[No surviving envelope]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Faber & Faber Ltd
22 December 1946
My Dearest

This is the last letter before Christmas, and I hope it will reach you at Commonwealth Avenue. IPerkinses, the;l9 shall send an inclusive cable to the Perkins’s tomorrow: IShamley Wood, SurreyChristmas at;a5 at Shamley shall think of you with your family burdens and difficulties on that day. I return on Saturday, and shall write again over the weekend; andappearance (TSE's)hernia;b9deferred operation for;a2 I hope that by Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week I shall be able to sit up and write a short scrawl (to Concord) to let you know of my progress. It is curious trying to analyse one’s feelings before undergoing an operation. I have only had one before, when I was 19; and since then twice in nursing homes only for complicated teeth extractions. And this is only a minor operation: but where there is no fear or danger of the consequences, there is still a certain revulsion from having something done to one – an odd feeling that for a few hours one ceases to be a person and becomes merely a thing to be dealt with. There is also a certain dread of nurses – women in whose hands one is helpless, and who will treat one as a child, either being hearty or peppery or bossy. Don’t think I am making a fuss, over such a small event!

AtEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother)terminal leukaemia;k7 any rate, I shall be free from foreign visitors for a time. I shall be a little anxious until the middle of February, lest I should get any sudden bad news about Henry, and be helpless; butSheffield, Alfred Dwight ('Shef' or 'Sheff')reports on Henry's condition;c6 so far as I can see, from what Sheff and Dr Hoyt tell me, there is no likelihood of any rapid deterioration in that time. It still seems to me possible that I might have to come in March, but I only keep this in mind so that I should not be too upset if the call did come. Even April is earlier than I should wish: I should prefer to come in May, in order to have as much as possible of your company, wherever you may be, after the end of the school term: but if you decide to do the Trojan Women, I may be able to see you in any case. You know, I have never yet seen a play produced by you, and that has been a matter of much regret.

I'Milton II'being revised;a6 must now leave off my Milton, half finished in its second writing: I still hope that I may be able to write it a third time. I do not know whether, after the two weeks in hospital, I shall be fit to sit up and type for any length of time during my week at home. IFabers, the;h2 may be able to take my material down to the Fabers with me, for the fourth week, but it is difficult to write apart from one’s books. TheBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)wants to record 'Milton II';d6 B.B.C. now want to record this lecture while I am giving it, and put it out later in the evening.

I appreciate your writing briefly on the 16th, and shall be glad if I may have frequent notes, even of only one side of a sheet, don’t try to write more – during the holidays and the busy days after your return.

IFamily Reunion, The1946 Mercury revival;i2TSE attends again in company;a3 don’t think I have written anything about my second visit to The Reunion. IBrowne, Henzie (née Raeburn)stands in for Henrietta Watson in Family Reunion;b2 hit upon an unfortunate night: MissWatson, HenriettaAmy in Family Reunion revival;a1 Watson, the lady of 73 who is such a superb Amy, was out with laryngitis, and her part was taken by Henzie! She did a very good conscientious job, I must say, as an understudy: and one hopes she does not realise how completely wrong she looks and is for such a part: instead of the middle-middle-class woman who has transformed herself by will and force of personality into a great lady of the upper middle class, she succeeds only in being a terribly dominating bourgeoise – a matriarch of the ghetto. The play was well attended, for a Tuesday so soon before Christmas, and is to go on at least through January. AlsoLacey, Catherineperformance swells with praise;a3 Agatha (Catherine Lacy [sc. Lacey]) has gone the way that so many actors and actresses go when they have been highly praised in a part (all the reviews praised her especially) and is now overacting and trying to express too much emotion: reeling, writhing and fainting in coils.1 IsSpeaight, Robertas Becket;c1 it really only a few actors who have the strength of character not to fall into exaggerating a successful part? Bobby went like that in his later stages as Becket: almost sobbing when he did his sermon. And they tend to make too long pauses for the audience to look at them. NowWheatley, Alanas Harry in Family Reunion;a1 Alan Wheatley, who is the Harry, is admirable in that respect: his performance the other night was identical with his performance the first night. Success has not turned his head in that way at all.

