[Beaulieu-sur-Mer]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Faber & Faber Ltd
27 March 1935
Dearest Lady,

I shall not venture to write again after this, and will time my next letter to be at Campden on the 8th. ThisMurder in the Cathedralabandoned Mercury Theatre premiere;d6text copied for Yeats;a6 isYeats, William Butler ('W. B.')Murder copied out for;b3 my last sheet of paper – I had to use up every scrap doing out a copy of ‘Fear in the Way’ for Yeats, and forgot to bring back any more. (We are having a new letter head soon, designed by Eric Gill). He arrived in London yesterday morning, rang me up, and asked imperatively in a great hurry for a copy. I don’t know whether he will be able to arrange for the season to take place – without Auden – personally I rather hope not. ICanterbury Cathedral Festival, 1935but settles on Canterbury;a5 should prefer to have the Canterbury performance the first, and I don’t fancy starting all over with some producer whom I don’t know. I only gave them the piece in the beginning because Doone begged so hard, and now that Doone has dropped out I shall be annoyed to have to let somebody else do it just out of loyalty to Yeats. Besides, I don’t think it is a very good play, and I think that it will pass more successfully at Canterbury, especially with the Fogerty chorus, than it would be in London. BrowneMurder in the CathedralTSE on rewriting;a9 is coming tomorrow afternoon, and then I shall know how much re-writing I shall have to do: the writing is all done. Re-writing is dog’s work, completely uninspired when it is to order and not under the compulsion of one’s own insight, and I dread it. Besides, I am beginning to feel stale after so long a time without travelling further than from Kensington to Bloomsbury and back – except for New Year’s at the Morleys I have not been out of London since November started. TheMorleys, the;d8 Morleys, by the way, have been having a very hard time: DonaldMorley, Donald;a6 caught whooping-cough at his school, which has turned into pneumonia; they had a specialist yesterday, but are still in great anxiety, andMorley, Christina (née Innes)sleeping at Donald's school;a9 Christina sleeps at the school. I think I mentioned this before. IBelgion, Montgomeryaccompanies TSE to Henry IV, Part II;a7 amOld Vic, Thepresents Henry IV, Part II;a5 going on Friday with Belgion to see Henry IV, Part II at the Old Vic,1 which I have never had the opportunity of seeing played before; onWoolfs, the;c2 Saturday the Woolfs come to tea.2

I hope I shall hear from you again before you sail. And I hope that the weather will become really springlike on your arrival, instead of merely hinting at it as it has done.

toujours a toi
Tom

1.The production – with Abraham Sofaer as Henry IV, Alan Webb as Henry, Prince of Wales, and George Merritt as Falstaff – was directed by Henry Cass (1902–89).

2.VirginiaWoolf, Virginiaon 9 Grenville Place;b8n Woolf9 Grenville Place, Londondescribed by Virginia Woolf;b3n visited TSE at 9 Grenville Place on Sat., 30 Mar. – the other guest was Alida Monro – and described the occasion on the next day: ‘A small angular room, with the district railway on one side, Cornwall Gardens on the other. A great spread; rolls in frills on paper. A dark green blotting paper wall paper, & books rather meagre, stood on top of each other; bookcases with shelves missing. Not a lovely room. A coloured print from an Italian picture. Nothing nice to look at. Purple covers. Respectable china. “A present” said Tom; he was perched on a hard chair. I poured out tea. There was Mrs Munro, a handsome swarthy Russian looking woman in a black astrachan cap. And it was heavy going. All about cars; the jubilee [the Silver Jubilee of George V and Queen Mary]; publishing; a German boy; a little literary gossip; feet conscientiously planting themselves in the thick sand; & I not liking to go too soon, & so sitting till we were all glad when Mrs M. got up, & Tom was glad, & showed us his bedroom—a section, getting the railway under it. “I forgot to ask you to drink sherry” he said, pointing to sherry & glasses on the bedroom window sill. A pallid very cold experience. He stood on the steps – it is the Kensington rectory & he shared a bath with curates. The hot water runs very slowly. Sometimes he takes the bath prepared for the curates. A large faced pale faced man—our great poet. And no fire burning in any of us. I discover a certain asperity in him towards the woman[?]—a priestly attitude. Here he gets warmed up a little. But the decorous ugliness, the maid in cap & apron, the embroidered cloth, the ornamental kettle on the mantelpiece all somehow depressed me. And as I say it was a bitter cold day & we have seen too many literary gents. How heavenly to sleep over the fire! Tom’s was a gas fire’ (Diary 4, 294).

