[41 Brimmer St., Boston]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Faber & Faber Ltd
16 March 1931
Dove, my dear

I am writing this little note this morning because it is Monday, and because I want something from me to come regularly. Had your letter come this morning I should have written at length: but no American letters have come. So I hope for one tomorrow – last week it was Tuesday; but I may have to go to the country for the whole day, or alternatively I may be in bed with a bad sneezing cold in the head – nothing serious; so I may not be able to write again until Wednesday; anyway you may expect a much longer letter a few days after this. You will understand that I always have a feeling of expansion and elation directly upon getting a letter from you, and a corresponding feeling of depression on the morning on which I had hoped for a letter and it had not come; and consequently I cannot write at length[.]

But at all events my weekly question list:

How well do you read French and how much have you read? Do not let modesty distort your answer but make it as clear as possible; because if you do ever read French, and have time ever, I might now and then want to send you a book or two.

Do you hear much music nowadays? I don’t, except now and then by wireless or gramophone. MyBeethoven, Ludwig vandelights and awes TSE;a1 great delight at present is Beethoven’sBeethoven, Ludwig vanString Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132;b3 A Minor Quartet which I have on the gramophone. Do you know it? I like Beethoven so much that I can hardly endure anything else, except some Brahms (the Tristan music is too painful for me to listen to).1 There is a kind of supernatural gaity [sic], almost an angelic frivolity, about Beethoven’s later music, as of a man who had gone through all human suffering and come out into some strange country – which I would give my life to be able to translate into poetry. I have been wanting to do a Coriolan in verse; but alas, verse-thinking is what I have least time of all for.2

Last: what do you know about scents and perfumes? Are the French ones obtainable in America, or are they prohibited as containing spirits?

I have a busy week ahead. WednesdayCriterion, Theits monthly meetings fatigue TSE;a1 night a monthly Criterion meeting – that is an informal gathering of men interested in the paper – at Harold Monro’s – I always find it immensely fatiguing – there is a regular membership of mix – myself, Herbert ReadRead, Herbertpart of Criterion inner circle;a3, Bonamy DobréeDobrée, BonamyCriterion monthly meeting regular;a1,3 Frank FlintFlint, Frank Stuart ('F. S.')in Criterion inner-circle;a3, MonroMonro, Haroldcomes with Flint to supper;a2 and Frank MorleyMorley, Frank VigorCriterion monthly meeting regular;a2 (Frank is a fellow director here whom I like very much indeed, though I never took to his brother Christopher) who discuss business from 6 p.m. over sandwiches and wine, then others who arrive at 8, and guests invited. This time I have asked William EmpsonEmpson, Williaminvited to Criterion monthly meeting;a14 and Sir William RothensteinRothenstein, Sir William;a1 (did I send you his portfolio of portrait drawings including myself?).5 I always feel just a sense of heavy responsibility towards everyone present – with my eye on the clock too – and have to work myself up into a state of mental activity and false gaity which I pay for afterwards. ThursdayJerrold, Douglas;a1 lunch with Douglas Jerrold,6 following [sc. followed] by a board meeting; thenWestminster St. George's by-election, 1931TSE votes anti-Rothermere–Beaverbrook;a1 down to Westminster to vote for Duff CooperCooper, (Alfred) Duff, 1st Viscount Norwichgets TSE's bye-election vote;a17 at a bye-election, in order to keep out the Rothermere–Beaverbrook candidate; FridayShakespeare Association Councilmeeting of;a1 a meeting of the Shakespeare Association Council, following [sc. followed] by a paper by my young protégé Wilson KnightWilson Knight, George Richard ('G.')TSE's attends paper given by;a1 (The Wheel of Fire);8 next Monday a semi-political dinner at the House of Commons. Is this not a depraved life for one who hoped to write poetry? This is my fault of restlessness, I believe.

But what I am really think[ing] of, my Bird, is whether I shall see a letter tomorrow: how impatient I shall be if I have to wait until Wednesday to see it; and how desolate if it isn’t there by Wednesday.

to Emily, her querulous
Tom

1.TSE presumably had in mind the Lieder ‘Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht’, op. 96/1; ‘Liebe und Frühling II’, op. 3/3; ‘Die Schale der Vergessenheit’, op. 94/2; ‘Mein wundes Herz’, op. 59/7’; ‘Steig auf, geliebter Schatten’, op. 94/2 – which paraphrase the Prelude to Act I, the Love Duet of Act II and the ‘Liebestod’ music of Act III of Wagner's Tristan.

2.This statement adumbrates TSE’s Coriolan (Oct. 1931): see further Poems I, 816–20.

3.Bonamy DobréeDobrée, Bonamy (1891–1974), scholar and editor: see Biographical Register.

4.WilliamEmpson, William Empson (1906–84), poet and critic: see Biographical Register.

5.SirRothenstein, Sir William William Rothenstein (1872–1945), artist and administrator: see Biographical Register.

