[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
The Criterion
19 November 1937
My dearest,

Rather tired tonight (a pity as the Europa sails tomorrow) partlySociety of the Sacred Mission, Kelham Hall, NottinghamshireTSE's November 1938 weekend at;b6 in anticipation of my weekend at Kelham, whereHerbert, Fr Gabriel;a4 IEvery, George;a6 shall be tenderly devoured by Gabriel Herbert, George Every and a few select students; and partly because of to-day: theFamily Reunion, TheTSE on writing;b4 morning (you will be glad to hear) spent in wrestling with the problems of my characters (the next scene the most difficult of all I think) thenSpender, StephenTrial of a Judge;d8 Stephen Spender to lunch to discuss his future books, and his play which is to be produced and published in the spring;1 thenJanes, W. L.ill but merry;b4 a dash to St. Stephen’s Hospital, Fulham Road, to visit Janes, who was taken there suddenly with a chill on the liver (it would seem that he owes a good deal to Mrs. Webster and his son Fred, but he doesn’t say so) and found him merry as a grig; delighted to find that he was the oldest man in the ward but that there were several younger men who looked much older; pleased with the food and the nurses; and having the benefit of the wireless whenever he wants it. However, Fred seems to have done well in packing Dad off to hospital without his clothes, because that prevents him from leaving until the doctor thinks proper. However, it was rather fatiguing; and dashed back to the office before tea; and then had to dictate letters, talkMorley, Frank VigorSpender discussed with;h2 to Morley about Spender, talkRidler, Anne (née Bradby)her impending marriage;a7 to my secretary about getting married (she has a young man in the Oxford Press) andTandy, Geoffreyand the original 'Cats' broadcast;c1 goOld Possum’s Book of Practical CatsTSE asked to recite;b8 offCox, Iansubsequently for reading of 'Cat Poems';a2 toBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)Christmas Day 'Cats' broadcast;b2 see Tandy and Ian Cox who want me to recite Cat Poems on the B.B.C. which I refuse to do. Won[']t do anything until I have finished with Harry and Amy and Agatha.

NextMorleys, thetheir Thanksgiving parties;b2 week must be a short week, as I go on Thursday afternoon to the Morleys for Thanksgiving and to stay over Sunday. After that, I hope to excuse myself from going away for weekends for some months to come – exceptMorleys, theTSE's New Years celebrated with;d5 that I shall probably have to go to the Morleys again to see the New Year in.

IPerkinses, the;g7 dineSunderland-Taylor, Alice Maud Mary;a2 again with the Perkins’s on the 29th, to meet Miss Sunderland-Taylor.

IDukes, Ashley;d1 lunch on Monday with Ashley Dukes, to hear more about his season in America with Gilbert Miller.

Whenreading (TSE's)to replenish;f4 theFamily Reunion, Thedepletes TSE;c3 Family Reunion is done with, I hope to take some months to replenish myself. I think that I have got this play in me; but when I get it out, I know I shall be very empty and in need of nourishment: disinterested reading, and thinking and meditation. Such as one ought to be doing constantly. I see that when I have done this play, I must NOT immediately fill up my next year with speaking engagements and writing on behalf of causes. At present, I am conscious of having so little to give, beyond what I am trying to write, and what I have to give out to people in the way of business. If I could only spend a few hours a day in reading and meditation, it seems to me that a great deal would accumulate which I should want to express in letters to you; and at present I am only living on my pemmican, and I seem to have nothing to give. So this letter is merely resting upon your shoulder, not giving you rest. But I always want to write, whatever I am at the moment.

Is the weather very cold now, and have you got some warm wraps?

Toujours ton
Tom

1.Trial of a Judge: a tragedy in five acts (advertised in F&F Spring Books 1938 and on the dust jacket with the subtitle ‘A Tragic Statement in Five Acts’) was published in Mar. 1938.

