4 who seems to be the head of the trustees, lunch (caterer’s lunch) at the school, thenLambs, the;a3 to the Lambs, Rosamund fetching me, for the afternoon in a thunder shower – I do like the Lambs, andLamb, Aiméecommended to EH;a1 when you are back in Boston I believe Aimee5 wd. be worth your knowing – CousinLamb, Annie Lawrence (TSE's cousin)recounts colourful history of Sackville-Wests;a5 Annie gave me a complete and accurate andSackville-West, VitaAnnie Lamb recounts family history of;a2 intricate account of the genealogy and scandals of the Sackville-West family. But Cousin Annie is really a very good sort. Then Aimee brought me back here; washed, andPerkinses, the;d3 dined with the Perkinses; which I enjoyed; I do hope that I shall see them next winter, though I wish for you that they might be in Seattle as long as you are in Claremont. I want you to know that their kindness to me during this year has been of very great help to me; and they might know it better through anything that you might be able to say now or then, than directly. I'New Hampshire'copied for EH;a1 came'Virginia'copied and explained for EH;a1 back and having other more important things to do immediately wrote two Words for Music. TheyHopkins, Gerard Manleyinspires 'New Hampshire' and 'Virginia';a5 areStein, Gertrudeinspires 'New Hampshire' and 'Virginia';a1 not very good, being'New Hampshire'inspired by Hopkins and Gertrude Stein;a2 a combination of Gertrude Stein with Gerard Hopkins; but I was interested to see what I could do with a lot of long syllables, they are meant to be sung, here they are:
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Children’s voices in the orchard
Between the blossom – and the fruit-time;
Gold head, crimson head,
Between the green tip and the root.
Black wing, brown wing, hover over;
Twenty years, and the spring is over;
To-day grieves, tomorrow grieves:
Cover me over, light-in-leaves.
Golden head, black wing,
Cling, spring,
Sing, swing,
Swing up into the apple-tree.
VIRGINIA
Red river, red river,
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still. Will heat move
Only through a mockingbird
Heard once? Still hills
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thoughts came with me
And go with me:
Red river, river, river.
(This second is built upon an old Spanish form).6 You are not expected even to mention receipt of such trash.
I hope that I may hear from you before I sail, with your address in writing. You will understand, I trust, my being unable to do anything but chatter in this letter.
MrsHale, Emilyphotographs of;w7painful, because taken in the 'interim';b8. Perkins showed me some old photographs of you – one with your mother when you were about eighteen – two taken in Milwaukee – she could not know how painful it was for me to look at them – if she had she would not have shown them. I cannot stand seeing any ‘interim’ photographs of you: though I welcome all photographs of you taken within the last three years. There was another photograph of you standing on the table: one in profile, reading a book; I do not know when: it was torture to look at that.
IHale, Emilycorrespondence with TSE;w3a place to vent one's feelings;e9 hope you don’t think that I am spiteful and malicious! When, for instance, I express irritation with my dear brother & his wife. It is merely that when I write to you I like to express exactly what is in my mind at the moment, and I expect that you will take it as such, and be able to distinguish between the feelings that pass across and those that are permanent. I like to be able to write to you and curse the people I am fondest of. I think that we all have these feelings but that most people are prudent about what they put into letters, for fear of being misunderstood. I am not afraid of being misunderstood by you, but I had rather be misunderstood than not say exactly what I feel at the moment of writing. AndEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother)his immaturity;b8 Henry is such a worry, and such a child.
1.‘O ye’ll tak’ the high road, and I’ll tak’ the low road, / And I’ll be in Scotland a’fore ye’ (chorus to the traditional song ‘The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond’).
2.The address was published in the Milton Graduates’ Bulletin, Nov. 1933: see CProse 4, 817–24.
3.RogerScaife, Roger L. L. Scaife (1875–1951), Harvard graduate, worked for Houghton Mifflin from 1898; for Little, Brown from 1934; and in 1943, aged 68, he became the fourth director of Harvard University Press, retiring in 1947. Max Hall, Harvard University Press: A History (1986).
4.Probably Norwood Penrose ‘Just Buck’ Hallowell (1875–1961), banker; possibly Norwood Penrose Hallowell (1909–79). The Hallowell pedigree included a previous Lt. Col. N. P. Hallowell, who served with Col. Robert Gould Shaw of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The Hallowells lived in splendour on Brush Hill Road, Milton, Mass. (a stately Georgian Revival house that was to be sold in 1939 to Howard Johnson, of the roadside restaurant fame).
5.AiméeLamb, Aimée LambLambs, theLamb, Aimée
6.‘Virginia’ is based on the copla, a metre derived from old Spanish poetry and song. See Margaret Greaves, ‘The Spanish Copla: T. S. Eliot’s “Landscapes”’, Journal of Modern Literature 37: 4 (Summer 2014), 130–42.
3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: see Biographical Register.
4.DrField, Dr William Lusk William Lusk Field (1876–1963), a graduate of Harvard, taught Natural Sciences at Milton Academy from 1902; Headmaster, 1917–42.
5.AiméeLamb, Aimée LambLambs, theLamb, Aimée
35.AnnieLamb, Annie Lawrence (TSE's cousin) Lawrence (Rotch) Lamb (1857–1950) was married to Horatio Appleton Lamb (1850–1926).
5.AiméeLamb, Aimée LambLambs, theLamb, Aimée
3.RogerScaife, Roger L. L. Scaife (1875–1951), Harvard graduate, worked for Houghton Mifflin from 1898; for Little, Brown from 1934; and in 1943, aged 68, he became the fourth director of Harvard University Press, retiring in 1947. Max Hall, Harvard University Press: A History (1986).