[No surviving envelope]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Shamley
Letter 39.
6 June 1943
Dearest Emily,

As no letter has come, for the third week, I think that I now will cable when I am next in town. TomorrowCowley House, OxfordTSE discusses South India at;a4, MondayReunion by Destruction: Reflections on a Scheme for Church Union in South India;a3, I go to Oxford to confer with a small group of clergy (andWilliams, Charlesand C. S. Lewis lunch with TSE;a7, ILewis, Clive Staples ('C. S.')and Charles Williams lunch with TSE;a1 think, lunch with Charles Williams and C. S. Lewis1) and return to London on Tuesday morning. The next three weeks are rather restless. I return to Shamley on Thursday night; but expect to go up to town again on Saturday afternoon, asCampbell, Henry Colville Montgomery, Bishop of Kensington (later Bishop of Guildford, eventually Bishop of London);a1 FrCheetham, Revd Eric;f3. Cheetham is anxious that I should lunch with him, and the Bishop of Kensington, on Whitsunday; and as I do so little, nowadays, in the way of churchwarden’s duties, I feel that I ought to oblige him. I then return to Shamley from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning; return from London as usual on Thursday; butMoot, Thewelcomes Reinhold Niebuhr as guest;c9 go to Haslemere on Friday for a meeting of the Moot, atNiebuhr, Reinholdat the Moot;a6 which Reinhold Niebuhr is to be the guest (Niebuhr must have been talking incessantly, except for a few hours’ sleep, for the last three weeks: but I believe he is capable of it). The following week I shall not go to London till Wednesday, but must take with me luggage for two weeks. I must also take a dark suit; asCulford School, Bury St. EdmundsTSE's Prize Day address at;a1 on Saturday morning I have to catch a 10 a.m. train for Bury St. Edmunds (leaving most of my luggage in London, but taking with me a scarlet gown and cap) where, after lunch, I address the school at Culford, and I must spend the night, as the train service is not good. I return to town on Sunday, and have taken a room for the night at my club, because I don’t think Auntie Pye would care to come from Mitcham on a Monday morning. Thentravels, trips and plansTSE's 1943 New Forest holiday;f1;a3 on Monday I go off to the New Forest for my two weeks, andWallop, Gerard, Viscount Lymington (later 9th Earl of Portsmouth)visited at Farleigh;a4 on the way back stop off for a night or so at Basingstoke to visit my agrarian acquaintance, Lord Portsmouth.2 And then (by that time it is the middle of July) back to Shamley for a few days to get straight.

This kind of rehearsal is tedious enough, and I only give this itinerary in detail as an example of the minor problems of living in two places; and the wear and tear of having to remember toothbrushes etc. and calculate laundry. Even to go for a weekend (andRichmonds, the;b1 I ought to go down to Salisbury at some time in the summer to visit the Richmonds, andWatt, Billimplores TSE to visit him in Cambridge;a4 Bill Watt is begging me to spend a weekend at his house in Cambs.) means missing a week’s washing. Yet, at present, it is the most satisfactory arrangement possible: I should not do well in London – I never can sleep when there is gun fire, and it would be very difficult to find a place where I could get more than breakfast, and I am fed here as I am nowhere else – and an egg every morning for breakfast!

ISheffield, Ada Eliot (TSE's sister)TSE's deathbed correspondence with;i8 have just had a letter from Ada in her own hand – shaky, but quite legible. She is very brave and calm.3

IFour Quartetswhose first edition appals TSE;a5 haveHarcourt, Brace & Co.which they print disappointingly;a6 had one copy of my book from Harcourt Brace – the pages very badly set and ugly looking, but he has promised that the next printing will be better. I have sent him a list of people in America to whom I want copies sent; and I hope that yours will be the revised printing.

I am wondering helplessly what I can say that will interest the boys at Guildford.

If I get no reply from you (I will cable pre-paid) I shall cable Mrs. Perkins. I hope that whether you have anything in prospect or not, you will be able to take a summer holiday in the mountains or at the seaside; I do not at all like the idea of your stopping in Boston, except for short visits to friends. I am anxious and disturbed.

