The Sadler’s Wells programme for The Rock had a foreword by G. Vernon Willesden and Bertram F. Kensington which describes the enterprise:
the Pageant Play · · · will succeed not in proportion to the financial result, but just in so far as the spiritual needs of our new districts are brought home to those who live in the older London · · · Out in Middlesex, to the North and West of London, you will find suburb after suburb where ten years ago were large country estates, lanes and fields. They cluster round railway lines and ’bus routes like leaves upon a branch · · · You will see young married people, proud of their labour-saving houses and their district, settling down to bring up children in the clearer air and more open surroundings of outer London · · · But often you will look in vain for what hitherto has been the heart and centre of each English community, the parish Church. It can make no profit and can call for no compulsory tax; it can be provided solely by the goodwill and sacrifice of those who believe it to be the great essential of human life · · · our real concern is with the deeper issue: the religious education of the children, the spiritual provision for those who are building homes and families in new areas, the claim of God on our new London.
That is the burden of responsibility which this Play asks older London to share with us. We want to send clergy, we want to secure sites, we want to build halls, and eventually, probably with financial help from demolished churches from central London, to build parish churches. But first our work is to advertise the need, and to ask all the Church people of older London to share the responsibility laid upon the Diocese.
A list of elements to be written, prepared probably by Browne (Bodleian ms Don. d.44 fol.67) includes:
[Poem I 151–76 · Textual History II 469–81]
CHORUSES.
5 min. A. Discounting of religion in modern thought.
2 min. B. The Building of Nehemiah.
2 min. C. The Church shall suffer again and again.
Part II.
3 min. D. The Crusades.
4 min. E. Puritans. Argument of service of Art to Faith.
4 min. F. Preparation for Dedication.
The first four of these are ticked in pencil. The list concludes with “BUILDERS’ SONG”, also ticked.
TSE sent Bonamy Dobrée part of the dialogue on 27 Mar 1934: “HERE is my dialogue do not laugh at my simplicity: I am told to have Wren talking to Pepys and Evelyn (First, does this too far violate probability) and saying he is designing St. Paul. His predicting jerrybuilding of future is MY idea and I should like to keep it—please PLEASE try to put this into good period language for me and hash it about as you will, shall be grateful and will acknowledge in preface.” As the report for the Lord Chamberlain shows (see 5. PERFORMANCE, below), it was well known that
Sir Christopher Wren
Said, “I am going to dine with some men.
If anybody calls
Say I am designing St. Paul’s.”
E. C. Bentley, Biography for Beginners (1905),
illustrated by G. K. Chesterton
The joke survived in the dialogue (The Rock 83). Bentley gave his middle name, Clerihew, to such profiles in verse (see “Uncollected Poems” for TSE’s clerihews). Bentley’s son Nicolas drew the pictures for a subsequent collection, Baseless Biography, in 1939, and for Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats in 1940.
TSE’s original draft of a cockney scene at the beginning of The Rock was respectfully but forcefully criticised by the Rev. Vincent Howson of “The East End Amateurs” in a letter to Martin Browne, 29 Mar 1934: “he is dealing with something which he has not yet mastered, the cockney mind, and with London papers, like the Daily Mail, and others who make a big thing of cockney dialect, he must get this part true to life” (Bodleian); see TSE’s acknowledgement of Howson in Prefatory Note (below).
TSE to Donald Brace, 2 June 1934: “I am sending you four copies of my latest production, a kind of play called The Rock, which was written for performance on a specific occasion here in London · · · The only point about it worth making is that the choruses do represent a new verse experiment on my part; and taken together, make a sequence of verses about twice the length of The Waste Land.” To A. L. Rowse, 13 June 1934: “I was deliberately trying to strike out a new line, which I felt might alienate some of my earlier supporters. Except for the abortive Sweeney Agonistes it is my first complete attempt on a major scale, and I often felt, while working on the pageant, that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I hope at least that it will put an end to the nonsense about ‘intellectualism’ and ‘obscurity’. I am anything but an intellectual; more nearly a pure émotif. And nobody with anything to say wants to be obscure. But one isn’t naturally simple or lucid; it takes work and experience to get there. One has to shed a great deal, or work out a lot of poison; and perhaps simplicity only comes through a gradual mastery of one’s own emotions. But perhaps when I say ‘simplicity’ here I mean objectivity.”