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), TSE's committee service for, its future discussed, TSE working on autumn programme for, TSE on educational broadcasting in general, Barbara Burnham production of Murder, lobbies TSE for next play, 'The Need for Poetic Drama', Metaphyical poet broadcasts for, 'The Church's Message to the World', Christmas Day 'Cats' broadcast, dramatic Waste Land adaptation, which is censored for broadcast, repeats 'Cats', plays Parsifal on Good Friday, broadcasts Hawkins interview with TSE, 'Towards a Christian Britain', 1941 production of Murder, Eastern Service broadcasts East Coker, broadcasts Webster talk, Tennyson talk, Dry Salvages, Poe talk, Dryden talk, Joyce talk, European Service broadcasts TSE's talk, TSE declines Christmas broadcast for, wants to record 'Milton II', broadcasts TSE's personal poetry selection, broadcasts Gielgud's Family Reunion, marks TSE's 60th birthday, Gielgud Family Reunion repeated, solicits TSE post-Nobel Prize, TSE's EP broadcast for, records TSE reading Ash-Wednesday, floats Reith Lectures suggestion, approaches Marilyn Monroe to star in Fitts's Lysistrata,
Cox, Ian, lobbies TSE for Christmas sermon, subsequently for reading of 'Cat Poems',

1.IanCox, Ian Cox, a scientist by training, was BBC Talks Producer from 1936.

Dukes, Ashley, described by Yeats to TSE, approaches Doone over Mercury Theatre season, lines up Mercury Murder revival, with which he is pleased, his ambitions for Murder, which Brace upsets, instructed as to Murder New York negotiations, hustling in New York, from where he reports, agrees about Speaight's decline, explains miscarriage of 1936 American production, at 100th performance of Murder, latest plans for Murder, revised plans for New York, dares to call TSE in morning, TSE's royalty arrangement with, policing pirate productions of Murder, discusses Murder's America rights, full of grand desgins, takes Browne into partnership, on Murder's Abdication Crisis resonance, among Family Reunion's first readers, plans for Murder, American Murder tour, against Family Reunion as title, pleased with Family Reunion fragment, sent full Family Reunion draft, lets EH down, consulted over Gielgud contract, on Gielgud and Family Reunion, negotiating with Saint-Denis, less persuaded by Family Reunion, optimistic on Family Reunion transfer, instructed on Family Reunion licensing, fields Orson Welles enquiry, suggests wartime Murder revival, which he mounts without consulting TSE, attempting season of miniature operas, submits theatrical reminiscences to TSE, and Murder film rights, book launch for memoirs, reports on TSE's continental productions, gives Garrick Club dinner for TSE, takes full control of Mercury, accompanies TSE to Germany, La Mandragola, The Scene is Changed, Too Many Twins,
see also Dukes, the

4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.

Every, George, TSE's affection for, invites TSE to Kelham, consulted on TSE's BBC talk, surprises TSE in London, possible reader of Boutwood Lectures, at Kelham,

4.GeorgeEvery, George Every, SSM (1909–2003), historian and poet: see Biographical Register.

Family Reunion, The, and TSE as Orestes, plot sought for, progress stalled, referred to as 'Orestes play', written against countdown to war, should be artistically a stretch, plot still not settled on, begun, compared to Murder, TSE on writing, described (mid-composition), and Gunn's Carmina Gadelica, described to GCF, EH questions Harry's entrance, draft read to Martin Brownes, projected autumn 1938 production, depletes TSE, and Mourning Becomes Electra, its Greek inheritance, alternatively 'Follow the Furies', first draft promised to EH, as inspired by Tenebrae, being rewritten, work suspended till summer, fair copy being typed, waiting on Browne and Dukes, 'Follow the Furies' quashed by EH, aspires to be Chekhovian, Dukes keen to produce, criticised by Martin Browne, under revision, submitted to EH's theatrical wisdom, for which TSE credits her, possible John Gielgud production, Gielgud-level casting, Browne's final revisions, with the printers, Henry loaned draft, Donat and Saint-Denis interested, in proof, progress towards staging stalled, Saint-Denis interest tempered, possible Tyrone Guthrie production, possible limited Mercury run, its defects, publication scheduled, first draft sent to EH, Michael Redgrave interested in, March 1939 Westminster Theatre production, waits on terms, rehearsals for, which are photographed, opening night contemplated without EH, last-minute flutters, opening night, reception, coming off, TSE's final visit to, Dukes bullish on New York transfer, EH spurs TSE's reflections on, and Otway's Venice Preserv'd, American reception, and Orson Welles, F&F's sales, 1940 American production, Henry harps on the personal aspect, its cheerfulness, EH acknowledges part in, 1943 ADC production, in Dadie Rylands's hands, described, certain lines expressing TSE's frustrations, EH discusses with pupils, plays in Zurich, 1946 Birmingham production, 1946 Mercury revival, rehearsals for, opening night, TSE attends again in company, Spanish translation of, VHE's death calls to mind, its deficiencies, BBC Gielgud broadcast version, first aired, to be repeated, goes nominally with The Cocktail Party, Swedish National Theatre production, compared to Cocktail Party, EH's response to, more 'personal' than Cocktail Party, performed in Göttingen, 1950 Düsseldorf production, 1953 New York production vetoed, 1956 Phoenix Theatre revival, described, Peter Brook congratulated on, Martin Browne seeks MS of,
Herbert, Fr Gabriel, TSE's affection for, at Kelham,

5.Fr ArthurHerbert, Fr Gabriel Gabriel Hebert, SSM.

Janes, W. L., and 'Billy M'Caw: The Remarkable Parrot', reports on VHE, his Christmas dinners with TSE, singing and reminiscing, retirement anniversary dinner for, a saying of, one of TSE's dependents, disturbed by disappearing cats, ill but merry, a burden, dying in hospital, Christmas Day hospital visit to, TSE on his death and funeral, first Christmas without,
see also Janeses, the

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).

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.

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,
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, conceived as money-spinner, written as jeu d'esprit, individual poems sent to EH, early fragment of 'Rumpuscat', as outlined to GCF, and 'the Heaviside layer', TSE despairs of finishing, provisionally Mr Eliot's Book of Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats and Other Birds & Beasts, as advertised by GCF, delayed by Milton and Byron essays, written to relieve political gloom, written in tours de force, written occasionally, and Children's Hour, TSE asked to recite, TSE at leisure to write, Hodgson promises to illustrate, Hodgson as 'the Man in White Spats', to appear autumn 1939, TSE to design cover, published, read in the Roberts household, sent to EH, reception, selling strongly, being reprinted, published in America, EH receives, the illustrations, the original Cat Morgan, read to the Roberts children, 'Bustopher Jones: The St. James's Street Cat', 'Gus: The Theatre Cat', 'Marching Song of the Pollicle Dogs', 'Old Deuteronomy', 'Song of the Jellicles', 'The Naming of Cats', 'The Old Gumbie Cat', 'The Practical Cat', 'The Rum Tum Tugger',
Perkinses, the, likely to be interested in An Adventure, compared to Mary Ware, enjoyable dinner at the Ludlow with, take to TSE, TSE desires parental intimacy with, their dinner-guests dismissed by TSE, who repents of seeming ingratitude, TSE confides separation plans to, too polite, questioned as companions for EH, offered English introductions, entertained on arrival in London, seek residence in Chichester, given introduction to G. C. Coulton, take house at Chipping Camden, as Chipping Campden hosts, given introduction to Bishop Bell, TSE entertains at Oxford and Cambridge Club, TSE's private opinion on, TSE encourages EH's independence from, their repressive influence on EH, buy TSE gloves for Christmas, sent Lapsang Souchong on arrival in England, invite TSE to Campden, move apartment, anticipate 1938 English summer, descend on EH in Northampton, and EH's wartime return to America, temporarily homeless, enfeebled, EH forwards TSE teenage letter to, their health, which is a burden, approve EH's permanent Abbot position,
reading (TSE's), The Road Back, Hay Fever, sermons of Revd Dr William E. Channing, Racine's Bérénice, in general, the Bible, The Witch of Edmonton again, letters of other authors, a life of Mohammed, a life of Calvin, R. S. Wilson's life of Marcion the Heretic, Living My Life, French detective stories, French novels, recent books on economics and finance, the Epistles of St. Paul, The Lady of the Lake, Letters of Charles Eliot Norton, never deeply or widely enough, The Scarab Murder Case, translation of Dante, detective stories, Letters of Mrs Gaskell and Charles Eliot Norton, second-rate detective story, disinterestedly, for leisure, Vision of God, Faith of a Moralist, Newman's sermons, Birds of the Countryside, Modern Reader's Bible, The Face of Death, René Bazin's Charles de Foucauld, Charles Petrie's Monarchy, Thurber's My Life and Hard Times, Oliver's Endless Adventure (vol. 3), Madame Sorel's memoirs, book on French policing, detective story for committee, The League of Frightened Men, The Garden Murder Case, The Luck of the Bodkins, The House in Paris, The Life of Charles Gore, Middleton Murry's Shakespeare, Dr Goebbels for book committee, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, MS of German gunman in Chicago, Shakespeare, to replenish, Middlemarch, the Gospel, City of God, St. John of the Cross, psalm or two a day, Ibsen, Twenty Best Plays of the Modern American Theatre, poems submitted to Criterion, My Name is Million, psalms, especially Psalm 130, Edmund Burke, Lives of the Poets, Virgil,
Ridler, Anne (née Bradby), already favoured for F&F promotion, greatly preferred to O'Donovan, her secretarial duties, impresses TSE, her impending marriage, ill and engaged, invites TSE to be godfather, TSE writes preface for, TSE's blurb for, writes letter of condolence to GCF, presented to Edith Sitwell, 'une âme pure', Little Book of Modern Verse, The Shadow Factory,

