T. S. Eliot the Poems, Volume 2
Page 2
part a division of a poem marked by the author with a numeral
quad-ruled printed with vertical and horizontal lines forming rectangles
reciprocal of typescripts in which the two or more pages are a mixture of cognate ribbon copies and carbons, and which together would constitute the complete ribbon copy and the complete carbon
scored marked with a vertical line in the margin
section a division of the text of a book (“The section of ‘Occasional Poems’ was introduced in 1963”)
separately constituting an entire book, pamphlet or c
stepped arranged on more than one line; unless specified, each step beginning where the previous ends
variant difference in the text; within TSE’s poems, unless otherwise specified, variants are differences from the main text of the present edition (see Textual History)
widow a last word or short last line of a paragraph falling at the top of a page or column
Abbreviations and Symbols
ANQ American Notes and Queries
AraVP Ara Vos Prec (Ovid Press, 1920)
Ariel Faber Ariel Poem pamphlets (standard editions)
Ash-Wed Ash-Wednesday (Faber, 1930)
Beinecke Beinecke Library, Yale University
BL British Library
BN Burnt Norton pamphlet (1941)
Composition FQ Helen Gardner, The Composition of “Four Quartets” (Faber, 1978)
del. delete, deleted
DS The Dry Salvages pamphlet (1941)
EC East Coker pamphlet (1940)
ed. edition, editor, edited (by)
EinC Essays in Criticism
ELH English Literary History
ELN English Language Notes
Fr. French
Ger. German
Houghton Houghton Library, Harvard University
Inf. Inferno (Dante)
King’s Modern Archive Centre, King’s College, Cambridge
L. Latin
LG Little Gidding pamphlet (1942)
Magdalene Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge
March Hare Inventions of the March Hare
MLN Modern Language Notes
MLR Modern Language Review
ms manuscript
N&Q Notes and Queries
NEW New English Weekly
NY New York
NYPL New York Public Library
OED The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989, with online updates)
Oxf Bk of English Verse The Oxford Book of English Verse ed. A. T. Quiller-Couch (1900)
PMLA Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
Purg. Purgatory (Dante)
repr. reprint, reprinted
RES Review of English Studies
rev. revised
Sw. Ag. Sweeney Agonistes (Faber, 1932)
Texas Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin
TLS Times Literary Supplement
tr. translation, translated (by)
ts typescript
U. University, University of
VE Valerie Eliot
WLComposite composite text of the drafts of The Waste Land (present edition)
WLFacs The Waste Land: A Facsimile and Transcript of the Original Drafts including the Annotations of Ezra Pound ed. Valerie Eliot (1971)
Abbreviated titles are detailed in Volume I, Index of Identifying Titles for Prose by T. S. Eliot. Abbreviated titles for TSE’s poetic works are detailed in this volume, in the Textual History headnote, 3. KEY TO EDITIONS.
Abbreviated titles for works by other authors are detailed in Volume I, in the Bibliography.
Quotations from OED retain its abbreviations.
SYMBOLS
| line break, used in quotations from verse
| | stanza break, used in quotations from verse
informal ampersand, used in quotations from manuscript
+ “and in derived text” (of a reading within a poem, or a poem within editions)
¶ new paragraph
> or < line space (used at the foot of a page in the poems)
[ ] enclosing a date not specified by the author or publisher
^ insertion, used to indicate where additional material was to be placed
· · · ellipsis (raised), used to indicate omissions made by the editors of the present edition
… ellipsis (baseline), used in quotation where the ellipsis is present in the original
. . ellipsis in entries quoted from OED
‖ used to separate different readings within textual history collations; see Volume II, Textual History headnote, 2. NOTATION
to indicate a range of instances most of which, but not necessarily all, have a certain feature; see Volume II, Textual History headnote, 2. NOTATION
Preface
This Book is respectfully dedicated to those friends who have assisted its composition by their encouragement, criticism and suggestions: and in particular to Mr. T. E. Faber, Miss Alison Tandy, Miss Susan Wolcott, Miss Susanna Morley, and the Man in White Spats.
O. P.
[Commentary II 53–54 · Textual History II 625]
The Naming of Cats
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
5
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey—
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
10
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter—
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
15
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum—
20
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover—
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
25
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
30
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
[Commentary II 54–57 · Textual History II 625]
The Old Gumbie Cat
I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots.
All day she sits upon the stair or on the steps or on the mat:
She sits and sits and sits and sits—and that’s what makes a Gumbie Cat!
5
But when the day’s hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat’s work is but hardly begun.
And when all the family’s in bed and asleep,
She slips down the stairs to the basement to creep.
She is deeply concerned with the ways of the mice—
10
Their behaviour’s not good and their manners not nice;
So when she has got them lined up on the matting,
She teaches them music, crocheting and tatt
ing.
I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots.
15
All day she sits beside the hearth or on the bed or on my hat:
She sits and sits and sits and sits—and that’s what makes a Gumbie Cat!
But when the day’s hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat’s work is but hardly begun.
As she finds that the mice will not ever keep quiet,
20
She is sure it is due to irregular diet;
And believing that nothing is done without trying,
She sets straight to work with her baking and frying.
She makes them a mouse-cake of bread and dried peas,
And a beautiful fry of lean bacon and cheese.
>
[Commentary II 57–58 · Textual History II 625–26]
25
I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots.
She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that’s smooth and flat:
She sits and sits and sits and sits—and that’s what makes a Gumbie Cat!
But when the day’s hustle and bustle is done,
30
Then the Gumbie Cat’s work is but hardly begun.
She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment
To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment.
So she’s formed, from that lot of disorderly louts,
A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts,
35
With a purpose in life and a good deed to do—
And she’s even created a Beetles’ Tattoo.