Your loving
Tom

IGalitzi, Dr Christineasks TSE to communicate with imprisoned husband;c6 wrote to the Red Cross to find how and whether I could carry out Christine Galitzi’s request. They replied that it was impossible, and added ‘Madame Bratescu seems to be writing to many people in England, and they all write to us’. However the Red Cross say they have got news of her husband to her.

You see, I have had no answer to anything I have written you, for such a long time.

1.C. S. LewisLewis, Clive Staples ('C. S.') (1898–1963), British novelist, academic and critic; Christian apologist; ‘Inkling’: see Biographical Register.

2.Gerard Wallop, known as Viscount Lymington, 1925–43, had succeeded his father as 9th Earl of Portsmouth.

3.AdaSheffield, Ada Eliot (TSE's sister)TSE's deathbed correspondence with;i8 Sheffield wrote on 23 Apr. 1943 (the text here is taken from a TS copy):

Dearest Tom:-

This is in bed, of course. I am anxious you should know how deeply touched I am at your even thinking of coming over to see me. It would not have entered my head beset as it (this trip) must be with insuperable difficulties and only too real dangers. Don’t let it stay in your head a moment dear Brother. I shall know you think of me, as I of you. It has been a great comfort and stimulus to me all these years to write and receive letters from the one member of the family who I have believed really respected the sort of life I have chosen to lead, as much as he would have the cultivating[?] the ‘right’ people. Though just lately I have thought Marion’s and Henry’s attitude toward me changed for some reason. Who are the true ‘élite’? I’d like to discuss that with you.

People’s attitude toward death puzzles me. Why do they dread it? Nurse, doctors, friends, relatives all express wonder at the way I take it. Why? I can’t make out. Do you? I felt this same way when I was a girl. ‘That which drew from out the boundless deep turns again home.’ [Ada quotes Tennyson, ‘Crossing the Bar’.]

Elizabeth, Shef’s sister, comes to Cambridge to settle in about a week. It is a great comfort to me that he will be looked after. They will live here for the present.

WhenSheffield, Ada Eliot (TSE's sister)remembers TSE as boy;j2n you were a tiny boy, learning to talk, you used to sound the rhythm of sentences without shaping words – the ups and downs of the thing you were trying to say. I used to answer you in kind, saying nothing yet conversing with you as we sat side by side on the stairs at 2635 [Locust Street]. And now you think the rhythm before the words in creating a new poem!

With the deepest affection, / Ada.

Such a dear little boy!

Campbell, Henry Colville Montgomery, Bishop of Kensington (later Bishop of Guildford, eventually Bishop of London),
Cheetham, Revd Eric, TSE's rent to, as landlord at 9 Grenville Place, asks TSE to be churchwarden, to which TSE agrees, invited to Sweeney Agonistes, taken ill, offers prayers for EH's passage, his pageant for Mothers' Union, on London colds, given wine for Christmas, possible flatmate, pleased to welcome EH, advice in case of fire, unfolds tale of French holiday, and St. Stephen's wartime finances, remembers TSE's birthday, indifferent to rationing, during Blitz, paid to house TSE's books, starts lending library in tube, living in modern penthouse, TSE drafts testimonial letter for, hosts TSE in penthouse, his testimonial, requests TSE's presence for Bishop of London, by whom he is chastened, and Elvaston Place, exhausted by war, prevented from giving TSE customary birthday greeting, one of TSE's few intimates, TSE on, hounded by Time, and the Bishop of Tokyo, retires under doctor's orders, TSE's outgoing tribute and succession, apparently in Hong Kong, leaves affairs in a mess, insouciant letter to parishioners,

4.RevdCheetham, Revd Eric Eric Cheetham (1892–1957): vicar of St Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road, London, 1929–56 – ‘a fine ecclesiastical showman’, as E. W. F. Tomlin dubbed him. TSE’s landlord and friend at presbytery-houses in S. Kensington, 1934–9. See Letters 7, 34–8.

