[22 Paradise Rd.; forwarded to c/o Mrs Leonard Elsmith, Woods Hole, Mass.]
Letter no. 4.
IShamley Wood, Surreydaily and weekly life at;a3 am trying the experiment of sitting out of doors, in the slope of the hill above the orchard – looking out, like every other place in southern England, towards Chanctonbury Ring, which, as from any other place, is always invisible1 – in order to get all the fresh air of the summer that I can. IEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother)cautioned as to health;g5 have just written a letter to Henry admonishing him about his health, for I think that next winter will be a trying one even in the U.S.A.; and I might do the same to you. But I am still puzzling over a cable from you, from which I learn that you are staying in Northampton instead of going to the seaside. AsHale, Emilyas teacher;w1from which EH takes 'sabbatical';d1 you are to have a sabbatical, this cannot be altogether bad news, for the ‘department changes’ you mention must involve you continuing at Smith but with somewhat different work. But I was alarmed by your report of a sort of auditor coming from Iowa to investigate everybody: the notion was so fantastic and offensive. My first feeling however was one of concern at your not having a proper holiday. So I hope the ‘sabbatical’ will allow you to take a proper holiday a little later: I am afraid of your using the year merely to plunge into some exhausting war work. And I cannot see why it should require your giving up Martha’s Vineyard. So I await the enlightenment of my mystification, with some anxiety.
IPerkins, Dr John Carroll (EH's uncle);e6 mean to write to Dr. Perkins, as I did not know in time to cable for his celebration. Itravels, trips and plansTSE's 1942 New Forest holiday;e5;a1 go off to the New Forest on Saturday. It requires some firmness with oneself to take a holiday at all in these times, so I hope you will commend me for it. The main thing is a change, and a week of solitude. ButSecond World WarNorth African campaign;d4, just as in air raids it was always pleasanter to be in the company of friends, so at times of great anxiety such as this moment (when the battle in Egypt is going on)2 it is impossible not to feel a greater strain when alone in the country. One wants to be busy in midst of people, in town. It seems natural, in moments or periods of anxiety like this, to want people to share it with; whereas at times after a disaster (like the death of a friend) one wants to be alone. The period before Singapore, and this present crisis, have been the most acute strain, I have found: theSecond World WarThe Blitz;c6 nightmare of raids was something in which one just lived from day to day, and was more numbing. It is a great effort to keep one’s mind on other things, even when those are the only ways in which [one] can be of use, like occupying one self with after-war problems and the problems which go on anyway.
I must write a line just to remind you of my handwriting – which I hope is no worse! I wish I could have been with you lately, when you may have been having decisions to make. And I know it would be a great help to
1.Chanctonbury Ring is a prehistoric fort on Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs.
2.The news from North Africa was bad: Rommel’s troops had captured Tobruk on 21 June, taking thousands of prisoners; on 27 June the Eighth Army abandoned Mersa Matruh as the German advance reached deep into Egypt.
3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: see Biographical Register.
3.DrPerkins, Dr John Carroll (EH's uncle) John Carroll Perkins (1862–1950), Minister of King’s Chapel, Boston: see Biographical Register.