[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]
Letter 109
I was very glad to get your unnumbered letter of January 1st, which arrived at the beginning of the week. I was discomforted to learn that my cable arrived two days after Christmas, as I had sent it off two days before Christmas: but am glad that it arrived while you were will [sc. still] there. ThePerkinses, the;k3 Perkins’s perhaps expect something better in the way of photography than I do: I am contented if it has some reminder in it, and is reasonably far from being a caricature. But they certainly are not your best: but very few photographs of anybody are ever good, except those taken in childhood. IHale, Emilyspends Christmas holiday in New Bedford;o4 wasAmericaNew Bedford, Massachusetts;f8EH's holidays in;a1 glad to see that you were writing from New Bedford, as that visit always seems to be relatively restful. ItHinkleys, the;e6 mustSunderland-Taylor, Alice Maud Maryand the last days of Chipping Campden;a6 have been strange to find the Hinkleys going through the same operation in which we assisted Miss Sunderland-Taylor!
OnBrownes, the Martin;c4 Tuesday I had dinner with the Brownes at the Etoile, which you may or may not remember. TheyBrowne, Henzie (née Raeburn);a5 seemed in good health and spirits, and Henzie produced a number of photographs of the very Jewish-looking boy growing up at their school near Philadelphia. ISecond World Warevacuation;b8 disapproved of children being sent in that way, especially boys of just that age: I saw no evidence however that the Brownes had yet come to regret the step. But I wonder whether boys who have spent just those years in America will ever be fitted to live in England again: the difference in the education standards alone will prove a serious handicap if they return. TheBrowne, Elliott Martinwar work with Pilgrim Players;d3 Brownes’ life is a hard one, but with Martin’s physique, temperament and views is probably much the best solution of the wartime situation for him, and he can feel that he is doing some good and bringing pleasure to a good many. They spoke again of course of the difficulty of renewing their repertory – there being so very few suitable good plays; and they hope that I will write one for them.
As'Notes Towards a Definition of Culture';a6 last weekend was spent in finishing off my essay on Cultural Values,1 so'Music of Poetry, The';a6 thisUniversity of GlasgowTSE's W. P. Ker Memorial Lecture;a1 was spent on the Glasgow lecture on the Music of Poetry. I have written it out, and think that with a little polishing, and a few illustrations to break the monotony it will do. That puts me really ahead of my schedule, andClassical AssociationPresidential Address for;a4 IClassics and the Man of Letters, The;a3 should be able soon to start my Classical Association address and get it out of the way well before the date of the performance. I'To the Indians Who Died in Africa by T. S. Eliot'conceived as epigram;a1 want, however, to try to write a small poem or epigram on the Indian Troops in Africa, forSorabji, Corneliaruns into bus;a4 Cornelia Sorabji’s Indian Red Cross Book:2 she ran into a bus or something, poor soul, being blind as a bat; and is lying in Charing Cross Hospital with a fractured thigh.
IEliot, Theresa Garrett (TSE's sister-in-law)apparently ill;b6 wasEliots, the Henry;b5 very sorry that you could not see Henry and Theresa, as I had heard that she had not been very well: high blood pressure. I worry about them because I do not think that either has very much notion of how to take care of the other: they are both very gentle and goodnatured and have not the slightest control over each other.
IChristian News-Letter (CNL)first number;a4 go tomorrowLivingstones, theput TSE up again;a4 to Oxford for the C.N.L. meeting, and stay with the Livingstones as usual. (RobertGeorge, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt')forces himself on TSE;c6 Sencourt, who is an excellent person but somewhat insensitive, andFaló, Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y, 17th Duke of Alba;a2 who has been staying near by the Duke of Alba, has forced his company on me for the journey as [sc. at] Reading, whereUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and Wellshosts Gordon George for week;d6 en [he] entrains for Wells to spend the week with the Bishop – I wonder whether they want him). Then two nights in London. TheMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff)anxious about North African campaign;c5 present situation is a great strain, especially with Mrs. M. who is so old and frail, worrying about her son in Lybia [sic]: under the present conditions, and indeed in general, itBehrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson)mainstay of Shamley sanity;a3 is a great relief to have a perfectly sane person like Mrs. Behrens living here. MyChoice of Kipling's Verse, Asent to EH;a9 copies of Kipling have at length arrived, and I shall be sending you off a copy this week. I still think my essay rather good, and I want you to read it!