Cowley House, Oxford, TSE considers retreat at, then makes retreat to, and Divinity Books issue, TSE discusses South India at,
Culford School, Bury St. Edmunds, TSE's Prize Day address at,
Four Quartets, as publishing proposition, as conceived by TSE, deliberations over title, published in America, whose first edition appals TSE, reviewed, English edition of, appearing in French in Africa, recorded by TSE, BBC broadcast TSE reading,
Galitzi, Dr Christine, in line for Ariel poem, favoured among EH's Claremont friends, encloses flower in letter, sends TSE photographs, and possible Greek translation of The Waste Land, her mannerisms, EH warned against imitating, asks TSE to communicate with imprisoned husband, her marriage, writes to TSE about husband,

1.DrGalitzi, Dr Christine Christine Galitzi (b. 1899), Assistant Professor of French and Sociology, Scripps College. Born in Greece and educated in Romania, and at the Sorbonne and Columbia University, New York, she was author of Romanians in the USA: A Study of Assimilation among the Romanians in the USA (New York, 1968), as well as authoritative articles in the journal Sociologie româneascu. In 1938–9 she was to be secretary of the committee for the 14th International Congress of Sociology due to be held in Bucharest. Her husband (date of marriage unknown) was to be a Romanian military officer named Constantin Bratescu (1892–1971).

Harcourt, Brace & Co., and Selected Essays, poach Frank Morley, negotiations over New York Murder, refuse illustrated edition of Cats, and Four Quartets, which they print disappointingly, advance TSE money,
Lewis, Clive Staples ('C. S.'), and Charles Williams lunch with TSE, dodged,

1.C. S. LewisLewis, Clive Staples ('C. S.') (1898–1963), British novelist, academic and critic; Christian apologist; ‘Inkling’: see Biographical Register.

Moot, The, first meeting, invited to TSE's Maritain dinner, no substitute for individual friendships, seems futile, welcomes Reinhold Niebuhr as guest, discusses TSE's paper,
Niebuhr, Reinhold, talks theology for seven hours, TSE on, speaks passionately, offers paper on adolescence, commended to EH, at the Moot, reminds TSE of Babbitt, dines with TSE in Princeton, Human Nature,

3.ReinholdNiebuhr, Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971), influential theologian, ethicist, philosopher, and polemical commentator on politics and public affairs: see Biographical Register.

Reunion by Destruction: Reflections on a Scheme for Church Union in South India, contemplated by TSE, suspended, on its second draft, sent to EH, for which TSE prepares her,
Richmonds, the, TSE's new South Kensington neighbours, TSE's alcholic weekend with, host TSE in Sussex, TSE's Netherhampton weekends with, make their home over to maternity hospital,
Sheffield, Ada Eliot (TSE's sister), TSE's most likely family confidant, to host TSE on Boston return, TSE pictures his birthday-party with, Madison Street preferable to Eliot House, after seventeen years' separation, TSE begins to confide in, TSE and Henry visit together, accompanies TSE to Wellesley, counsels separation from VHE, speaks frankly with TSE about his domestic affairs, hosts post-Radcliffe Club reception, hosts the Eliot family Thanksgiving, attends second Norton lecture, hosts Wellesley English faculty and TSE, remembered in St. Louis, and TSE to discuss Yale lecture and VHE, hosts TSE for last time, informs the Hinkleys of TSE's separation, replies to EH on TSE and divorce, distinguishes her faith from TSE's, takes to Frank Morley, on the Perkinses, TSE advises on wines, on Aunt Susie, EH urged to be familial with, her struggles for independence, as sounding-board for EH's career, TSE's favourite sibling, shielded TSE from over-bearing Hinkleys, incompletely aware of TSE and EH's relationship, within the Eliot family dynamic, seems 'reserved' to EH, at Hinkley dinner, invites EH to lunch, reports improvement in EH's spirits, hosts TSE on 1936 arrival, and Marion and Theresa's Murder party, reassures TSE about Henry's ears, subscribed to CNL, her intellectual orbit, on Hastings's bust of TSE, war jeopardises TSE seeing again, apparently ill, recovering from major operation, has cancer, has second operation, ailing, in reportedly critical condition, her death contemplated, TSE's intimacy with, TSE's deathbed correspondence with, remembers TSE as boy, pursuing intellectual interests from deathbed, her place in the Eliot family, dies, in Henry's final report, EH describes her funeral, New York Times obituary, Boston Herald obituary, Sheff's memorial tribute to, TSE on her final illness, TSE's absence at death, wished for on VHE's death, invoked against EH,
see also Sheffields, the

