[No surviving envelope]
Itravels, trips and plansEH's 1934–5 year in Europe;b4arrived in Rome;c7 was delighted, on returning late this evening, to find your sweet letter from Rome waiting for me. AfterPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt)catches cold in Florence;b3 your last letter saying that you were staying on in Florence because your aunt had a cold, I did not know where to write to, and put off writing from day to day, hoping for a line to say that you had arrived. I was beginning to be worried, fearing that your aunt had developed a serious illness. ItalyItalycompared to southern England;a3 can be so much colder than southern England. On the other hand don’t think that I am impatient, because I know how difficult it is to write when one is travelling or unsettled. You have had all my letters evidently, including one forwarded from Rome to Florence – I sent nothing to Principesse Clothilde except the flowers – and am delighted that they arrived – andHale, Emilybirthdays, presents and love-tokens;w2EH given 'powder box' for Christmas;b5 I hope you are not merely kind about the powder box – I thought a ‘compact’ was a box to hold a cake of solid powder, and as I imagined that one could get better powder loose than in cakes, I chose that kind of box – I believe the powder of the ‘Institut de Beauté’ (what a typically French name) in Paris and London is good. You knew, I suspect, at all events, that a box was what you were going to get.
BUT
IHale, Emilybirthdays, presents and love-tokens;w2EH's present to TSE goes amiss;b6 have NOT received your present. I thought your words meant that there was something waiting here for me, so I timidly asked Mary on Christmas Day, and she said No, nobody left nothing for me; then I wondered what else your words might mean, and was waiting to tell you. I shall make further enquiries, and a Fuss. Who has it? It9 Grenville Place, LondonTSE's practical jokes at;a8 is true that I have played a couple of practical jokes on the curates (and you know how practical my jokes are) but that was subsequently. ThereMrs Deaneeccentric Grenville Place resident;a1 is a hard-bitten old lady named Mrs. Deane who lives in the house somewhere – I was only made aware of her on Christmas morning when the vicar introduced me (at 2.a.m. after Mass) – who says its much more fun living in India than in England. ‘For instance, you get up at five o’clock in the morning and go pig-sticking. Lovely’.
If I HAD received the present, you may count upon it that I should have thanked you for it, I should have been delighted even if it had been something I didn’t want in itself. Was it something to tempt only male covetousness or perhaps female as well? None of the servants here looks as if they had beaux.
I sent four dozen of your Moring cards to America – then I felt I wanted a change, though they were very nice indeed – and got three dozen from the Medici – and a dozen from the club.
I am very excited about tracing your Present.
IMorleys, theTSE's New Years celebrated with;d6 had a pleasant New Year’s at the Morleys – myMorley, Susannaas baby;a4 god-daughter is getting on for three and is loquacious and laughs incessantly and is very fond of everybody – OliverMorley, Oliverhis obsessions;a3 still passionately addicted to music and mathematics, and making a terrific din on the xylophone I gave him1 – DonaldMorley, Donaldafter a term of school;a5 not grown a bit and much quieter after a term at school and rather tormented inside, I fear, poor boy, not the cheerful nature of either of his parents2 – butMorley, Christina (née Innes)her Celtic temperament;a7 I think Christina has depths of Celtic melancholy and rage inside her. WentPike's Farmvillage bells at New Year;b2 out into the orchard and listened to the bells from Lingfield and Tandridge ring in the New Year, and all of course felt rather sad and solemn, in spite of roast duck and champagne some hours before. SoDickens, Charlesread aloud to the Morleys;a2 IMorleys, thereading Dickens aloud to;b1 read them anotherDickens, CharlesThe Pickwick Papers;b1 chapter of Pickwick before going to bed.
IMcPherrin, Jeanettewith EH in Rome;b7 am glad Jean has been with you in Rome – and that my letter pleased her. I’m sorry about the Clothilde, it takes an unpleasant amount of moral courage to clear out of a place one has engaged beforehand, but I am sure your use of the language was most compulsive. And I hope that your present residence will combine excellence and cheapness so that you can stay there. I’llCaetani, Marguerite (née Chapin)and EH's trip to Rome;b2 write to Marguerite tomorrow, butAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.');a7 have a busy day – Auden to lunch, andMirrlees, Hopedinner in company with;a7 dinnerPlunket Greene, Gwendolen;a1 with Hope Mirrlees andHügel, Friedrich von;a2 Mrs. Plunket Greene,3 Baron von Huegel’s niece. LastYeats, William Butler ('W. B.')and abortive Mercury Theatre season;a7 nightDoone, Rupertand Yeats's Mercury Theatre season;a9 inDulac, Edmundand Yeats's Mercury Theatre season;a2 conference with Yeats and Dulac and Rupert Doone. ItMercury Theatre, LondonYeats proposes season at;a1 seems that we shall have three weeks at the Mercury Theatre and Ashley Dukes at Notting Hill in May4 – YeatsSweeney Agonistesand Yeats's Mercury Theatre season;b8, AudenAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.')and Yeats's Mercury Theatre plans;a6, and Sweeney Agonistes on the programme, andMurder in the Cathedralabandoned Mercury Theatre premiere;d6in the offing;a2 just possibly but unlikely the full version of my St. Thos. of Canterbury play which I must begin over the weekend.5 I should like you to come to the Mercury in any case – and to Canterbury in any case, please.
TakeItalyRome;b3the Appian Way, by horse;a3 a horse vehicle one day and journey out on the Appian Way, past Quo Vadis and the Three Taverns, it is extraordinarily impressive.6 I do want you to be fascinated by Rome.
I'Notes on the Way';a2 amTime & Tidepays well;a2 also engaged in writing an article of 2300 words for Time and Tide every week this month.7 Afinances (TSE's);a9 nuisance, but they pay well, which is important in January.
IEliot, Vivien (TSE's first wife, née Haigh-Wood)mental state;e8the prospect of institutionalising;a9 must answer one suggestion. I believe that it would be better for Vivienne if she could be committed to an institution, but in this country it is very difficult to restrain anyone’s liberty. They have to be either an excessive nuisance to others or doing great harm to themselves. I should think that eventually she was bound to get into financial difficulties. If I was called upon to get her out of them – which I could only do at considerable sacrifice, because what I allow her is all I can afford – I should insist upon restraint being put. I don’t know whether she is living beyond her means or not, however. MyEliot, Vivien (TSE's first wife, née Haigh-Wood)news of;d7 latest news is that she is living in squalor, and starving herself (I don’t think the little dog would be alive now if Janes didn’t take it up some meat every time he goes) and refusing to see any doctor. MyJanes, W. L.reports on VHE;a2 only informants are Janes andCulpin, Johanna ('Aunt Johanna', née Staengel)her German refugees;a7 old Mrs. Culpin (to whom I devoted this evening – it appears she expected me yesterday – so I rushed out to a delicatessen and bought some smoked salmon and ham and potato salad for supper – old Jan is very hard up because she is supporting a German boy and girl who are more or less Nazi victims and I have had to bustle about to see to getting the boy permission to stay in England – he is a nice boy and is studying English tailoring).
AndShakespeare Association CouncilTSE lectures to;a2 I have got to write a lecture on Shakespeare for the Shakespeare association at the end of the month – andChurch Literature AssociationTSE reports on Book Committee to;a2 address the general meeting of the Church Literature Association on the work of the book committee – andChristianityscheme for 'Pro Fide' bookshop;a4 lunchD'Arcy, Fr Martindiscusses 'Pro Fide' scheme;a5 today with Father D’Arcy to discuss a projected Christian bookshop – and have got to write letters to America about him as he is going there for Lent – andMorrell, Lady Ottolinedeparts for India;e7 Ottoline has departed for India. It is difficult to meditate.
Now that I know where you are, I will write more regularly – but always to Thos. Cook & Son.
I haven’t written ANY of my Christmas letters to America yet.
AlsoNew English WeeklyTSE joins editorial committee of;a1 I have to join the Editorial Committee of the New English Weekly – IMairet, Philipapproaches TSE over NEW;a1 had a talk with Philip Mairet 8 about it – IPound, Ezrarecommended to NEW editorial committee;b7 want Ezra put on and so they want me too.
1.HughMorley, Oliver Oliver Morley (b. 4 Dec. 1928).
2.JohnMorley, Donald Donald Innes Morley (b. 15 Mar. 1926).
3.GwendolenPlunket Greene, Gwendolen Plunket Greene (1878–1959), younger daughter of the composer Hubert Parry, was married to the Irish baritone Harry Plunket Greene (1865–1936); they had two sons and a daughter, but had separated in 1920.
4.The tiny Mercury Theatre, at 6 Ladbroke Road, Notting Hill Gate, London, became in 1933 a poet’s theatre. The production of Murder in the Cathedral was the first hit, running for 255 performances before transferring to the West End.