9 Grenville Place, London, compared to Courtfield Road, TSE's rent for, described for EH, delights TSE, as refuge, and Burnt Norton, tea-party for Perkinses at, TSE's practical jokes at, in winter, as repository for TSE's books, EH's sojourns at, described by Virginia Woolf, sanctified by EH's presence, offered to Jeanie, adorned with photos of EH, evokes memories of childhood homecomings, likely to be sold,
Belgion, Montgomery, and Alida Monro dine chez Eliot, expensive club dinner with, accompanies TSE to Othello, and Charles Williams dine with TSE, accompanies TSE to Henry IV, Part II, to Garrigou-Lagrange lecture, takes TSE and Saurat to the Ivy, weekend's walking in Sussex with, in Criterion inner-circle, drink with Tom Burns and, accompanies TSE to Cranmer, and Mairet to lunch, accompanies TSE to Witch of Edmonton, arranges dinner for Murder, accompanies TSE to Uncle Vanya, to Measure for Measure, to Richard III, to Volpone, lonely, hosts dinner at Chinese restaurant, reviews Christian Society, on leave in London,

4.MontgomeryBelgion, Montgomery (‘Monty’) Belgion (1892–1973), author and journalist: see Biographical Register.

Canterbury Cathedral Festival, 1935, approaches TSE, unremunerative, abbreviated Murder offered to, TSE flirts with premiering Murder elsewhere, but settles on Canterbury, TSE reflects on,
Morley, Christina (née Innes), and country life, at Joyce dinner in Paris, taken to theatre in Morley's absence, again to Love for Love, knits TSE socks, her Celtic temperament, therefore special affinity with Donald, sleeping at Donald's school, as tennis-player, falls asleep at wheel, entertained at The Berkeley, accompanies TSE to Three Sisters, taken to meet JDH, accompanies TSE to Bulgakov's White Guard, brings Morley boys along to Shakespeare, faced with departure for America, America's effect on, sends Ada's New York Times obituary, TSE writes letter of condolence to, for which she thanks him, in Cambridge,
see also Morleys, the
Morley, Donald, TSE on, model yacht sought for, pleased with TSE's present, after a term of school, close to mother's Celtic soul, masters his urge to pester TSE, given tennis-racket, improved by school, bought model car for Christmas, treated in Ramsgate, taken to Shakespeare, wants to be a pilot,
see also Morleys, the

2.JohnMorley, Donald Donald Innes Morley (b. 15 Mar. 1926).