I suppose it is only the real rare artist who acts for the part and not for the applause. IBrowne, Elliott Martinas director;d8 spoke to Martin about Catherine Lacey: he said she had not been very well, but that did not seem to me quite relevant. I don’t know whether Martin makes himself feared enough.

My loving thoughts and wishes are with you for Christmas.

Your
Tom.

1.Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (‘The Mock Turtle’s Story’):

‘Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,’ the Mock Turtle replied; ‘and then the different branches of Arithmetic – Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.’

Alice … turned to the Mock Turtle, and said ‘What else had you to learn?’

‘Well, there was Mystery,’ the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers, ‘—Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: the Drawing – the Drawing-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: he taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils.’

appearance (TSE's), 'pudding-faced', TSE remembers wearing make-up, of a third-rate actor, likened to a crook, of a Chicago magnate, of a dissipated movie actor, of a debauched British statesman, hair-style, lobster-skinned, of a brutal Roman emperor, of a superior comic actor, of Maurice Evans, proud of his legs, wart on scalp, baldness, 'in spots', unlikely treatment for, 'as a bat', worsened by travel, due to worry, may require wig, in retreat, reasserts itself, confines TSE to single barber, eyes, dark, damaged by teeth-poisoning, figure, 'obese', altered by war, hernia, described, deferred operation for, recovery from, nose, the Eliot nostril, a Norman nose, too thin for pince-nez, teeth, 'nothing but chalk', EH severe on the state of, 'stumps', blamed for hair-loss, liable to be removed, blamed for rheumatism, false upper plate, plate reconstructed, state of, new false teeth, keystone tooth removed, remaining upper teeth removed, new plate,
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), TSE's committee service for, its future discussed, TSE working on autumn programme for, TSE on educational broadcasting in general, Barbara Burnham production of Murder, lobbies TSE for next play, 'The Need for Poetic Drama', Metaphyical poet broadcasts for, 'The Church's Message to the World', Christmas Day 'Cats' broadcast, dramatic Waste Land adaptation, which is censored for broadcast, repeats 'Cats', plays Parsifal on Good Friday, broadcasts Hawkins interview with TSE, 'Towards a Christian Britain', 1941 production of Murder, Eastern Service broadcasts East Coker, broadcasts Webster talk, Tennyson talk, Dry Salvages, Poe talk, Dryden talk, Joyce talk, European Service broadcasts TSE's talk, TSE declines Christmas broadcast for, wants to record 'Milton II', broadcasts TSE's personal poetry selection, broadcasts Gielgud's Family Reunion, marks TSE's 60th birthday, Gielgud Family Reunion repeated, solicits TSE post-Nobel Prize, TSE's EP broadcast for, records TSE reading Ash-Wednesday, floats Reith Lectures suggestion, approaches Marilyn Monroe to star in Fitts's Lysistrata,
Browne, Elliott Martin, meets TSE at Chichester, production of The Rock, meets TSE over possible collaboration, talks over outline of play, meets TSE with Martin Shaw, delighted with Rock choruses, discusses unwritten pageant scenes with TSE, predicament as The Rock's director, well connected in amateur circles, revising into the night with TSE, argues with Shaw at dress-rehearsal, presented to Prince Arthur, honoured by Rock cast-supper, producing Gordon Bottomley's play, speaks at Londonderry House with TSE, 1935 Canterbury Murder in the Cathedral, approached by TSE to 'produce', consulted throughout composition, goes silent, lunches with TSE and Speaight, directs and acts despite illness, pursues London Murder revival, 1935–6 Mercury Theatre Murder revival, engaged as producer by Dukes, keen that EH attend rehearsals, simultaneously part of BBC production, agrees about Speaight's decline, preferred as producer for TSE's next play, and Charles Williams's Cranmer, in which he plays 'the Skeleton', and TSE attend Tenebrae, taken to Cambridge after-feast, producing York Nativity Play, which TSE thinks Giottoesque, at Savile Club Murder dinner, producing Shakespeare's Dream, and Ascent of F6, and Tewkesbury Festival Murder confusion, 1939 production of The Family Reunion, due to be sent script, weighing TSE's proposal that he produce, enthused by script, suggests TSE see Mourning Becomes Electra, against Family Reunion as title, pleased with draft, quizzed on fire-safety, typescript prepared for, new draft submitted to, rewrite waits on, receives new draft, criticisms thereof, reports John Gielgud interest, mediates between Gielgud and TSE, TSE throws over Gielgud for, secures Westminster Theatre production, steps into company breach, then into still-greater breach, and the play's weaknesses, direction of Family Reunion, receives TSE's Shakespeare lectures, 1938 American Murder tour, re-rehearsing actors for, suffers fit of pre-tour gloom, yet to report from Boston, and Tewkesbury pageant, accompanies TSE to La Mandragola, on Family Reunion's future prospects, and possible Orson Welles interest, war leaves at loose end, advises TSE over next play, war work with Pilgrim Players, unavailable for modern-dress Murder, compared to tempter/knight successor, requests Pilgrim Players' play from TSE, New Plays by Poets series, as director, and This Way to the Tomb, and Family Reunion revival, urges TSE to concentrate on theatre, 1946 Mercury Family Reunion revival, in rehearsal, possible revue for Mercury Theatre, and The Lady's Not for Burning, Chairman of the Drama League, 1949 Edinburgh Cocktail Party, to produce, TSE's intended first reader for, receives beginning, approves first act, receives TSE's revisions, communciates Alec Guinness's enthusiasm, arranges reading, surpasses himself with production, in Florence, EH suggests moving on from, and the Poets' Theatre Guild, 1950 Cocktail Party New York transfer, compares Rex Harrison and Alec Guinness, TSE debates whether to continue collaboration with, suggests three-play TSE repertory, 1953 Edinburgh Confidential Clerk, receives first two acts, designing sets, 1953 Lyric Theatre Confidential Clerk, attends with TSE, 1954 American Confidential Clerk, 1954 touring Confidential Clerk, TSE and Martin Browne catch in Golders Green, seeks Family Reunion MS from EH,
see also Brownes, the Martin

