[1418 East 63d St., Seattle]
I shall start my rambling letter this afternoon, having just ended a committee meeting, and have a few quiet minutes in my own room before I leave; itsummerin Woburn Square;a1 is rather pleasant to sit here alone andChrist Church, Woburn Squarepart of TSE's office view;a1 look out over the greenery of Woburn Square with its tall spire,1 in this pleasant warm weather. Summer seems already half over; I wonder if I shall have been sitting here without intermission by the time you return from Seattle. IAmericaWest Rindge, New Hampshire;h9EH holidays at;a1 am glad you had a quiet fortnight at West Rindge, which I imagine as a lovely place, – near the mountains? – because your Seattle address does not suggest that you [are] really in the country, or by the sea! I should like to know how you will occupy yourself this summer, and whether you will get any excursions away from the city – I suppose you know that part of the world very well. I seem to have very little to report of myself lately. There will probably be less; the June Criterion is finished, so far as I am concerned, the season is slack, people are beginning to think of holidays already, and soon there will be few people about except for casual American visitors. Of course I have plenty to occupy me at any time, during what time I have to dispose of – ITriumphal Marchjust completed;a1 have just done my ‘Ariel’ poem for the next season, whichCoriolanTriumphal March;a1 is really the first section of the ‘Coriolan’ I told you of, which I believe I really shall finish one day; I don’t want to send you this until I have a proof as I may want to make alterations.2 And I have two essays to write; andBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)TSE working on autumn programme for;a4 some work to do on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s programme for the autumn, andEnglish Church Union;a3 some English Church Union business. As for it’s [sic] being better for you to have a regular full-time job like teaching, in a school, you may be right. You seem to me to have kept yourself busy to the point of over-fatigue this last winter, but of course that is different
(TUESDAY: No letter, but then I didn’t expect one to-day)
and perhaps you would find it more steadying to have one routine; thoughHale, Emilyas actor;v8EH considers giving up for teaching;a5 I should be sorry for you to give up lecturing altogether, and to do no acting, but try to train crude girls to act instead, perhaps. Maybe the best solution would be a teaching post in Boston or some large city, so that you would not be restricted to the society of young people. (I wonder what modern young people are like, especially in America – do they have different problems, I wonder from ours).
For myself, I know that I tend to keep myself too busy and to take on any job, paid or unpaid, that comes my way – perhaps it is the best I can do for myself in the circumstances, but I hope it will not permanently disable me from ever being able, at least, to lead the more quiet, meditative and reflective and appreciative, leisurely and retired life which I know would ideally be better for me. AsFaber and Faber (F&F)refuge from home;a3 things are, IEliot, Vivien (TSE's first wife, née Haigh-Wood)marriage to;e6 am wholly dependent upon my Office; I am a bundle of nerves by Sunday night, after two days away from it; and a bank-holiday as well is a nightmare. That is all wrong, I know; and I try to cultivate an inner sanctuary of calm and reconciliation independent of surroundings, but the restlessness induced by an irritating and unsatisfied life is very hard to master.
And now I shall post this, as I am not sure of being back again this afternoon; so God bless you and keep you.
1.The church of Christ Church, Woburn Square (now demolished).
2.Triumphal March: published, with drawings by E. McKnight Kauffer, as Ariel Poems no. 35 (8 Oct. 1931).