[c/o RevdHale, Emilyreturns to 90 Commonwealth Avenue;n7 J. C. Perkins, 90 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, Mass.]
Letter 83
I arrived here on Friday night to find your letter 87 waiting for me; and was very glad to have your directions for letters, as I thought they were about due. I suppose that by now your labours with examinations and marks must be nearly over – yesAmericaPetersham, Massachusetts;g5EH holidays in;a1, you go to Petersham tomorrow, and as you go from there to Boston I presume that you are able to excuse yourself from the college exercises. My moreAmericaMadison, Wisconsin;f5EH summers in;a3 recent letters I suppose will be forwarded; and after next week I shall write to Madison Wis. IHale, Emilyappearance and characteristics;v7EH's idea of new dresses;d6 am glad to hear of your parties and of your new dresses, though it seems to me that your new ones usually turn out to be the old ones dyed, turned or remodelled. However, I need no assurance that you looked very well in it, though no doubt thin and rather worn at the end of the year.
My visit to Cambridge was fairly full. IHayward, Johnexcursions to Cambridge to visit;k1 dined with John one evening – thatWellesley, Gerald, 7th Duke of Wellingtonhijacks TSE and JDH's dinner;a1 was interrupted by the Iron Duchess1 coming in with two young men who wanted to play duets on the Rothshild [sc. Rothschild] piano – I always find piano duets at best comic rather than pleasing, and orchestral music on the piano does not give me much pleasure – theyBeethoven, Ludwig vanCoriolan and 'Unfinished' Symphony;a6 banged away at Coriolan and the Unfinished Symphony, while one waited for the inevitable stutter on the keys when they turned a page over: lunched with him twice, once at the café, and tea the last day. ILeavises, theentertain TSE to tea;a1Leavis, F. R.
IWalpole, HughTimes obituary protested by TSE;a8 enclose a copy of a letter to the Times about Hugh Walpole – they had said that he was not popular with other writers, and I wanted to contradict that without seeming to do so. To my surprise they printed it, along with several others. I have never read any of his books, except for an extract from one which I once published in the Criterion: but he was kind to me once and gave me a useful testimonial. Besides, I always got on with him very well. IGallup, Donaldwins East Coker MS auction;a3 gaveEast Cokerdraft inevitably bought by Gallup;c1 him the pencil notes of East Coker – there were only a few pages – to sell at a Red Cross auction: theyYale University;a9 have now turned up in the possession of my collector Mr. Gallup of Yale.
ThanksSecond World Warits effect on TSE;b3 very much for the very sweet and understanding end to your letter. [M]y spirits vary of course, from the fluctuations of public affairs, and often when I am thinking about the future of the world in general I wonder whence salvation for it will come – such salvation as is possible in this world and for the world – apart from the variations of mood which go on at all times: and a great deal of the time one’s private emotions are numbed in the feeling of their insignificance.
[Enclosure]
To the Editor
TheWalpole, HughTimes obituary protested by TSE;a8 Times
Sir
One trait of the late Sir Hugh Walpole, of which I hope posterity will not be left in ignorance, was a capacity to appreciate, and admire generously, the work of authors very different from himself. HeJoyce, Jamesesteemed by Hugh Walpole;d7 heldWoolf, Virginiaesteemed by Walpole;d8 in the highest esteem, for instance, the novels of Mr James Joyce and Mrs Woolf. That he was quick to appreciate the work of younger men, and ready to help them and testify to his belief in their future, is equally certain. These qualities, combined with his personal charm and unassuming manner, have, I feel sure, given him the affection of many writers with whom the public may not suppose him to have been associated.
1.Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington (1885–1972) – known between 1900 and 1943 as Lord Gerald Wellesley. TSE was borrowing John Hayward’s nickname for the Duke.
2.See Ian MacKillop, F. R. Leavis: A Life in Criticism (1995), 242–3: ‘Q.D.L [Leavis’s wife, Queenie] was not best pleased. “Why do you let that man into the house? You know what he wants,” she warned. What he wanted was, she thought, to have her husband acquiesce in Eliot’s neglect of Scrutiny. Leavis replied: “You ought to trust me, my dear. Of course, I know. He won’t get it.”’ In some accounts Leavis shows himself as charmed by Eliot’s presence, finding him ‘very pleasant’. ThereLeavis, Ralphgrills TSE over his poetry;a1n was certainly one pleasing interlude, whenLeavis, F. R.on TSE coming to tea;a1n the young Ralph Leavis came eagerly forward, at first too cowed to speak, as Leavis related:
He has clearly a lofty notion of Eliot’s place in the scheme of things.