[Poem I 151–76 · Textual History II 469–81]
5. PERFORMANCE
The Rock was licensed for public performance at Sadler’s Wells by the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, 12 Apr 1934 (BL). As with Sweeney Agonistes, the official reader was G. S. Street, who reported:
There are a multitude of scenes in this “pageant play” but they succeed one another without pause. A serious study of it would take a day’s hard reading, not that it is obscure—as I find much of the author’s other poetry—but because the incidents and characters and the ideas expressed by them are so numerous. It is partly in verse and partly in prose dialogue: in the case of the modern workmen introduced slangy and topical. It goes to and fro in time and I think T. S. Eliot has attempted to cram too much into it. The scene is an open space, we learn from inference on the banks of the Thames. A male and female chorus begin and resume at intervals: it expresses the poet’s point of view, I suppose. Then “The Rock” comes on. It is not until the end of the pageant that The Rock is identified with St. Peter. He speaks of man’s labours. We then have some modern workmen who are building a church. Rahere, who built St. Bartholomew, appears to them and his workmen lend a hand. I think that not to weary the Lord Chamberlain I had better from this point merely give a list of the personages who appear: he will readily imagine the ideas and arguments for which they stand. A Modern Agitator. The Jews rebuilding Jerusalem. A crowd incited by the Agitator against the workmen. The Danish invasion. Shock Troops and Black Shirts. A Plutocrat with a long speech to them. The Rock again. Part II The Chorus and The Rock. Bishop Blomfield. Young men setting out in Richard’s Crusade, with a Latin service for them and investment with their Crosses. An argument between modern people about art and religion. Very long sermons by a Reformation preacher, ending in a Priest’s going to be burnt. The Rock, or St. Peter, again. A ballet of Dick Whittington and his Cat(!) Pepys, Evelyn and Wren conversing after dinner and Mr Eliot positively gets in the Chesterton [and Bentley] joke about Wren. St. Peter again and a Benediction by the Bishop—of London?
The author’s religious views and the auspices of the Bishop of London guarantee the reverence of the religious portions of the pageant, nor would anyone object to the lighter passages. I think Mr Eliot goes out of his way to exaggerate the views of “The Blackshirts”, if he means the followers of Sir Oswald Mosley and this introduction of political animus seems a great pity. I should be inclined at least to suggest to the author the excision of these passages. See I, 34. There is a conversational bloody (I, 4) but I should not interfere with that. Recommended for Licence.
Beneath this is a comment by the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Cromer: “This is a curious play to receive the blessing of the Bishop of London, but as it seems to be the case I hardly think any interference necessary.”
The Rock was first performed at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre on 28 May 1934 (Ralph Vaughan Williams sending a congratulatory postcard to the composer, Martin Shaw, on 30 May). Each scene featured performers and directors from several different London
churches. The Finale: Blessing of the New Church (AD 1934) featured “Representatives of churches built in London in every decade, 1834–1934, and of former scenes.” The Chorus consisted of “seven male and ten female figures” who “speak as the voice of the Church of God”. Choruses I–VI appear in Part I, choruses VII–X in Part II.
[Poem I 151–76 · Textual History II 469–81]
6. APROPOS OF PERFORMANCE AND PUBLICATION
T. S. Eliot and Martin Browne, The Story of the Pageant, Sadler’s Wells programme:
The Rock is not a pageant in the usual sense. It does not consist of a number of historical scenes or tableaux in order of time. The aim is not merely to remind people that churches have been built in the past, but to employ the historical scenes to reinforce, in appropriate places, the emphasis upon the needs of the present · · ·
A Chorus, as in Greek Tragedy, comments in verse from time to time upon the needs and troubles of the Church to-day, and upon the action. This Chorus opens both parts of the play, and from time to time appeals to “The Rock,” who, though he takes little part in the action, symbolizes the permanence and continuity of the Church of God, and its resistance to the forces of evil and dissolution.
After the opening chorus, and some words of encouragement and consolation by “The Rock,” a chant of Builders is heard, followed by a chant of the Unemployed, to which the Builders reply. The light then discovers the modern bricklayers discussing their work and many other things as well. A remark by one of them leads to an “experiment with time,” in which the builders find themselves spectators of the conversion of Sabert, King of London, and his Saxon followers, by the Roman missionary Mellitus.
(For TSE on J. W. Dunne’s An Experiment with Time, see headnote to Burnt Norton: 2. GENESIS.) TSE to Webb-Odell, 8 Feb 1934: “I seem to have mislaid the letter in which you gave me bibliography for Rahere, nor do I remember whether you made any suggestion of whence to draw the material for a sermon by Mellitus (I imagine that there is none recorded, from what I find out of that saint, but perhaps there are early sermons which would do). Would you be so kind as to tell me what you can?” (Rahere founded St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1123. St. Mellitus, first Bishop of London and third Archbishop of Canterbury, was part of the mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 595 to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.)
Prefatory Note:
I cannot consider myself the author of the “play”, but only of the words which are printed here. The scenario, incorporating some historical scenes suggested by the Rev. R. Webb-Odell, is by Mr. E. Martin Browne, under whose direction I wrote the choruses and dialogues, and submissive to whose expert criticism I rewrote much of them. Of only one scene am I literally the author: for this scene and of course for the sentiments expressed in the choruses I must assume the responsibility.