5.W. B. Yeats to his wife, 3 Jan. 1935: ‘LastYeats, William Butler ('W. B.')and abortive Mercury Theatre season;a7n Wednesday we had the first meeting of our dramatic committee. Edmund Dulac, Rupert Doone (ballet master and producer), T. S. Elliot [sic], myself, Margot Collis’s secretary. Ashton was absent dancing somewhere. NextYeats, William Butler ('W. B.')on Rupert Doone;a8n morningDoone, Rupertdismissed by Yeats;b1n IDulac, Edmund;a3n ’phoned to Dulac: “I won’t have Rupert Doone spreading mustard and molasses over my brown bread. I shall produce all my own plays”. Result, a visit from Dulac to Ashley Dukes, who owns the theatre we are to play in and who supplies the finances, and to Ashton. General agreement that I don’t know enough about London actors to cast my plays – somebody else has to be found. We are now in pursuit of that somebody else, and there is to be a committee meeting on Tuesday. It has been decided that the actual performance of the plays will be from April 29th to May 19th, or longer if we have a success, and the rehearsals will last about a month’ (W. B. Yeats and George Yeats, The Letters, ed. Ann Saddlemeyer [2011], 387–8).
6.The Appian Way, constructed in 312 BC, runs from Rome to Brindisi. Not far along is the Church of Domine Quo Vadis (Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Piante). The staging-post of Tre Taverne – Tres Taberni (‘Three Taverns’, or Shops) – lies about 50 km down the road.
7.TSE, ‘Notes on the Way’, Time and Tide 16: 1 (5 Jan. 1935), 6–7; ‘Notes on the Way’, 16: 2 (12 Jan. 1935), 33–4; ‘Notes on the Way’, 16: 3 (19 Jan. 1935), 88–90.
8.PhilipMairet, Philip Mairet (1886–1975): designer; journalist; editor of the New English Weekly: see Biographical Register.
10.W. H. AudenAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.') (1907–73), poet, playwright, librettist, translator, essayist, editor: see Biographical Register.
4.MargueriteCaetani, Marguerite (née Chapin) Caetani, née Chapin (1880–1963) – Princesse di Bassiano – literary patron and editor: see Biographical Register. LéliaCaetani, Lélia Caetani (1913–77), sole daughter, was to marry Hubert Howard (1908–87), a scion of the English Catholic House of Howard, who worked to preserve the Caetani heritage at Rome and at the castle of Sermoneta.
3.MartinD'Arcy, Fr Martin D’Arcy (1888–1976), Jesuit priest and theologian: see Biographical Register.
2.RupertDoone, Rupert Doone (1903–66), dancer, choreographer and producer, founded the Group Theatre, London, in 1932: see Biographical Register.
7.EdmundDulac, Edmund Dulac (1882–1953), French-born British book and magazine illustrator; designer.
4.W. L. JanesJanes, W. L. (1854–1939), ex-policeman who worked as handyman for the Eliots. Having been superannuated from the police force early in the century, he worked for a period (until about 1921) as a plain-clothes detective in the General Post Office. TSE reminisced to Mary Trevelyan on 2 Apr. 1951: ‘If I ever write my reminiscences, which I shan’t, Janes would have a great part in them’ (‘The Pope of Russell Square’). TSE to Adam Roberts (b. 1940; godson of TSE), 12 Dec. 1955: ‘I … knew a retired police officer, who at one period had to snoop in plain clothes in the General Post Office in Newgate Street – he caught several culprits, he said’ (Adam Roberts). HisJanes, Ada wife was Ada Janes (d. 1935).
2.JeanetteMcPherrin, Jeanette McPherrin (1911–92), postgraduate student at Scripps College; friend of EH: see Biographical Register.
8.PhilipMairet, Philip Mairet (1886–1975): designer; journalist; editor of the New English Weekly: see Biographical Register.
2.HopeMirrlees, Hope Mirrlees (1887–1978), British poet, novelist, translator and biographer, was to become a close friend of TSE: see Biographical Register.
2.JohnMorley, Donald Donald Innes Morley (b. 15 Mar. 1926).
1.HughMorley, Oliver Oliver Morley (b. 4 Dec. 1928).
4.LadyMorrell, Lady Ottoline Ottoline Morrell (1873–1938), hostess and patron: see Biographical Register.
3.GwendolenPlunket Greene, Gwendolen Plunket Greene (1878–1959), younger daughter of the composer Hubert Parry, was married to the Irish baritone Harry Plunket Greene (1865–1936); they had two sons and a daughter, but had separated in 1920.
3.Ezra PoundPound, Ezra (1885–1972), American poet and critic: see Biographical Register.