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.

Browne, Henzie (née Raeburn), meets TSE at Chichester, and initial discussions of The Rock with TSE, discusses unwritten pageant scenes, in Family Reunion, asks after EH, looking after her two boys, in Old Man of the Mountains, stands in for Henrietta Watson in Family Reunion, marks TSE's OM with party, as Cocktail Party understudy, as actress,
see also Brownes, the Martin
Eliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother), hears TSE's Dryden broadcast, as potential confidant, sibling most attuned to TSE's needs, witness to the Eliots in 1926, surprises TSE in Boston, his aura of futility, disputes New Yorker profile of TSE, at Eliot family Thanksgiving, attends second Norton lecture, his business in Chicago, hosts TSE in New York, TSE reads his second detective story, his immaturity, accuses TSE of wrath, writes TSE long critical letter, the favourite of TSE's parents, sends New York Murder clippings, writes again about religion, insensitive to European affairs, Peabody Museum employ as research associate, gives TSE pyjamas for Christmas, sends TSE luggage for Christmas, hosts Murder's Boston cast, sends present to Morley children, cables TSE on 50th birthday, given draft of Family Reunion, gives TSE portfolio, champions Kauffer's photograph of TSE, explains operation on ears, sends list of securities, takes pleasure in shouldering Margaret, undergoes serious operation, recovering at home, as curator of Eliotana, as curator of Eliotana, war imperils final reunion with, and TSE's rumoured Vatican audience, corresponds with TSE monthly, offers Tom Faber wartime refuge, nervous about TSE during Blitz, as described by Frank Morley, recalls The Dry Salvages, has appendix out, cautioned as to health, frail, condition worries TSE, as correspondent, friend to J. J. Sweeney, tries TSE's patience, reports on Ada, describes Ada's funeral, beleaguered by Margaret, sent Picture Post F&F photos, likened to Grandfather Stearns, goitre operated on, his archaeological endeavours, back in hospital, imagined in exclusively female company, ill again, as brother, has pneumonia, terminal leukaemia, prospect of his death versus Ada's, anxieties induced by deafness, writes to TSE despite illness, death, memorial service for, on EH's presumption, Michael Roberts's symptoms reminiscent of, his Chicago acquaintance, friends with Robert Lowell's father, invoked against EH, on TSE's love for EH, buried in Garrett family lot, The Rumble Murders,

3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: see Biographical Register.

