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T. S. Eliot the Poems, Volume 2

Page 63

by T. S. Eliot


  III 33–35 You say · · · it again?] not ts1, ts2 (so that III 33 continues with In order to arrive there,)

  III 34 before.] before? Valerie’s Own Book

  III 35 again?] here and now? ts3a 2nd reading, NEW, Partisan. Copies of NEW inscribed to Richard Jennings on “Ascension Day [2 May] 1940” (Eton) and to I. A. Richards, 4 June 1940 (Magdalene) were both emended by TSE to “again?”, as were the copies of NEW 2nd proof sent to Belgion and Mrs. Babbitt. See Commentary.

  III 37, as also 39, 41, 43] no indent Valerie’s Own Book

  III 38 not] typed over kno ts3

  III 39] double indent EC

  III 42 what] where ts1, ts2 1st reading

  III 45] not Valerie’s Own Book

  [Poem I 188–89 · Commentary I 943–46]

  IV

  IV 3 Beneath] Under ts1b alt del, ts2a 2nd reading, ts3, NEW 1st proof 1st reading

  IV 4 compassion] ringed with compunction?? NEW 1st proof

  IV 5 Resolving the] And faint below the strict ts1, ts1b 1st reading, ts2 1st reading ‖ And faint beneath the strict ts1b alt ‖ Below the strict ts1b final reading, ts2, ts3, NEW 1st proof 1st reading

  IV 6 disease] disease, ts1, ts2

  IV 7 nurse] nurse, ts1

  IV 9 Adam’s] to Frank Morley, 20 Feb 1943, listing proof corrections for US 1943: “Delete comma after ‘Adam’s’ (Adam’s Curse).”

  IV 10 sickness] suffering ts1 ‖ malady ts2b, ts2a 1st reading with ailment above perhaps as alt (both del) and with sickness? by Hayward ‖ sickness ts2a 3rd reading. To Hayward, 27 Feb 1940: “Sickness. I will make this alteration” (Composition FQ 109).

  IV 10 ^ 11] no space 1995

  IV 12 ruined] bankrupt ts1a, ts1b 1st reading

  IV 15 leave us,] let us be, ts1a, ts1b 1st reading, ts2 1st reading prevents] EC+ ‖ must torment ts1a, ts1b 1st reading, ts2 1st reading ‖ torments ts1b, ts2, ts3, NEW (emended to prevents in copy sent to Richards and in NEW 2nd proof sent to Belgion), Partisan. To Frank Morley, 20 Feb 1943, listing proof corrections for US 1943: “Read prevents instead of torments.”

  IV 15 ^ 16] 21–24 written and cancelled in Valerie’s Own Book

  IV 22 food:] food, ts1

  V

  All ts1 readings are from ts1 add. leaves except as specified in V 2.

  V 1 So here] Here ts1

  V 2] 20 yrs | l’entre 2 guerres | 20 yrs. or 600 upwards| Home is where we start from. slantwise ts1b fol. 7v (the last becoming V 19) