[41 Brimmer St., Boston]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Faber & Faber Ltd
7 April 1931
Emily –

I have been thoroughly tormented, over this long weekend, by the letter I wrote to you on Thursday. I know I should not have another opportunity to answer yours till to-day, so I wrote at once; and if I write to you at all I can only write in the mood in which I am at the moment – if I had waited two or three days it would have been a different letter. I am ashamed of myself, and can only apologise; I ought not to write so of my own pains to the One who has alone done so much to alleviate them and bring me a strange happiness. Will you forgive me? I am again in a calmer and happier mood since Easter. And please take account of this: four or five years ago I could not have written such a letter, though I was far more unhappy, and in a state of dark dry death; now, what I complain of, when I complain, is far less my circumstances than myself – my increasing consciousness, and my awareness of the standards I set for myself and which you set (by example) for me. I am certain to have such agonies from time to time, as a condition (for me) of life.

I am always happy to have you tell me about your friends, who interest me very much. I can well understand that you must have been very lonely when you went west, and again lonely when you returned. InEnglandLondon;h1TSE's isolation within;a2 London I have never formed any very intimate friendships – circumstances have perhaps made me feel more isolated than I need have been – partly because there are so many different worlds and types here – and at least they all allow each other to exist without persecution – I think that it is the least snobbish society, in a way, in the world. OnWoolfs, theTSE's dearest London friends;a3 the whole, I am happier with Virginia and Leonard Woolf (the latter by the way, is a Jew! of the type you describe) than with anyone; but then I know all sorts of people whom they don’t, and they know sorts that I don’t – and that is usually the way – one touches some people closely on one side, and some on another. Perhaps it is again merely circumstance, but I get very little from women. IWoolf, VirginiaTSE's most trusted female friend;a4 know hardly any whom I really trust – IWoolf, VirginiaTSE underrates;a5 suppose I trust Virginia – I think she has always been perfectly loyal – my diffidence – no, not diffidence, but a slight barrier is that I do not in my heart admire her work quite so much as I am sure she likes it (naturally) to be admired; andWoolf, LeonardTSE's confidant in matters of mental health;a1 then, as she is very delicate, and was once raving mad for a time, there is a whole side of things which I cannot discuss with her (though on this side I have at times found Leonard helpful).

As you suggest, IHayward, Johnhis condition and character;a2 believe my friendship with Hayward is increased by experience, at least analogous, which neither of us can share with most people. He is a hopeless cripple – if he falls down it takes him ages to get up again, and he doesn’t like to be helped – very ugly, and obviously by his physique condemned to a life of celibacy and pain. Some say that he ‘might bite’, but I don’t think that he would bite me, and if he did I don’t think I should be offended. I wish that he had some religious faith and practice to support him.

StephenSpender, Stephendescribed for EH;a1 Spender is a very different type – tall and handsome and surely attractive to everybody, blue eyes and curly blond hair – who came down from Oxford a year ago with a great undergraduate reputation as a poet – a small private income, and every qualification for being a great success in any society. He has chosen to go to live indefinitely alone in Hamburg, and doesn’t want to publish a book of verse for a long time – in which reticence I try to encourage him. I like him more, personally, than any young poet I have known.

I think it would be a very good thing if you could get more engagements outside of New England, and get about the country more next winter, though I confess selfishly (but this time shamelessly) that it is vexing not to know at any moment exactly where you are, and to wonder whether I shall be able to depend upon my Letter once a week. I weigh every word and analyse every sentence, as if it were a difficult Greek text! to try to catch every shade of meaning and mood, and to try to find jealously how you are thinking of me – I am an egotist, and I dare say a goosy one.

ByWoolf, VirginiaJacob's Room;e3 the way, there is ‘Jacob’s Room’ a novel, andWoolf, VirginiaA Room of One's Own;e2 ‘A Room of One’s Own’ <long essay – very good> – does Mrs. Davidson mean either of these? Virginia is away at present, and besides I don’t like to risk to her any exposure of ignorance – I can have these or any sent to you. I hope for another Letter during this week and will in that event write again before the week is out.

Ton ami le plus dévoué1
Tom

1.‘Your most devoted friend’.

England, TSE as transatlantic cultural conduit for, discomforts of its larger houses, and Henry James, at times unreal, TSE's patriotic homesickness for, which is not a repudiation of America, TSE's want of relations in, encourages superiority in Americans familiar with, reposeful, natural ally of France, compared to Wales, much more intimate with Europe than America, TSE on his 'exile' in, undone by 'Dividend morality', in wartime, war binds TSE to, post-war, post-war privations, the English, initially strange to TSE, contortions of upward mobility, comparatively rooted as a people, TSE more comfortable distinguishing, the two kinds of duke, TSE's vision of wealthy provincials, its Tories, more blunt than Americans, as congregants, considered racially superior, a relief from the Scottish, don't talk in poetry, compared to the Irish, English countryside, around Hindhead, distinguished, the West Country, compared to New England's, fen country, in primrose season, the English weather, cursed by Joyce, suits mistiness, preferred to America's, distinguished for America's by repose, relaxes TSE, not rainy enough, English traditions, Derby Day, Order of Merit, shooting, Varsity Cricket Match, TSE's dislike of talking cricket, rugby match enthralls, the death of George V, knighthood, the English language, Adlestrop, Gloucestershire, visited by EH and TSE, Amberley, West Sussex, ruined castle at, Arundel, West Sussex, TSE's guide to, Bath, Somerset, TSE 'ravished' by, EH visits, Bemerton, Wiltshire, visited on Herbert pilgrimage, Blockley, Gloucestershire, tea at the Crown, Bosham, West Sussex, EH introduced to, Bridport, Dorset, Tandys settled near, Burford, Oxfordshire, EH staying in, too hallowed to revisit, Burnt Norton, Gloucestershire, TSE remembers visiting, and the Cotswolds, its imagined fate, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, less oppressive than Oxford, TSE's vision of life in, possible refuge during Blitz, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, visited by EH and TSE, Chester, Cheshire, TSE's plans in, TSE on, Chichester, West Sussex, the Perkinses encouraged to visit, EH celebrates birthday in, TSE's guide to, 'The Church and the Artist', TSE gives EH ring in, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, Perkinses take house at, shockingly remote, TSE's first weekend at, likened to Florence, TSE jealous of memories associated with, its Arts & Crafts associations, its attractions to Dr Perkins, forever associated with TSE and EH, sound of the Angelus, without EH, treasured in TSE's memory, excursions from, EH on 'our' garden at, Stamford House passes into new hands, EH's fleeting return to, Cornwall, TSE's visit to, compared to North Devon, Cotswolds, sacred in TSE's memory, Derbyshire, as seen from Swanwick, Devon ('Devonshire'), likened to American South, the Eliots pre-Somerset home, its scenery, Dorset, highly civilised, TSE feels at home in, TSE's Tandy weekend in, Durham, TSE's visit to, East Anglia, its churches, TSE now feels at home in, East Coker, Somerset, visited by Uncle Chris and Abby, TSE conceives desire to visit, reasons for visiting, described, visited again, and the Shamley Cokers, now within Father Underhill's diocese, photographs of, Finchampstead, Berkshire, visited by TSE and EH, specifically the Queen's Head, Framlingham, Suffolk, visited, Garsington, Oxfordshire, recalled, Glastonbury, Somerset, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, highly civilised, its beautiful edge, its countryside associated with EH, TSE at home in, its domestic architecture, Hadsleigh, Suffolk, visited, Hampshire, journey through, TSE's New Forest holiday, Hereford, highly civilised, Hull, Yorkshire, and 'Literature and the Modern World', Ilfracombe, Devon, and the Field Marshal, hideous, Knole Park, Kent, Lavenham, Suffolk, visited, Leeds, Yorkshire, TSE lectures in, touring Murder opens in, the Dobrées visited in, home to EVE's family, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, TSE's visit to, especially the Bishop's Palace, Lincolnshire, arouses TSE's curiosity, unknown to EH, Lingfield, Surrey, Little Gidding, Cambridgeshire, TSE's long-intended expedition to, London, in TSE's experience, TSE's isolation within, affords solitude and anonymity, contrasted to country life, its fogs, socially freer than Boston and Paris, eternally misty, its lionhunters, rain preferable in, more 'home' to TSE than America, socially more legible than Boston, its society compared to Boston's, TSE's desire to live among cockneys, South Kensington too respectable, Clerkenwell, Camberwell, Blackheath, Greenwich scouted for lodging, its comparatively vigorous religious life, Camberwell lodging sought, Clerkenwell lodging sought, and music-hall nostalgia, abandoned by society in August, the varieties of cockney, TSE's East End sojourn, South Kensington grows on TSE, prepares for Silver Jubilee, South Kensington street names, Dulwich hallowed in memory, so too Greenwich, during 1937 Coronation, preparing for war, Dulwich revisited with family, in wartime, TSE as air-raid warden in, Long Melford, Suffolk, Lowestoft, Suffolk, Lyme Regis, Dorset, with the Morleys, Marlborough, Wiltshire, scene of a happy drink, Needham Market, Suffolk, Newcastle, Northumberland, TSE's visit to, Norfolk, appeals to TSE, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, dreary, Nottinghamshire, described for EH, Oxford, Oxfordshire, as recollected by TSE, past and present, EH takes lodgings in, haunted for TSE, in July, compared to Cambridge, Peacehaven, Sussex, amazing sermon preached in, Penrith, TSE's visit to, Rochester, as Dickens described, Salisbury, Wiltshire, in the Richmonds' company, Shamley Green, Surrey, TSE's ARP work in, its post office, Pilgrim Players due at, Somerset, highly civilised, TSE at home in, Southwold, Suffolk, TSE visits with family, Stanton, Gloucestershire, on TSE and EH's walk, Stanway, Gloucestershire, on EH and TSE's walk, Suffolk, TSE visits with family, Surrey, Morley finds TSE lodging in, evening bitter at the Royal Oak, TSE misses, as it must have been, Sussex, commended to EH, TSE walking Stane Street and downs, EH remembers, Walberswick, Suffolk, Wells, Somerset, TSE on visiting, Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, EH and TSE visit, Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset, delightful name, Wiltshire, highly civilised, TSE at home in, Winchelsea, East Sussex, visited, Winchester, TSE on, Wisbech, Lincolnshire, TSE on visiting, Worcestershire, TSE feels at home in, Yeovil, Somerset, visited en route to East Coker, York, TSE's glimpse of, Yorkshire,
see also British General Election
Hayward, John, in TSE's thumbnail description, his condition and character, what TSE represents to, VHE complains about TSE to, TSE's new chess-playing neighbour, meets EH over tea, hosts TSE, GCF and de la Mare, on EH, on EH (to TSE), gives TSE cigars for Christmas, calls EH TSE's 'sister', and the Dobrées on Boxing Day, and TSE play a prank on guests, backstage at The Times, taken for walk, on Jenny de Margerie, Empson, TSE and Sansoms call on, evening with Spender, Jennings and, exchanges Christmas presents with TSE, exchanges rare books with TSE, sends luxuries to convalescent TSE, TSE's only regular acquaintance, dines with TSE and Camerons, lent Williams's Cranmer, accompanied to the Fabers' party, hosts discussion about Parisian Murder, inspects French translation of Murder, and TSE's Old Buffers' Dinner, gives TSE bath-mitts, given wine for Christmas, one of TSE's dependents, at Savile Club Murder dinner, Empson takes TSE on to see, possible housemate, in second line of play-readers, walked round Earl's Court, and Bradfield Greek play, and TSE drive to Tandys, and TSE give another party, corrects TSE's Anabase translation, watches television with TSE, Christmas Day with, introduced to Djuna Barnes, meets Christina Morley, walk round Brompton Cemetery with, Hyde Park excursion with, moving house, at his birthday-party, honoured at F&F, displaced to the Rothschilds, where TSE visits him, among TSE's closest friends, his conversation missed, the prospect of Christmas without, excursions to Cambridge to visit, 'my best critic', gives TSE American toilet-paper, helps TSE finish Little Gidding, possible post-war housemate, protector of TSE's literary remains, foreseeably at Merton Hall, discusses plays with TSE, flat-hunting with, and Carlyle Mansions, his furniture, installed at Carlyle Mansions, further handicapped without telephone, undermines TSE's aura of poetic facility, irritates except in small doses, helps with adjustment of TSE's OM medal, at the Brighton Cocktail Party, hounded by Time, quid pro quo with TSE, arranges first-night party for Cocktail Party, arranges Confidential Clerk cast dinner, and TSE's Selected Prose, and TSE entertained by Yehudi Menuhin,

