[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]
I have to thank you for your letter from Charleston, which arrived yesterday after a stormy voyage on the Queen Mary, togetherMorley, Frank Vigorreturns from America;h6 with Morley, whom I have not yet seen. Your account suggests that you have had a satisfactory holiday, on the whole, and I hope that you will get through the summer term without too much fatigue. Itravels, trips and plansEH's 1938 summer in England;d1;a5 am glad to hear that you have reserved a passage (or rather, alternative passages) and shall wait in the hope of hearing about Campden. I have had to make one more provisional engagement – but before you arrive: it is for theUniversity of Bristolhonorary degree in the offing;a1 5th of July (I go to Bristol on the 2nd). GeoffreyWhitworth, Geoffreyand 'The Future of Poetic Drama';a4 Whitworth came to see me yesterday, andInternational Theatre Congress, Stratford-upon-Avon;a1 asked'Future of Poetic Drama, The';a1 me to speak for half an hour at a meeting of some International Drama League, which will meet this year at Stratford, on ‘the future of poetic drama’.1 ThatNational Theatre, TheTSE resists overtures from;a4 ought not to be difficult, and one reason for accepting was that it made it easier for me to decline at this stage to give my name to the National Theatre. Having criticised the idea of a National Theatre in the past, I want to be free to criticise the reality in the future. The time might come when I could conscientiously support it – if it turns out better than I expect: because if a thing is going to happen anyway, one ought to help it to be useful rather than useless: if they asked me to take an active part in running it, that might be another thing; but all they want at present is my name, and I dislike, as you know, giving my name to ventures in which I have no control.
AfterFlat 3, 11 Emperor's GateEH stays in;a5 that I hope to be free! Only I fear I shall not have my rooms really tidy by the time you come: I had wanted to get another bookcase built in, and have all my books and papers in order, instead of strewn about. But it looks as if I should be crowded up to the time you arrive – I hope not after that. Itravels, trips and plansTSE's 1938 trip to Lisbon;c9travel arrangements;a5 enquired yesterday about passages to Lisbon. The only available boat out at the right time is one leaving on Saturday week – which turns out to be, of course, one of those Gaselee told me to avoid, as the accommodation and food is not good; but I fancy Gaselee’s standards of comfort and cooking are a good deal higher than mine. It is the ‘Highland Princess’ of the Royal Mail line, and sails from London on the 23d, arriving on the 27th. But what is much more annoying is that there happens to be no boat back until the 13th: so it looks as if I should have to stay longer than I wish. I asked about trains, and that is of course a difficult means of travel, as you have to get special permission from the Foreign Office and from both the Republican and the Franco Governments, apparently, to pass through Spain. At that, you can only buy tickets to the frontier, so I should have to get three separate tickets, one for Portugal, one for Spain, and one for France. I also asked about Air, but that’s no good either. There is no direct service to Lisbon – which seems strange. I should have to fly to Casablanca or Tangiers, in the hope of picking up a British boat there: it would be expensive, and very likely no quicker.
My address, until I know where I am to stay, will be aux bons soins de la ‘Secretariado da Propaganda Nacional’, Lisbon. But don’t try to send more than a postcard to me in Lisbon; it is hardly worth while, and I might miss a letter: you would have to allow several days more – I don’t know how many – to Lisbon from London.
This weekChristianityliturgy;b9during Holy Week;b7 is very full, of course: Mass every morning, and tonight the first of three ‘Tenebrae’ services from 8.30 to 9.30. Thursday and Friday are the fullest. Thursday Mass at 7.45 till 9, Tenebrae in the evening, then the Watch before the Sacrament (I take from 2.30 to 4 in the morning; the Friday Mass of the Pre-Sanctified from 10 to 12; in the afternoon I must check the money received during the week, and Tenebrae in the evening. Saturday there is a Mass from 8 to 10, and nothing more. AndSt. Stephen's Church, Gloucester Roadchurchwarding at;a5 Sunday (Easter) means a good deal of money to look after. I am having a new fellow-Warden after Easter, and this man lives in London, and is a business-man, so that the work should be lighter for me in future than with another Warden who lived in Berkshire and could not be on hand regularly.
IUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and Wellsconfession with;a4 saw the Bishop after all, as he was up in town on Saturday; so I did not go to Father Bacon. HeSt. Ignatius of Loyolarecommended to TSE by Underhill;a1 has put me on to twenty minutes of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises every morning, as I wanted to undertake some regular private devotions. I have used these before, once, in Retreat, so they are not unfamiliar: of course I have read them before. They would not be suitable for everybody, but I think that some months of them will be good for me.2
IFamily Reunion, The;d9 hope to have the play in shape for you to read and criticise when you come. At present, there are certain important changes which I want to make myself – and which Dukes approves – apart from those he wants me to make and I don’t want to. Browne gets back just after I leave: so we cannot have a full conference about it, until the middle of May.
ICriterion, TheJuly 1938;d7'Commentary';a1 must also try to get my Criterion Commentary done too, over the weekend, and the whole number in order before I go. I will write regularly up to my departure: you won’t expect letters of any length while I am parted from my typewriter.
ILewis, Wyndham;b4 have not yet had any photographs from Wyndham Lewis. But I enclose one, from the life, taken for my passport!
1.Whitworth invited TSE to speak at the International Theatre Congress at Stratford-upon-Avon on Tues. 5 July 1938. See TSE, ‘The Future of Poetic Drama’, Drama 17 (Oct. 1938), 3–5: CProse 5, 653–8.
2.4th edition (revised): Burns, Oates & Washbourne (1923): in TSE Library.
7.WyndhamLewis, Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957), painter, novelist, philosopher, critic: see Biographical Register.
4.FrankMorley, Frank Vigor Vigor Morley (1899–1980), American publisher and author; a founding editor of F&F, 1929–39: see Biographical Register.
2.Revd Francis UnderhillUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and Wells, DD (1878–1943), TSE’s spiritual counsellor: see Biographical Register.
1.GeoffreyWhitworth, Geoffrey Whitworth (1883–1951), dramatist; founder of the British Drama League and editor of its periodical, Drama: A Monthly Record of the Theatre in Town and Country at Home & Abroad; Hon. Secretary of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Committee.