So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers—
On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.
[Commentary II 58 · Textual History II 626]
Growltiger’s Last Stand
GROWLTIGER was a Bravo Cat, who travelled on a barge:
In fact he was the roughest cat that ever roamed at large.
From Gravesend up to Oxford he pursued his evil aims,
Rejoicing in his title of ‘The Terror of the Thames’.
5
His manners and appearance did not calculate to please;
His coat was torn and seedy, he was baggy at the knees;
One ear was somewhat missing, no need to tell you why,
And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye.
The cottagers of Rotherhithe knew something of his fame;
10
At Hammersmith and Putney people shuddered at his name.
They would fortify the hen-house, lock up the silly goose,
When the rumour ran along the shore: GROWLTIGER’S ON THE LOOSE!
Woe to the weak canary, that fluttered from its cage;
Woe to the pampered Pekinese, that faced Growltiger’s rage;
15
Woe to the bristly Bandicoot, that lurks on foreign ships,
And woe to any Cat with whom Growltiger came to grips!
But most to Cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed;
To Cats of foreign name and race no quarter was allowed.
The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear—
20
Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear.
Now on a peaceful summer night, all nature seemed at play,
The tender moon was shining bright, the barge at Molesey lay.
All in the balmy moonlight it lay rocking on the tide—
And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side.
25
His bucko mate, GRUMBUSKIN, long since had disappeared,
For to the Bell at Hampton he had gone to wet his beard;
And his bosun, TUMBLEBRUTUS, he too had stol’n away—
In the yard behind the Lion he was prowling for his prey.
[Commentary II 58–59 · Textual History II 626–27]
In the forepeak of the vessel Growltiger sate alone,
30
Concentrating his attention on the Lady GRIDDLEBONE.
And his raffish crew were sleeping in their barrels and their bunks—
As the Siamese came creeping in their sampans and their junks.
Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone,
And the Lady seemed enraptured by his manly baritone,
35
Disposed to relaxation, and awaiting no surprise—
But the moonlight shone reflected from a hundred bright blue eyes.
And closer still and closer the sampans circled round,
And yet from all the enemy there was not heard a sound.
The lovers sang their last duet, in danger of their lives—
40
For the foe was armed with toasting forks and cruel carving knives.
Then GILBERT gave the signal to his fierce Mongolian horde;
With a frightful burst of fireworks the Chinks they swarmed aboard.
Abandoning their sampans, and their pullaways and junks,
They battened down the hatches on the crew within their bunks.
45
Then Griddlebone she gave a screech, for she was badly skeered;
I am sorry to admit it, but she quickly disappeared.
She probably escaped with ease, I’m sure she was not drowned—
But a serried ring of flashing steel Growltiger did surround.
The ruthless foe pressed forward, in stubborn rank on rank;
50
Growltiger to his vast surprise was forced to walk the plank.
He who a hundred victims had driven to that drop,
At the end of all his crimes was forced to go ker-flip, ker-flop.
Oh there was joy in Wapping when the news flew through the land;
At Maidenhead and Henley there was dancing on the strand.
55
Rats were roasted whole at Brentford, and at Victoria Dock,
And a day of celebration was commanded in Bangkok.
[Commentary II 59–60 · Textual History II 627–28]
The Rum Tum Tugger
The Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat:
If you offer him pheasant he would rather have grouse.
If you put him in a house he would much prefer a flat,
If you put him in a flat then he’d rather have a house.
5
If you set him on a mouse then he only wants a rat,
If you set him on a rat then he’d rather chase a mouse.
Yes the Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat—
And there isn’t any call for me to shout it:
For he will do
10
As he do do
And there’s no doing anything about it!
The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore:
When you let him in, then he wants to be out;
He’s always on the wrong side of every door,
15
And as soon as he’s at home, then he’d like to get about.
He likes to lie in the bureau drawer,
But he makes such a fuss if he can’t get out.
Yes the Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat—
And it isn’t any use for you to doubt it:
20
For he will do
As he do do
And there’s no doing anything about it!
The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious beast:
His disobliging ways are a matter of habit.
25
If you offer him fish then he always wants a feast;
When there isn’t any fish then he won’t eat rabbit.
If you offer him cream then he sniffs and sneers,
For he only likes what he finds for himself;
So you’ll catch him in it right up to the ears,
[Commentary II 60–61 · Textual History II 628]
/> 30
If you put it away on the larder shelf.
The Rum Tum Tugger is artful and knowing,
The Rum Tum Tugger doesn’t care for a cuddle;
But he’ll leap on your lap in the middle of your sewing,
For there’s nothing he enjoys like a horrible muddle.
35
Yes the Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat—
And there isn’t any need for me to spout it:
For he will do
As he do do
And there’s no doing anything about it!
[Commentary II 61 · Textual History II 628]
The Song of the Jellicles
Jellicle Cats come out to-night,
Jellicle Cats come one come all:
The Jellicle Moon is shining bright—
Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball.
5
Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul.
Jellicle Cats have cheerful faces,
10
Jellicle Cats have bright black eyes;
They like to practise their airs and graces
And wait for the Jellicle Moon to rise.
Jellicle Cats develop slowly,
Jellicle Cats are not too big;
15
Jellicle Cats are roly-poly,
They know how to dance a gavotte and a jig.
Until the Jellicle Moon appears
They make their toilette and take their repose:
Jellicles wash behind their ears,
20
Jellicles dry between their toes.
Jellicle Cats are white and black,
Jellicle Cats are of moderate size;
Jellicles jump like a jumping-jack,
Jellicle Cats have moonlit eyes.
25
They’re quiet enough in the morning hours,