11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.

Spender, Stephen, described for EH, poems published by F&F, what TSE represents to, attacks After Strange Gods, his objections to After Strange Gods, and Sweeney rehearsal, and lunching young men generally, evening with JDH, Jennings and TSE, TSE chairs his 'free verse' talk, at the Woolfs with TSE and EH, describes club lunch with TSE, his first marriage, 'Eclipse of the Highbrow' controversy, introduces new wife Natasha, gives musical party, at Lady Colefax's Wavell dinner, part of British contingent at Norwegian dinner, chairs TSE's Whitman talk, which he does in fireman's uniform, at poetry reading to Free Hungarians, takes issue with Roy Campbell, exchanges conciliatory sonnets with TSE, object of Rowse's anger, his German sensibility, an innocent fool, encomium for TSE's 75th, 'Four Poems', The Temple, Trial of a Judge, 'Vienna',

12.Stephen SpenderSpender, Stephen (1909–95), poet and critic: see Biographical Register.

Woolf, Leonard, TSE's confidant in matters of mental health, and Keynes discuss Abyssinia, intimate with Labour Party divisions, described by EH, among his pets, shows TSE rings of Saturn, TSE promises article for Political Quarterly, TSE sends letter of condolence, invites TSE to Rodmell alone, at Rodmell alone,
see also Woolfs, the

13.LeonardWoolf, Leonard Woolf (1880–1969), writer and publisher; husband of Virginia Woolf: see Biographical Register.

Woolf, Virginia, the only woman TSE sees alone, characteristic letter from, her snobbery, TSE's most trusted female friend, TSE underrates, on the Eliots' Rodmell visit, as estate agent, her letters, as novelist, apparently drained by Lady Colefax, and Lytton Strachey's death, compared qua friend to OM, recounts TSE's practical jokes, her feminism, her anecdote of Bostonian snobbery, on 9 Grenville Place, TSE treasures but never reads, on TSE visiting Rodmell, EH taken to tea with, described by EH, on meeting EH, on Murder in the Cathedral, after 'long illness', represents TSE at OM's funeral, records TSE on Family Reunion, on TSE's wartime Sussex stay, on wartime dinner with TSE, her death, TSE strikes as conceited, TSE's scheduled final visit to, two journals vie for TSE's tribute to, TSE's tribute to, esteemed by Walpole, her absence at Rodmell, air-stewardess asks TSE about, A Room of One's Own, Jacob's Room, The Waves,
see also Stephens, the, Woolfs, the

1.VirginiaWoolf, Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), novelist, essayist and critic: see Biographical Register.

Woolfs, the, at Clive Bell's for lunch, TSE's dearest London friends, company compared to that of Christians, host TSE and Elizabeth Bowen to tea, Rodmell described, closer to TSE than to VHE, visited on TSE's 1933 return, refreshingly childless, amazed by TSE's appearance, and Tomlin dine with TSE, Keynes and TSE dine with, TSE's Bloomsbury weekend with, described in their Tavistock Square domain, have TSE for tea, TSE dines with, and TSE argue about honours, compared to the de la Mares, host TSE for weekend, abandon London for Sussex, where they invite TSE, TSE's Sussex stay with, on their return from Sussex, host TSE, give dinner without mentioning war, TSE plans to visit in Sussex, 52 Tavistock Square bombed,