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.

travels, trips and plans, EH's 1930 trip to England, EH's proposed 1931 England visit, called off, EH's 1932 summer holidays, the Eliots' Derby Day excursion, related, the Eliots' July 1932 Hindhead visit, the Eliots' August 1932 Eastbourne holiday, described, TSE's 1932–3 year in America, Norton Professorship offered to TSE, and the prospect of reunion with EH, which TSE refuses to see as decisive, which angers EH, who writes and destroys a response, TSE's financial imperatives, TSE's itinerary, and the question of discretion, opportunity for adventurous lecture-tours, TSE speculates on attendant feelings, TSE on the voyage over, TSE reflects on, TSE's return from, the Eliot family's Randolph holiday, TSE's 1933 westward tour to Scripps, proposed to EH, and TSE's need to lecture, possibly via St. Louis, TSE's itinerary, possible stopover in Seattle, a shameful source of happiness, still a happy thought, described by Havens and others, TSE reflects on, TSE's return from, TSE wonders at after-effect on EH, EH urged to reflect honestly on, Ada on, and a conversation about divorce, in EH's recollection, possible EH 1933 summer in England, TSE's 1933 Faber summer holiday, set for mid-August, postponed, rearranged, TSE buys summer outfits for, described, TSE's 1933 tour of Scotland, possible itinerary, Morley's preparations for, described for EH, TSE's 1933 trip to Paris, mooted, described, EH's 1934–5 year in Europe, TSE delighted at the prospect, attempts to coordinate with TSE's 1934 summer plans, the Perkinses due in Chipping Camden, EH's itinerary, TSE's initial weekend at Chipping Campden, TSE books rooms in Lechlade, TSE visits Campden again with family, and again alone, which visit TSE reflects on, TSE's plans to entertain EH en route to Europe, EH's continental itinerary, VHE and propriety inhibit pre-Paris arrangements, L'Escargot lunch, weekend in Sussex for EH's birthday, possible London tea-party, second lunch at L'Escargot, EH and TSE's November excursions, a month which TSE reflects happily on, EH's summer 1935 plans, EH departs England, EH in Florence, arrived in Rome, TSE coordinating with EH's return, TSE recommends Siena, EH returns to Florence, EH sails for Riviera, EH returns from France, L'Escargot lunch on EH's return, EH sails for Guernsey, May 1935, EH's June 1935 London sortie, TSE attends Dr Perkins's birthday, TSE's July 1935 Campden week, TSE offers to fund EH in London, where EH joins Jeanie McPherrin, TSE's Campden birthday weekend, prospect of EH spending month at Blomfield Terrace, Thorp theatre outing, TSE's 6–8 September Campden weekend, EH staying at 19 Rosary Gardens, EH to Campden for 15–17 November, EH sails for Boston, EH and TSE's final farewell, TSE and EH's final weeks in London, their excursion to Finchampstead, TSE reflects on, excursion to Greenwich, EH reflects on the final weeks of, TSE's 1934 Faber summer holiday, described, TSE's dream of Cairo, TSE's invitation to Finland, palmed off on Robert Nichols, TSE's 1935 tour of Scotland, proposed by Blake, attempts to coordinate with EH, TSE's itinerary, TSE's 1935 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, described, TSE's 1936 visit to Ireland, TSE's itinerary, recounted, TSE's spring/summer 1936 trip to Paris, first contemplated, date fixed, Morleys invited, TSE's itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1936 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, TSE's 1936 American trip, spring arrival dependent on New York Murder, if not spring, then autumn, possible excursions, autumn better for seeing EH, and possible Princeton offer, and possible Smith visit, efforts to coordinate with EH, passage on Alaunia booked, TSE's itinerary, Murder to pay for, coordinating with Eliot Randolph holiday, the moment of parting from EH, TSE's birthday during, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1937 tour of Scotland, itinerary, recounted, the Morley–Eliot 1937 trip to Salzburg, contemplated, itinerary, EH receives postcard from, described, as relayed to OM, EH's 1937 summer in England, and Mrs Seaverns, EH accompanies TSE to Edinburgh, itinerary coordinated with EH, dinner at L'Escargot, TSE's 10–11 July Campden visit, TSE's 17–22 July Campden visit, TSE's 21 August Campden visit, EH travels to Yorkshire, TSE reminisces about, TSE's 1937 Faber summer holiday, TSE reports from, leaves TSE sunburnt, TSE's 1938 trip to Lisbon, outlined to EH, TSE advised on, travel arrangements, the voyage out, described, EH's 1938 summer in England, and whether EH should spend it at Campden, EH's arrival confirmed, TSE's July Campden visit, EH's late-July London stay, TSE's 5–21 August Campden fortnight, TSE's 3–6 September Campden visit, EH's September London stay, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1938 Faber summer holiday, TSE's preparations for, TSE reports from, possible EH England Christmas 1938 visit, possible TSE 1939 visit to America, mooted for spring, complicated by Marion and Dodo's trip, shifted to autumn, threatened by war, made impossible, EH's 1939 England visit, TSE's efforts to coordinate with, threatened by war, complicated by Marion's arrival, EH's itinerary, EH's initial London stay, TSE's 7–20 July Campden visit, TSE's 22–30 August Campden visit, TSE's 2–4 September Campden visit, EH again London, EH and TSE's parting moments, in TSE's memory, memory vitiated by EH's subsequent letter, TSE's 1939 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, possible wartime transatlantic crossings, contingencies, in case of EH being ill, TSE's reasons for and against, and TSE's New York proposition, following invasion Denmark and Norway, impossible for TSE unless official, TSE's desire to remain in England, TSE's reasons for and against accepting lectureship, given Ada's impending death, TSE's abortive 1940 Italian mission, possible but confidential, lectures prepared for, and the prospect of seeing EP, might include Paris, itinerary, in jeopardy, final preparations for, cancelled, TSE's 1940 visit to Dublin, approved by Foreign Office, in national interest, itinerary, recounted, involves TSE's first plane-journey, TSE's 1940 Faber summer holiday, TSE reports from, TSE's 1941 Faber summer holiday, Kipling and fishing-rod packed for, TSE reports from, TSE's 1941 Northern tour, proposed by the Christendom group, arranged with Demant, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1942 British Council mission to Sweden, TSE makes cryptic allusion to, as recounted to EH, as recounted to JDH, return leg in London, as war-work, TSE's 1942 New Forest holiday, described, TSE's 1942 week in Scotland, recounted, TSE's abortive 1942 Iceland mission, TSE's 1943 trip to Edinburgh, recounted, TSE's abortive 1943 Iceland mission, TSE's 1943 New Forest holiday, TSE's 1944 trip to Edinburgh, TSE's abortive 1944 North Africa mission, TSE's May 1945 trip to Paris, described, TSE's June 1945 trip to Paris, recounted, possible post-war American visit, and Henry's impending death, ideally ancillary to work, possibly as F&F's representative, waits on TSE's health and Carlyle Mansions, TSE's 1945 September fortnight in Lee, described, TSE's 1945 Christmas in Lee, described, TSE's 1946 summer in America, date for passage fixed, paperwork for, TSE's itinerary, its aftermath, recounted, TSE's 1947 summer in America, dependent on lecture engagements, TSE seeks to bring forward, Henry's condition brings further forward, set for April, itinerary, EH reflects on, TSE's scheduled December 1947 visit to Marseilles and Rome, itinerary, TSE's preparations for, dreaded, Roman leg described by Roger Hinks, EH's hypothetical March 1948 visit to England, TSE's postponed 1948 trip to Aix, itinerary, recounted, home via Paris, TSE's 1948 trip to America, itinerary, TSE's visit to EH in Andover, disrupted by Nobel Prize, TSE's 1948 Nobel Prize visit to Stockholm, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1949 family motor-tour of Scotland, described, TSE's October–November 1949 trip to Germany, possible itinerary, preparations for, final itinerary, TSE's account of, the return via Belgium, TSE's January 1950 voyage to South Africa, all but fixed, itinerary, described by TSE, recounted by Faber, EH's 1950 summer in England, TSE books EH's hotel room for, TSE's efforts to coordinate with EH's movements, EH in Campden, TSE reports to Aunt Edith on, TSE's 1950 visit to America, and TSE's possible Chicago post, the Chicago leg, November itinerary, TSE's spring 1951 trip to Spain, itinerary, recounted, TSE's September 1951 Geneva stay, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1951 British Council mission to Paris, recounted, TSE's second 1951 British Council mission to Paris, recounted, TSE's 1952 visit to Rennes and the Riviera, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1952 visit to America, itinerary, efforts to coordinate with EH's summer, TSE on meeting with EH, TSE's 1952 rest cure in Switzerland, TSE's 1953 visit to St. Louis and America, set for June, to include fortnight in Cambridge, itinerary, EH's 1953 trip to England, EH's Alnwick plans, TSE books hotel for EH, and EH's ticket to Confidential Clerk, TSE's 1953 visit to Geneva, TSE's 1953–4 trip to South Africa, itinerary, described, arrival described to JDH, GCF on, TSE's 1954 Geneva rest cure, Geneva preferred to Paris, TSE's deferred 1955 visit to Hamburg, prospect inspires reluctance in TSE, proposed for spring 1955, dreaded, TSE now returned from, TSE's 1955 visit to America, and contingent speaking engagements, foreshortened, itinerary, Washington described, TSE's return from, TSE's 1955 Geneva rest cure, TSE's 1956 visit to America, passage fixed for April, itinerary, TSE in the midst of, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1956 Geneva rest cure, itinerary, recounted, illness during, EH's 1957 visit to England, TSE and EVE invited to Campden, TSE reciprocates with London invitation, but EH leaves England abruptly, which TSE consults Eleanor Hinkley over, who duly explains, TSE and EVE's 1958 trip to America, as rumoured to EH, EH's 1959 tour of Scandinavia, funded by bequest from cousin, TSE and EVE's 1959 trip to America, TSE and EVE's 1963 trip to America,
Wallop, Gerard, Viscount Lymington (later 9th Earl of Portsmouth), also at anti-Fabian dinner, compared to American conservatives, discusses agriculture, visited at Farleigh,