The portfolio was Rothenstein, Twelve Portraits (F&F, 1929). The other sitters were John Galsworthy, Ramsay Macdonald, Albert Einstein, Philip Wilson Steer, Walter de la Mare, George Bernard Shaw, Lord Melchett, Stanley Baldwin, Max Beerbohm, Gerhart Hauptmann and A. S. Eddington.

6.DouglasJerrold, Douglas Jerrold (1893–1964), publisher and author; Director of Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1929–59; editor of the English Review: see Biographical Register.

7.Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich of Aldwick (1890–1954).

8.G. WilsonWilson Knight, George Richard ('G.') Knight (1897–1985) served in WW1 and took a degree in English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, in 1923. He held teaching posts in secondary schools before being appointed Chancellors’ Professor of English, Toronto University, 1931–40. In 1946 he was made Reader in English Literature at the University of Leeds, where he became Professor, 1955–62. His works include The Wheel of Fire: Interpretations of Shakespearian Tragedy (1930) – for which TSE wrote the introduction – and The Imperial Theme: Further Interpretations of Shakespeare’s Tragedies including the Roman Plays (1931). See also Wilson Knight, ‘T. S. Eliot: Some Literary Impressions’, Sewanee Review 74: 1 (Winter 1966), 239–55; Phillip L. Marcus, ‘T. S. Eliot and Shakespeare’, Criticism 9: 1 (Winter 1967), 63–72; G. Wilson Knight, ‘Thoughts on The Waste Land’, Denver Quarterly 7: 2 (Summer 1972), 1–13.

Beethoven, Ludwig van, delights and awes TSE, TSE's favourite composer, TSE's authorial envy of, Jelly D'Aranyi plays, inspires Burnt Norton, Coriolan and 'Unfinished' Symphony, 3rd Symphony, 'Eroica' Symphony, 'Pastoral' Symphony, the 'Kreutzer' Sonata, 'Razumovsky' Quartet in F major, String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132,
Cooper, (Alfred) Duff, 1st Viscount Norwich, gets TSE's bye-election vote, and Lady Haig, at The Literary Society, his resignation, his resignation, for which TSE congratulates him, and wife at Meurtre gala,

6.AlfredCooper, (Alfred) Duff, 1st Viscount Norwich Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich of Aldwick (1890–1954), since 1937, First Lord of the Admiralty.

Criterion, The, its monthly meetings fatigue TSE, introduced TSE to Whibley, arrangements in TSE's absence, first contributors' meeting since Monro's death, 1932 contributors' gathering, first contributors' gathering of 1934, Russell Square gathering for, particularly heavy gathering, its gatherings dreaded, to be wound up, reflections on ending, shut up against contributions, lamented even in Brno, letters of condolence, reading poetry submissions for, July 1931, 'Commentary', April 1932, laborious 'Commentary', July 1932, 'Commentary', October 1932, 'Commentary', October 1933, 'Commentary' on Irving Babbitt, prepared on holiday, July 1934, 'Commentary', January 1935, TSE ordering, October 1935, 'Commentary', 'Commentary', which TSE regrets as too personal, July 1936, possibilities for 'Commentary', October 1936, being made up, being finalised, to be ordered, January 1937, prepared in August 1936, April 1937, 'Commentary', July 1937, 'Commentary', January 1938, 'Commentary' on Nuffield endowments, which is sparsely well received, April 1938, 'Commentary', July 1938, 'Commentary', January 1939, to be final issue, 'Last Words',
Dobrée, Bonamy, Criterion monthly meeting regular, photograph of his home on TSE's mantel, in thumbnail, and Flint take TSE for farewell lunch, as country squire, promulgates Credit Reform, sings songs with TSE, shilling life of, and 'Byron', doomed to American lecture tour, reduced to doing his own gardening, detects life in Willard Thorp, farewell lunch for, training gunner officers, chairs TSE's reading,
see also Dobrées, the

3.Bonamy DobréeDobrée, Bonamy (1891–1974), scholar and editor: see Biographical Register.

Empson, William, invited to Criterion monthly meeting, TSE dines in company with, rakish appearance at Criterion gathering, takes TSE for Chinese meal, lunch on return from China, recommended for EH's 'criticism' course, gives small dinner, reads 'Bacchus', TSE reads poetry alongside,

4.WilliamEmpson, William Empson (1906–84), poet and critic: see Biographical Register.

Flint, Frank Stuart ('F. S.'), and Hulme, in Criterion inner-circle, sketched for EH, at Monro's funeral, and Dobrée give TSE farewell lunch, accompanies TSE to music hall,

2.F. S. FlintFlint, Frank Stuart ('F. S.') (1885–1960), English poet and translator: see Biographical Register.

Jerrold, Douglas, condemned for fascist inclinations,

6.DouglasJerrold, Douglas Jerrold (1893–1964), publisher and author; Director of Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1929–59; editor of the English Review: see Biographical Register.