3.AnneRidler, Anne (née Bradby) (Bradby) Ridler (30 July 1912–2001), poet, playwright, editor; worked as TSE’s secretary, 1936–40: see Biographical Register.

Society of the Sacred Mission, Kelham Hall, Nottinghamshire, TSE's September 1933 stay with, TSE's January 1934 weekend at, TSE invited to annual festivities, TSE's June–July 1935 stay, TSE spends night at, TSE's November 1938 weekend at, compared to Mirfield, October 1939 visit, compared to weekend in Sussex,
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.

Sunderland-Taylor, Alice Maud Mary, and the last days of Chipping Campden, writes to TSE about books, her death and memory,

6.AliceSunderland-Taylor, Alice Maud Mary Maud Mary Sunderland-Taylor (1872–1942), owner of Stamford House, Chipping Campden, which the Perkinses were renting for the season. (Sunderland-Taylor, a spinster and retired schoolteacher from Stamford, Lincolnshire, liked to spend her summers in Yugoslavia.) Edith Perkins wrote from Aban Court Hotel, Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, London, to invite TSE to meet Sunderland-Taylor at dinner on Mon. 29 Nov.

Tandy, Geoffrey, at Pike's Farm, on cuts to The Rock, playing on slot-machine with TSE, described for EH, plays golf with TSE, at Dobrée's farewell lunch, his film of TSE, on Speaight's Becket, in poor spirits, part of Criterion inner circle, gives Christmas Eve BBC address, Metaphysical readings prepared for, brings TSE sherry in bed, accompanies TSE to Cambridge and Wisbech, TSE's stylistic influence discerned in, and the original 'Cats' broadcast, repeats 'Cats' broadcast, away on war business, his conversation missed, his war work,
see also Tandys, the

2.GeoffreyTandy, Geoffrey Tandy (1900–69), marine biologist; Assistant Keeper of Botany at the Natural History Museum, London, 1926–47; did broadcast readings for the BBC (including the first reading of TSE’s Practical Cats on Christmas Day 1937): see Biographical Register.