I should like to make grateful acknowledgment of the collaboration of Dr. Martin Shaw, who composed the music. To Mr. F. V. Morley I am indebted for one speech for which technical knowledge of bricklaying was required; to Major Bonamy Dobrée for correcting the diction of the Christopher Wren scene; to Mr. W. F. Cachemaille-Day for information concerning the relations of architects, contractors and foremen. The Rev. Vincent Howson has so completely rewritten, amplified and condensed the dialogue between himself (“Bert”) and his mates, that he deserves the title of joint author.
T. S. E.
April 1934
The title-page of Faber’s edition read: “THE ROCK | A PAGEANT PLAY | WRITTEN FOR PERFORMANCE | AT SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE | 28 MAY — 9 JUNE 1934 | ON BEHALF OF THE | FORTY-FIVE CHURCHES FUND | OF THE DIOCESE OF | LONDON | | BOOK OF WORDS BY | T. S. ELIOT”. TSE wrote the jacket material:
[Poem I 151–76 · Textual History II 469–81]
The Rock, recently performed at Sadler’s Wells, is a work of collaboration between Mr. Eliot and Mr. Martin Browne, the producer of the play: Mr. Browne providing the scenario, and Mr. Eliot the words. The action turns upon the efforts and difficulties of a group of London masons in building a church. Incidentally a number of historical scenes, illustrative of church-building, are introduced. The recent production on behalf of the Forty-Five Churches Fund of the Diocese of London, included much pageantry, mimetic action, and ballet; with music by Dr. Martin Shaw. This is the text provided by Mr. Eliot. The dialogue is mostly in prose; but the choruses, in considerable variety, constitute a piece of work in verse much longer than any of his previously published poems. The author has experimented in the attempt to find modern forms of verse suitable for the stage.
Grover Smith 1956 316 notes, as Gallup does not, a slip “prepared for insertion in copies of the first English edition”: “In the Iconoclasm scene, all the incidents are taken from London history. St. Uncumber’s statue was divested of its ‘gay gown silver shoes’; the Maypole from St. Andrew’s Undershaft was destroyed by Puritans who objected to the name of the church being derived from it; the Rood of St. Paul’s was broken up in the street and the head desecrated. The sermons are extracts from those of Latimer and others.”
US jacket material:
The choruses in this pageant play represent a new verse experiment on Mr. Eliot’s part; and taken together make a sequence of verses about twice the length of The Waste Land. Mr. Eliot has written the words; the scenario and design of the play were provided by a collaborator, and the purpose was to provide a pageant of the Church of England for presentation on a particular occasion. The action turns upon the efforts and difficulties of a group of London masons in building a church. Incidentally a number of historical scenes, illustrative of church-building, are introduced. The play, enthusiastically greeted, was first presented in England, at Sadler’s Wells; the production included much pageantry, mimetic action, and ballet, with music by Dr. Martin Shaw. Immediately after the production of this play in England, Francis Birrell wrote in The New Statesman: “The magnificent verse, the crashing Hebraic choruses which Mr. Eliot has written had best be studied in the book. The Rock is certainly one of the most interesting artistic experiments to be given in recent times.” The Times Literary Supplement also spoke with high praise: “The choruses exceed in length any of his previous poetry; and on the stage they prove the most vital part of the performance. They combine the sweep of psalmody with the exact employment of colloquial words. They are lightly written, as though whispered to the paper, yet are forcible to enunciate · · · There is exhibited a command of novel and musical dramatic speech which, considered alone, is an exceptional achievement.”
[Poem I 151–76 · Textual History II 469–81]
7. AFTERWARDS
To the Editor of The Spectator, 1 June 1934 (pub. 8 June):
Mr. Verschoyle’s amiable review of The Rock in your issue of to-day leaves me wondering what he thinks that the production was intended to be. The “play” makes no pretence of being a “contribution to English dramatic literature”: it is a revue. My only seriously dramatic aim was to show that there is a possible rôle for the Chorus: an aim which would have failed completely without the aid of a perfectly trained group of speakers like Miss Fogerty’s. And to consider The Rock as an “official apologia” for church-building is to lay a weight upon it which this rock was never intended to bear. It is not an apologia for the campaign, but an advertisement. If I had meant to write an apologia—I do not know whether any other people besides Mr. Verschoyle think that one is needed—I should have written a prose pamphlet.
I also wonder what Mr. Verschoyle wanted, when he speaks of my “reluctance to commit myself to logical justification” and my “unwillingness to substantiate my beliefs”. He does not make matters clearer by referring to “despair of the Church’s attitude towards such questions as Housing and Population”—a despair which we are to believe has helped to convert people to Communism or Fascism. Let me recommend for reading, to Communists, Fascists, and Mr. Verschoyle, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s speech at the Guildhall on March 12th, on the subject of Housing. And as for Population
, would Mr. Verschoyle have wished me to tax my poetic resources by making my Chorus declaim about Birth-Control?
The Poems of T. S. Eliot Volume I Page 122