Fabers, the, model of happiness and respectability, their domestic situation, Faber children to tea chez Eliot, visit TSE at Pike's Farm, compared to the Morleys, closer to TSE than to VHE, 1933 summer holiday with, Ty Glyn Aeron described, request TSE to write play, too absorbed in their children, at the Morleys' party, give anti-Nazi party for author, host poker party, 1934 summer holiday with, take TSE to lunch in Oxford, 1935 summer holiday with, for which the children are bought tent, give party, 1936 summer holiday with, at Morleys' Thanksgiving Day party, sail model boats with TSE, and TSE's foggy adventure, cinema-going with TSE, take TSE to Witch of Edmonton, and Morleys take TSE to pantomime, and TSE attend opening of Ascent of F6, 1937 summer holiday with, and the Bradfield Greek play, School for Scandal with, take TSE to pantomime again, 1938 summer holiday with, 1939 summer holiday with, offer possible wartime refuge, 1940 summer holiday with, host TSE in Hampstead during war, TSE makes bread sauce for, brought vegetables from Shamley, move to Minsted, and TSE attend musical revue, 1941 summer holiday with, Minsted as substitute for nursing-home, trying to sell Welsh home, take TSE to International Squadron, invite TSE to Wales for Christmas, host TSE at Minsted, away fishing in Scotland, mourn TSE's post-war independence, 1947 Minsted summer stay, 1948 Minsted summer stay, host TSE for weekend, on 1950 South Africa trip, on TSE's 1951 Spain trip, 1951 Minsted summer stay, 1952 Minsted summer stay, 1953 Minsted summer stay, on 1953–4 South Africa trip, 35th wedding anniversary weekend,
Family Reunion, The, and TSE as Orestes, plot sought for, progress stalled, referred to as 'Orestes play', written against countdown to war, should be artistically a stretch, plot still not settled on, begun, compared to Murder, TSE on writing, described (mid-composition), and Gunn's Carmina Gadelica, described to GCF, EH questions Harry's entrance, draft read to Martin Brownes, projected autumn 1938 production, depletes TSE, and Mourning Becomes Electra, its Greek inheritance, alternatively 'Follow the Furies', first draft promised to EH, as inspired by Tenebrae, being rewritten, work suspended till summer, fair copy being typed, waiting on Browne and Dukes, 'Follow the Furies' quashed by EH, aspires to be Chekhovian, Dukes keen to produce, criticised by Martin Browne, under revision, submitted to EH's theatrical wisdom, for which TSE credits her, possible John Gielgud production, Gielgud-level casting, Browne's final revisions, with the printers, Henry loaned draft, Donat and Saint-Denis interested, in proof, progress towards staging stalled, Saint-Denis interest tempered, possible Tyrone Guthrie production, possible limited Mercury run, its defects, publication scheduled, first draft sent to EH, Michael Redgrave interested in, March 1939 Westminster Theatre production, waits on terms, rehearsals for, which are photographed, opening night contemplated without EH, last-minute flutters, opening night, reception, coming off, TSE's final visit to, Dukes bullish on New York transfer, EH spurs TSE's reflections on, and Otway's Venice Preserv'd, American reception, and Orson Welles, F&F's sales, 1940 American production, Henry harps on the personal aspect, its cheerfulness, EH acknowledges part in, 1943 ADC production, in Dadie Rylands's hands, described, certain lines expressing TSE's frustrations, EH discusses with pupils, plays in Zurich, 1946 Birmingham production, 1946 Mercury revival, rehearsals for, opening night, TSE attends again in company, Spanish translation of, VHE's death calls to mind, its deficiencies, BBC Gielgud broadcast version, first aired, to be repeated, goes nominally with The Cocktail Party, Swedish National Theatre production, compared to Cocktail Party, EH's response to, more 'personal' than Cocktail Party, performed in Göttingen, 1950 Düsseldorf production, 1953 New York production vetoed, 1956 Phoenix Theatre revival, described, Peter Brook congratulated on, Martin Browne seeks MS of,
Lacey, Catherine, as Agatha in Family Reunion, again Agatha in 1946 revival, Daily Telegraph singles out, performance swells with praise, possible Mrs Guzzard,

2.CatherineLacey, Catherine Lacey (1904–79): British actor who was Agatha in The Family Reunion at the Westminster Theatre in 1939 and again at the Mercury Theatre in 1946.

'Milton II', TSE reading for, drafted, being revised, further revision, apparently perceived as 'recantation',
Perkinses, the, likely to be interested in An Adventure, compared to Mary Ware, enjoyable dinner at the Ludlow with, take to TSE, TSE desires parental intimacy with, their dinner-guests dismissed by TSE, who repents of seeming ingratitude, TSE confides separation plans to, too polite, questioned as companions for EH, offered English introductions, entertained on arrival in London, seek residence in Chichester, given introduction to G. C. Coulton, take house at Chipping Camden, as Chipping Campden hosts, given introduction to Bishop Bell, TSE entertains at Oxford and Cambridge Club, TSE's private opinion on, TSE encourages EH's independence from, their repressive influence on EH, buy TSE gloves for Christmas, sent Lapsang Souchong on arrival in England, invite TSE to Campden, move apartment, anticipate 1938 English summer, descend on EH in Northampton, and EH's wartime return to America, temporarily homeless, enfeebled, EH forwards TSE teenage letter to, their health, which is a burden, approve EH's permanent Abbot position,
Shamley Wood, Surrey, TSE issued standing invitation to, his situation as paying guest, daily and weekly life at, dramatis personae, Christmas at, ideal situation for illness, overheated, depressingly female, TSE leads fire practice at, TSE takes week's rest from, its melodramas, TSE quarantined from, its lack of music, and Reay's homecoming, TSE distributes food parcels at, TSE's gradual removal from, TSE's post-war week's holiday at, post-hernia convalescence at,
Sheffield, Alfred Dwight ('Shef' or 'Sheff'), respected by TSE, helps with The Use of Poetry, seems sympathetic to EH, corresponds with TSE in Ada's stead, writes explaining Ada's condition, writes touchingly, faced with Ada's death, writes from Ada's deathbed, as correspondent, shares tributes to Ada, reads 'credo' at Ada's funeral, which instances his jargon, shares prognosis on Henry, advises on urgency of TSE's trip, reports on Henry's condition, offers TSE financial assistance, exasperation with Eleanor Hinkley,
see also Sheffields, the

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).

Speaight, Robert, singled out as Malvolio, chats to TSE at OM's, talked through part of Becket by TSE, excited at TSE's dramatic ambitions, never happier on stage, committed to Mercury Murder revival, unimprovable as Becket, in Mercury Theatre production, issues TSE with Irish introductions, his performance agreed to be going stale, at 100th performance of Murder, cast in Williams's Cranmer, his Becket critiqued by Tandy, as Becket, records Becket's sermon, which TSE is against, at post-performance feast in Cambridge, better as Cranmer than Becket, sermon reblocked for Duchess Theatre, at Savile Club Murder dinner, and the royal visit, becoming conceited, performance pruned in re-rehearsal, problems with his performance persist, in EH's report, compared to Robert Sansom, broadcasts East Coker, gives small dinner at Garrick, swoops on Shamley to record TSE, discounted from film of Murder, complains and is disingenuously soothed, as Elijah in Nicholson's debut, attends Family Reunion with TSE, still playing Becket, misrepresents TSE's views, in Belgium, ruined by Becket, in The Confidential Clerk,

2.RobertSpeaight, Robert Speaight (1904–77), actor, producer and author, was to create the role of Becket in Murder in the Cathedral in 1935: see Biographical Register.

Watson, Henrietta, Amy in Family Reunion revival,

1.HenriettaWatson, Henrietta Watson (1873–1964), Scottish stage and screen actor.

Wheatley, Alan, as Harry in Family Reunion,