[Thousand Pines Inn, Tryon, N. Carolina; forwarded to Apt. 17, 90 Commonwealth Ave, Boston]
Letter 29
I have had nothing from you, or from anyone else in America, since your letter from Tryon which I acknowledged last week. ThereSheffield, Alfred Dwight ('Shef' or 'Sheff');a9 is nothing more to be gained by cabling at present; IEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother);g8 am waiting as patiently as I can for the promised letters from Henry and Sheff. MeanwhileSheffield, Ada Eliot (TSE's sister)TSE's deathbed correspondence with;i8, I don’t quite know how I should write to Ada myself. I am sure that she would wish (as I should) to know exactly what the situation is, and she must know pretty well in any case, so I hope that they have told her without any reserves; but until I am assured of that, I do not know exactly what tone to adopt.
I went up to town for one night last week without ill effect, and am to go tomorrow for the usual time. I am perfectly well again; an x-ray and a blood test have produced satisfactory reports; but at present I seem to tire easily. Partly the ordinary effect of spring, I suppose, and partly that with every spring since the war one feels more tired than the last – though I must say that I am in much better health than I was in the spring of 1941.
IBrownes, the Martinand their Pilgrim Players;c1 had lunch with the Martin Brownes when in town on Thursday: MartinBrowne, Elliott Martinhis wartime appearance;d4 looking pretty well (considering the life they lead) butBrowne, Henzie (née Raeburn)asks after EH;a7 Henzie not very well. They asked for news of you, saying they had not heard for a long time from you – Henzie meant to write at Christmas, but had a complication of troubles at that time and didn’t write any Christmas letters; they also talked much of their plans for getting the boys home again. TheyYeats, William Butler ('W. B.')Resurrection;c7 are to give aChrist Church, Shamley GreenPilgrim Players' Resurrection at;a9 performance of Yeats’s ‘Resurrection’ in the Shamley Church next Sunday and will lunch here beforehand. TheyBridie, Jameswrites Pilgrim Players two plays;a2 want more plays – though James Bridie has written two for them, with which they are very pleased: but I see no prospect of my being able to write one for them. It'Civilisation: the Nature of Cultural Relations';a2 tookAnglo-Swedish Societythen in London;a2 me most of this weekend to prepare my talk to the Anglo-Swedish Society on next Thursday, and I am not at all sure (never having been to one of their meetings) that it is the right sort of thing; and'John Dryden's Tragedies';a1 nextDryden, Johnsubject of Indian Service broadcast;a4 weekend IBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)Dryden talk;d2 must do a short talk on Dryden for India,1 andBritish–Norwegian Instituteand 'The Social Function of Poetry';a1 after'Social Function of Poetry, The';a3 that I think I will write out the talk for the Norwegians which I meant to deliver from notes. Becausetravels, trips and plansTSE's 1943 trip to Edinburgh;e8;a1 the same talk will do for the Czechs in Edinburgh. I feel a certain obligation, in these times, to do this international stuff, specialising in small nations including India. AGhosh, Dr J. G.;a1 success in the latter interest is that we have (IDobrée, Bonamy;c4 mean that Dobrée, to whom I appealed, has) got an Indian appointed to a lectureship at Leeds university – a man who is a great authority on Restoration drama, for which there is no demand in India – but the appointment is the first of its kind and ought to do some good in India.2
IMorley, Frank Vigor;k7 must write to Frank about affairs in Cambridge. I feel very unsettled about everything, including your being in Carolina. I do hope that the objectionable person will depart: for you do need peace of mind – such as you can get – more than anything except rest and fresh air.
I hope I shall feel less languid next week: but always your loving
1.‘John Dryden’s Tragedies’, Listener 29 (22 Apr. 1943), 486–7: CProse 5, 388–91.
2.TSEGhosh, Dr J. G.;a2 to Dr J. G. Ghosh, 17 Mar. 1943: ‘It is kind of you to write for my only service in the matter really was to engage the interest of Professor Dobrée who is solely responsible for the results accomplished. I am sorry that the emolument is at present small but I have hopes that this may lead to something better in the course of time either at Leeds or elsewhere, and I am pleased both that Leeds should have such a distinguished scholar as yourself and that a valuable principle should have been established.’ Ghosh edited the works of Thomas Otway.
2.JamesBridie, James Bridie (1888–1951) – pen name of Dr O. H. Mavor – physician and playwright.
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.
3.Bonamy DobréeDobrée, Bonamy (1891–1974), scholar and editor: see Biographical Register.
3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: 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.AdaSheffield, Ada Eliot (TSE's sister) Eliot Sheffield (1869–1943), eldest of the seven Eliot children; author of The Social Case History: Its Construction and Content (1920) and Social Insight in Case Situations (1937): see Biographical Register.
8.AlfredSheffield, Alfred Dwight ('Shef' or 'Sheff') Dwight Sheffield (1871–1961) – ‘Shef’ or ‘Sheff’ – husband of TSE’s eldest sister, taught English at University School, Cleveland, Ohio, and was an English instructor, later Professor, of Group Work at Wellesley College. His publications include Lectures on the Harvard Classics: Confucianism (1909) and Grammar and Thinking: a study of the working conceptions in syntax (1912).
4.W. B. YeatsYeats, William Butler ('W. B.') (1865–1939), Irish poet and playwright: see Biographical Register.