Monro, Harold, part of Hulme's circle, comes with Flint to supper, described for EH, visited in nursing home, obliged with Poetry Bookshop reading, now in hospital, still in nursing home, from which he returns, inveighs against Aldington, needs another operation, TSE on the death of, his funeral,

6.Harold MonroMonro, Harold (1879–1932), poet, editor, publisher, bookseller: see Biographical Register.

Morley, Frank Vigor, TSE on sharing an office with, Criterion monthly meeting regular, returns from New York, indispensable in proofing Selected Essays, Criterion lunch in company with, joins farewell lunch for Hodgson, offers TSE post-separation refuge, acts for TSE during separation, spirits TSE away to Surrey, on TSE at Pike's Farm, as châtelain, acting as TSE's courier, on TSE's relationship to children, music-hall evening with, suggests tour of Scotland, which he plans out, suggests trip to Paris, thanks Joyce for hospitality, on TSE's 1933 tour of Scotland, negotiating for Ulysses, his absence means more work, treasured and missed, gets on famously with Ada, mercifully returned to F&F, produces birthday-cake, peacekeeper between Rowse and Smyth, in on Sherlock Holmes prank, encourages TSE to go to Finland, on TSE's 1935 tour of Scotland, and TSE drink GCF's whisky, takes TSE to Wimbledon, monopolises typewriter for joint story, as tennis-player, overawes GCF, TSE and EH's elected emergency go-between, good with thrusting young authors, backs publication of Nightwood, helps deal with Joyce, naturally projects strength, his French, escapes Criterion gathering to catch last train home, unusually subdued among the French, submits his Johnson Society paper, depends on TSE, on TSE's 1937 tour of Scotland, which Morley describes, two nights' sleep in a caravan with, potential reader for Family Reunion, his father dies, Spender discussed with, sends TSE corrected Anabasis, heads for New York and Baltimore, his energy, returns from America, visiting dying mother, shoulders burden of EP, insufficiently honours EP, Boutwood Lectures submitted to, accepts Harcourt Brace position, what his leaving F&F will mean, taken to tea with Woolfs, remembers EH taking priority, first wartime letter from, which reports on TSE's family, sounds depressed in America, sounds less depressed to GCF, among TSE's closest friends, his conversation missed, on Christian Society's American reception, suspected of indiscretion, EH explains 'Defence of the Islands' to, indifferent to Cats, entrusted with emergency Dry Salvages, America's effect on, gives Henry MS of 'Yeats', suggests 'Night Music' over 'Kensington Quartets', Ada too ill to see, his use of 'poised', puts TSE up in New York, on TSE's 1947 New York stay, presently unemployed, but inherits Graham Greene's job,
see also Morleys, the

4.FrankMorley, Frank Vigor Vigor Morley (1899–1980), American publisher and author; a founding editor of F&F, 1929–39: see Biographical Register.

Read, Herbert, indebted to Hulme, on Wilfred Owen, part of Criterion inner circle, his divorce, on TSE and children, TSE formulates his dislike for, hosts TSE in Hampstead, his dismal birthday-party, and his old ladies object of TSE and JDH's practical jokes, at Dobrée's farewell lunch, begrudged contribution to Milton volume, clashes with TSE in Criterion, discusses Anglo-French relations with TSE and Saurat, TSE spends weekend with, hosts TSE in Bucks, and Bukhari to lunch with TSE, his political persuasions, wheeled out at Norwegian dinner, on Canterbury excursion,
see also Reads, the

3.Herbert ReadRead, Herbert (1893–1968), English poet and literary critic: see Biographical Register.

Rothenstein, Sir William, his drawings sent to EH, TSE on his drawing, drawings not unacceptable to EH, at Fred Manning's funeral, writes Manning's obituary,

5.SirRothenstein, Sir William William Rothenstein (1872–1945), artist and administrator: see Biographical Register.

Shakespeare Association Council, meeting of, TSE lectures to,
Westminster St. George's by-election, 1931, TSE votes anti-Rothermere–Beaverbrook,
Wilson Knight, George Richard ('G.'), TSE's attends paper given by,

8.G. WilsonWilson Knight, George Richard ('G.') Knight (1897–1985) served in WW1 and took a degree in English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, in 1923. He held teaching posts in secondary schools before being appointed Chancellors’ Professor of English, Toronto University, 1931–40. In 1946 he was made Reader in English Literature at the University of Leeds, where he became Professor, 1955–62. His works include The Wheel of Fire: Interpretations of Shakespearian Tragedy (1930) – for which TSE wrote the introduction – and The Imperial Theme: Further Interpretations of Shakespeare’s Tragedies including the Roman Plays (1931). See also Wilson Knight, ‘T. S. Eliot: Some Literary Impressions’, Sewanee Review 74: 1 (Winter 1966), 239–55; Phillip L. Marcus, ‘T. S. Eliot and Shakespeare’, Criticism 9: 1 (Winter 1967), 63–72; G. Wilson Knight, ‘Thoughts on The Waste Land’, Denver Quarterly 7: 2 (Summer 1972), 1–13.