[c/o Mrs Mears, 116 East Gilman St., Madison, Wisc.]
Letter 85
This letter goes on a long journey to Wisconsin. I have two letters from you during the week: 80 and 90. IHale, Emilyappearance and characteristics;v7EH hair cut in the new style;d7 wish that I had enough expert knowledge to be able to follow your account of the new hairdressing: I do not understand how cutting off hair on top can help to provide rolls at the sides; but it sounds very satisfactory, though I should prefer to have four photographs to show all the elevations. And no photograph has yet arrived. Thedogs'Boerre' (Norwegian Elkhound);b7TSE receives photo of;a9 portrait of Boerre very handsome indeed: and thank you for the cutting. Ted'Defence of the Islands'not 'a poem';a4 Kauffer cabled to me for permission to do something of the sort: but I wish they would not call my lines a ‘poem’ – I was under the impression that I was writing prose. Furthermore it does not seem to make very good sense without the particular series of photographs for which each clause was designed. But at the same time, I am glad to have some words of mine appear, more especially as the BBC seem to have forgotten all about the invitation to broadcast. (OnBukhari, Zulfiqar Alipresents TSE with ornate umbrella;a1 the other hand, I am comblé with favours by the Pathan running the Indian waves:1 his last move was to turn up at Russell Square and present me (with great dignity) with a huge umbrella he had had made for me – the handle is made out of an enormous ancient tobacco pipe – it is rather showy). I am very much interested to hear about your wardrobe, which sounds highly satisfactory, though I am jealous that it should benefit Wisconsin rather than London and Gloucestershire.
IShamley Wood, Surreydaily and weekly life at;a3 have been profiting by the summer sun, and except for typing, I spend most of my time while in Surrey in a deck chair in the garden, at some distance from the house so as to be retired, with a lovely view of Hascombe Hill and Chanctonbury Ring in the remote distance. IChoice of Kipling's Verse, Aselection made on rereading Kipling;a2 have read through Kipling’s poems several times and made a tentative selection, and next I must read his autobiography – I only want to know about his methods of working, as I am not attempting any biographical study, but I want to try to find out also about contemporary opinion of his verse. ILittle Giddingbeing drafted;a9 have toilsomely drafted a Section II of Little Gidding, and don’t know whether I am pleased with it or not. TomorrowChristian News-Letter (CNL)first number;a4 (Monday) I go to Oxford: TuesdayConnolly, Cyriland TSE discuss Horizon;a3 a lunch with Cyril Connolly to discuss ‘Horizon’;2 WednesdayVansittart, Sir Robertpost-retirement lunch with;a6 lunch with Vansittart (now retired) and return to the country on Thursday. IUnderhill, Evelynwhich he sends to The Times;c3 have finally sent a paragraph on Evelyn Underhill to The Times, because her husband (the information conveyed through a third party) was so anxious that there should be something from me; andSorabji, Corneliagoing blind;a3 Cornelia Sorabji is, I fear, going blind. Itravels, trips and plansEH's 1938 summer in England;d1TSE reflects on;b3 shouldFamily Reunion, Thefor which TSE credits her;e4 like to be sitting on the back garden terrace at Stamford House, perhaps discussing the draft of a new play with you – The Family Reunion owes something to that terrace. AndPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt)without Campden garden;e8 I hate to think of Mrs. Perkins having no garden to care for in the summer. CampdenEnglandChipping Campden, Gloucestershire;e1treasured in TSE's memory;b2 means the happiest days of my life, and comes back to me, with an ache! when I sit in a garden on a summer day.
WhileDante AlighieriEH favoured with quote from;a6 I was working on the poem I had to look up something in Dante, and came upon the lines
e serbolo a chiosar con altro testo
a donna che saprà, se a lei arrivo.3
‘and keep it, with another text, for a Lady to comment who will be able if I get to her’.
Let me know if any letter of mine is missing.
1.ZulfiqarBukhari, Zulfiqar Ali Ali Bokhari/Bukhari (1904–75), born in Peshawar, was Director of the Delhi Broadcasting Station of All India Radio before removing to London in July 1937. Director of the Indian Section of the BBC Eastern Service, 1940–5; instrumental in recruiting George Orwell. In 1945 he returned to India as Director of All India Radio Station, Calcutta; later to Karachi to work as Controller in Broadcasting for Radio Pakistan. See Talking to India, ed. Orwell (1943); Ruvani Ranasinha, South Asian Writers in Twentieth Century Britain: Culture in Translation (Oxford, 2007); W. J. West, Orwell: The War Broadcasts (1985).
2.Geoffrey Faber and TSE lunched with Cyril Connolly on 2 July to discuss the financing of Horizon.
3.Inferno 15, 89–90.
1.ZulfiqarBukhari, Zulfiqar Ali Ali Bokhari/Bukhari (1904–75), born in Peshawar, was Director of the Delhi Broadcasting Station of All India Radio before removing to London in July 1937. Director of the Indian Section of the BBC Eastern Service, 1940–5; instrumental in recruiting George Orwell. In 1945 he returned to India as Director of All India Radio Station, Calcutta; later to Karachi to work as Controller in Broadcasting for Radio Pakistan. See Talking to India, ed. Orwell (1943); Ruvani Ranasinha, South Asian Writers in Twentieth Century Britain: Culture in Translation (Oxford, 2007); W. J. West, Orwell: The War Broadcasts (1985).
CyrilConnolly, Cyril Connolly (1903–74): English literary critic and author; editor of the literary magazine Horizon, 1940–9; joint chief book reviewer for the Sunday Times, 1952–74. Works include The Rock Pool (novel, 1935), Enemies of Promise (1938), The Unquiet Grave (1944). See Connolly, ‘Revolutionary out of Missouri’, Sunday Times, 10 Jan. 1956, 38.
4.ElenaSorabji, Cornelia Richmond invited TSE to meet Cornelia Sorabji (1866–1954) – barrister and prominent social reformer, and author of a book of reminiscences entitled India Calling – at their London home, 3 Sumner Place, S.W.7, on Fri., 29 Mar. Sorabji’s ‘Note re Orthodox Hindus and Protection for Religion’ lamented one specific aspect of the Report on the Indian Constitutional Reform, to the effect that the protection accorded to religion since 1858 (Queen Victoria’s Proclamation) would seem to have been deliberately withdrawn.
1.EvelynUnderhill, Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941), spiritual director and writer on mysticism and the spiritual life: see Biographical Register.
2.SirVansittart, Sir Robert Robert Vansittart (1881–1957), diplomat and author: see Biographical Register.