6.GerardWallop, Gerard, Viscount Lymington (later 9th Earl of Portsmouth) Wallop (1898–1984), farmer, landowner (Fairleigh House, Farleigh Wallop, Basingstoke), politician, writer on agricultural topics, was Viscount Lymington, 1925–43, before succeeding his father as 9th Earl of Portsmouth. Conservative Member of Parliament for Basingstoke, 1929–34. Active through the 1930s in the organic husbandry movement, and, in right-wing politics, he edited New Pioneer, 1938–40. Works include Famine in England (1938); Alternative to Death (F&F, 1943). See Philip Conford, ‘Organic Society: Agriculture and Radical Politics in the Career of Gerard Wallop, Ninth Earl of Portsmouth (1898–1984)’, The Agricultural History Review 53: 1 (2005), 78–96; Craig Raine, T. S. Eliot (Oxford, 2006), 190–4; and Jeremy Diaper, T. S. Eliot and Organicism (Clemson, S. C., 2018).

Watt, Bill, the Fabers' wartime lodger, TSE to visit, implores TSE to visit him in Cambridge, where TSE eventually visits,

3.BillWatt, Bill Watt, literary agent.

Williams, Charles, described for EH, at Guthrie's Measure for Measure, on Family Reunion, reviewed by TSE, visited by TSE at OUP, and C. S. Lewis lunch with TSE, dies, 'une âme pure', TSE's eulogy on, TSE writes introduction to promote, All Hallow's Eve, Cranmer, Descent of the Dove, Seed of Adam,

5.CharlesWilliams, Charles Williams (1886–1945), novelist, poet, playwright, writer on religion and theology; biographer; member of the Inklings: see Biographical Register.