Finally, he dashed forward with an open copy of Commerce.
‘Look, Mr Eliot, he’s spelt your name wrong. Monsieur Jean de Menasce has put in two ts.’
After that he had a good time. He produced all the texts, and put Eliot through the variant readings. ‘You altered that.’ (Accusingly.) Eliot explained why. ‘H’m! interesting,’ says Ralph, ‘no punctuation here.’ ‘That’s to show it’s to be chanted,’ says Eliot. ‘H’m! interesting. You haven’t finished this. Why didn’t you?’ ‘I couldn’t: I’m afraid it will always remain unfinished.’ ‘H’m like Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony in…’ – whatever it is in, I don’t know, but Ralph does, of course. ‘You did this in French, too.’ ‘No, I didn’t,’ says Eliot. ‘Yes, you did. Look.’ ‘Oh, so I did, I forgot.’
And so on. Looks sharply at Eliot and pointing to the text, ‘When will time flow away?’ ‘I don’t know,’ says Eliot. ‘What do you think?’ ‘I don’t know. But I think there ought to be as much time as there was before B.C.’ ‘And how much was that?’ ‘I don’t know,’ says Ralph, ‘but more than 4,004 years, anyway.’
RalphAsh WednesdayTSE cross-examined by child on;b4n then pointed to the first line in Ash-Wednesday and the first line of the last section.
‘The same, but a little different.’ ‘As in music,’ said Eliot. ‘Yes, of course,’ said Ralph, and then we had a discourse on first subjects, subjects, modulations and so on.
‘Ralph left the drawing-room with Q.D.L., and the afternoon drew out, Eliot’s cigarette butts copious in the hearth. Later, when Leavis read the last “quartet”, “Little Gidding”, he said he recognized some things said by Eliot that afternoon.’
3.KurtHahn, Kurt Hahn (1886–1974), German Jewish educator; founder of the boarding school Schule Schloss Salem; exiled in 1933 in consequence of his outspoken criticism of Hitler. Co-founder of Gordonstoun School; later of the Outward Bound organisation and of Atlantic College in Wales. See Nick Veevers and Pete Allison, Kurt Hahn: Inspirational Visionary, Outdoor and Experiential Educator (Rotterdam: Sense, 2011). Hahn was seeking to publish a book entitled ‘Christian Education’.
2.ChristopherDawson, Christopher Dawson (1889–1970), cultural historian: see Biographical Register.
12.Richardde la Mare, Richard de la Mare (1901–86) – elder son of the poet Walter de la Mare – director of F&F, in charge of design and production: see Biographical Register.
3.DonaldGallup, Donald Gallup (1913–2000), curator, bibliographer and editor: see Biographical Register.
3.KurtHahn, Kurt Hahn (1886–1974), German Jewish educator; founder of the boarding school Schule Schloss Salem; exiled in 1933 in consequence of his outspoken criticism of Hitler. Co-founder of Gordonstoun School; later of the Outward Bound organisation and of Atlantic College in Wales. See Nick Veevers and Pete Allison, Kurt Hahn: Inspirational Visionary, Outdoor and Experiential Educator (Rotterdam: Sense, 2011). Hahn was seeking to publish a book entitled ‘Christian Education’.
11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.
2.ChristinaInnes, Hugh McLeod Morley’s father, Hugh McLeod Innes (1862–1944), classicist, was a Fellow and Bursar of Trinity College, Cambridge; author of Fellows of Trinity (1941).
5.RichardJennings, Richard Jennings (1881–1952), leader writer and literary editor of the Daily Mirror; noted bibliophile. He lived at 8 The Grove, London S.W.5; later at 8 The Little Boltons, S.W.10.
1.JamesJoyce, James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist, playwright, poet; author of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Ulysses (1922), Finnegans Wake (1939).
3.HopeMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff) Mirrlees’s mother was Emily Lina Mirrlees, née Moncrieff (1862–1948) – known as ‘Mappie’ or ‘Mappy’ – see Biographical Register.
3.Herbert ReadRead, Herbert (1893–1968), English poet and literary critic: see Biographical Register.
7.NovelistWalpole, Hugh, man of letters, bibliophile and generous patron, Sir Hugh Walpole (1884–1941) became first chairman of the selection committee of the Book Society and of the Society of Bookmen. His novels include The Cathedral (1922) and the Herries saga (1930–3).
1.VirginiaWoolf, Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), novelist, essayist and critic: see Biographical Register.