IHoellering, George M.pitches for Murder film rights;a1 have to see AshleyDukes, Ashleyand Murder film rights;g6 Dukes this week to see him aboutMurder in the CathedralHoellering film;g1Hoellering's initial approach made;a1 a film offer for Murder made by an Austrian refugee connected with a British film company.3 He is very plausible, and seems to have the most intelligent ideas about how it should be done: butMoore, Henrypossible set-designer for Murder film;a1 he said he meant to get Henry Moore the sculptor4 to do the setting: butMoore, Henryin company with Kenneth Clark;a2 Moore, whom I saw last week (inClark, Kennethintroduces Henry Moore to TSE;a2 the company of the Kenneth Clarks) seemed to know nothing about it.5 On the whole, my feeling is against letting it be filmed at all. NextEast CokerTSE recites for Czechs;c2 week I have to recite East Coker on an occasion to celebrate the appearance of the translation into Czecho: the proceeds of the sale (to Czechs, of course) for the benefit of the Czechs.6
1.An issue of the Christian News-Letter 141 (8 July 1942), 1–4: CProse 6, 287–94.
2.‘To the Indians Who Died in Africa by T. S. Eliot’, Queen Mary’s Book for Africa (1943).
3.GeorgeHoellering, George M. M. Hoellering (1898–1980), Austrian-born filmmaker and cinema manager: see Biographical Register.
4.HenryMoore, Henry Moore (1898–1986), renowned British sculptor; sponsored by Kenneth Clark.
5.TSE to Hayward, Candlemas [2 Feb.] 1942: ‘I lunched with the Clarks and Henry Moore (a very pleasant fellow, apparently of the silent smiling Yorkshire type like Eric Gregory).’
6.See TSE to Hayward, 1 Mar. 1942.
4.MargaretBehrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson) Elizabeth Behrens, née Davidson (1885–1968), author of novels including In Masquerade (1930); Puck in Petticoats (1931); Miss Mackay (1932); Half a Loaf (1933).
4.E. MartinBrowne, Elliott Martin Browne (1900–80), English director and producer, was to direct the first production of Murder in the Cathedral: see Biographical Register.
4.KennethClark, Kenneth Clark (1903–83), patron, collector, historian of the arts. Educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Oxford, he was Director of the National Gallery, 1934–45; Chairman of the Arts Council, 1953–60. He won honours including a life peerage (1969) and the Order of Merit (1976). Writings include Landscape into Art (1949); The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form (1956); Civilisation: a Personal View (1969), based on his TV series Civilisation (1966–9).
4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.
1.JacoboFaló, Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart y, 17th Duke of Alba Fitz-James Stuart y Faló, 17th Duke of Alba (1878–1953), Spanish nobleman, diplomat and politician, held among other titles the dukedoms of Alba de Tormes and Berwick.
3.RobertGeorge, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt') Esmonde Gordon George – Robert Sencourt (1890–1969) – critic, historian, biographer: see Biographical Register.
3.GeorgeHoellering, George M. M. Hoellering (1898–1980), Austrian-born filmmaker and cinema manager: see Biographical Register.
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.
4.HenryMoore, Henry Moore (1898–1986), renowned British sculptor; sponsored by Kenneth Clark.
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.
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.
2.Revd Francis UnderhillUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and Wells, DD (1878–1943), TSE’s spiritual counsellor: see Biographical Register.