Morleys, the, join the Eliots in Eastbourne, TSE fears overburdening, go on holiday to Norway, more TSE's friend than VHE's, return from Norway, life at Pike's Farm among, reading Dickens aloud to, their Thanksgiving parties, suitable companions to Varsity Cricket Match, and TSE to Laughton's Macbeth, TSE's June 1934 fortnight with, and certain 'bathers' photographs', and TSE play 'GO', attend Richard II with EH, TSE's New Years celebrated with, take TSE to Evelyn Prentice and Laurel & Hardy, TSE's return from Wales with, TSE's September 1935 week with, leave for New York, one of two regular ports-of-call, see EH in Boston, safely returned from New York, TSE reads Dr Johnson to, compared to the Tandys, add to their menagerie, reiterate gratitude for EH's peppermints, in Paris with TSE, give TSE copy of Don Quixote, and Fabers take TSE to pantomime, and TSE's Salzburg expedition, join Dorothy Pound dinner, visit Hamburg, have Labrador puppies, dinner at Much Hadham for, TSE to see them off at Kings Cross, seem unhappy in America, Thanksgiving without, in New Canaan, return to Lingfield, remember TSE's birthday, difficulties of renewing friendship with,
Murder in the Cathedral, idea for initially suggested by Laurence Irving, offered to Martin Browne, St. Thomas as TSE's muse, TSE on writing, tentatively, 'The Archbishop Murder Case', uncertainties over title, currently 'Fear in the Way', which proves unpopular, TSE on rewriting, title settled on, final revisions for printer, tentatively critiqued by EH, and EH on TSE as dramatist, chorus copied for EH, Virginia Woolf's aspersions on, the form of its choruses, defended from obscurity, did not test TSE's plotting, book-sales to-date, $1,000 offered for American rights, pays for 1936 American trip, Italian and Hungarian rights sold, and Whiggery, Savile Club dinner to celebrate, compared to next play, discrepancies of Canterbury Text, Martin Browne's initial response to, TSE recognised as author of, TSE on its cheerful title, EH on, abandoned Mercury Theatre premiere, suggested by Yeats and Doone, in the offing, and Doone's response to first draft, EH requested at, imperilled, text copied for Yeats, 1935 Canterbury Festival production, in rehearsal, opening night, reception, final performance, and EH's response, 1935–6 Mercury Theatre revival, Martin Browne pushing for, in rehearsal, which EH attends, compared to Canterbury original, at the box-office, its 100th performance, still running, proposed tour to end, 1936 BBC radio version, BBC bid to produce, broadcast fixed, BBC memo on, in rehearsal, TSE on, abortive 1936 New York transfer, Dukes visits America to arrange, blighted by Brace's actions, quashed by Federal Theatre production, its usurper founders, deferred to autumn, unsolicited 1936 New York production, licensed by Brace, to be directed by Rice, seemingly withdrawn, Rice resigns from, delights EH and Eleanor Hinkley, TSE sent press-cuttings for, EH reports on, TSE speculates as to textual discrepancies, attended by Eleanor Roosevelt, extended and potentially expanded, TSE to the Transcript on, may predispose immigration authorities favourably in future, royalties from, 1936 University College, Dublin student production, described by TSE, rumoured Australian and American productions, 1936 Gate Theatre touring production, TSE's long-held wish, scheduled, 1936 touring production, due at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, as it was played in Cambridge, 1936 America pirate production, 1937 Duchess Theatre West End transfer, date fixed for, announced in Times, dress-rehearsal attended, reception, reviewed, royalties, still playing, ticket sales pick up, coming to an end, receives royal visit, 1937 touring production, scheduled post-Duchess, beginning in Leeds, then Manchester, going strong, 1937 Harvard University production, 1937 Amherst College production, singled out for praise, 1937 Old Vic production, touring production arrived at, in rehearsal, 1937 Tewkesbury Drama Festival production, 1938 American tour, projected for January 1937, said date seconded by Dukes, deferred to September 1937, confirmed again by Dukes, pre-tour dates in Golders Green, then Liverpool, opening in Boston in January, over which EH is consulted, tour itinerary, Family Reunion keeps TSE from, preparatory re-rehearsal for, pre-crossing Liverpool dates, EH's judgement desired, EH reports on first night, reviewed in The Times, EH sends New York cuttings, prematurely transferred to New York, Dukes reports on, Westminster Cathedral Hall charity performance, 1940 Latham Mercury revival, revival suggested in rep with Family Reunion, wartime modern-dress production suggested, ambushes TSE, in rehearsal, first night, reviewed, Browne's wartime Pilgrim Players' adaptation, Hoellering film, Hoellering's initial approach made, Hoellering's vision for, TSE adapting for screen, reconnoitre of Canterbury for, casting Becket, recording made for, development process described to NYT, non-actor found for Becket, screenings of Groser, set-dressing, screening, approaching release, still in the edit, final screening, and Venice Film Festival, seeking distribution, soon to premiere, opens, initial reception, circulating in shortened version, 1945 Théâtre du Vieux Colombier production, compared to Martin Browne's, royalties, apparently a hit, reviewed, reaches 150 performances, Fluchère's involvement, 1946 German production, 1947 Edinburgh Festival production, 1948 Milton Academy production, 1949 broadcast, 1949 Berlin production, politically resonant, 1952 University of Rennes, Grand Théâtre abridgment, 1952 Théatre National Populaire production, 1953 Old Vic revival, waiting on Donat, TSE on, 1954 Harvard production,
Old Vic, The, relationship to Sadler's Wells, presents Laughton's Macbeth, presents Othello, presents Henry IV, Part II, presents The Witch of Edmonton, Olivier's (complete) Hamlet, presents Murder, Guthrie's Measure for Measure, Emlyn Williams's Richard III, Alec Guinness's Hamlet, considers Family Reunion, presents Midsummer Night's Dream, TSE's fellow air-warden involved with, Hamlet starring Robert Helpmann at, engages Martin Browne to produce Coriolanus, Wolfit's Tamburlaine, wants to revive Murder, to produce The Confidential Clerk,
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,
Yeats, William Butler ('W. B.'), known to TSE from 1916, at OM's tea-party, TSE to lunch with, TSE lectures on, gets away with more 'poetic' prose, discusses theatre companies, and abortive Mercury Theatre season, on Sweeney Agonistes, on Rupert Doone, TSE loyal to despite Doone, who records antipathy between TSE and, Murder copied out for, meeting up with TSE, and TSE discuss 'modern' poetry, presses Dorothy Wellesley on TSE, defended at UCD, qua writer of prose, in TSE's view, yet to master dramatic verse, TSE wonders how to mourn, stimulates East Coker, and 'Yeats', TSE unveils Woburn Walk plaque, At the Hawk's Well, Purgatory, Resurrection,

4.W. B. YeatsYeats, William Butler ('W. B.') (1865–1939), Irish poet and playwright: see Biographical Register.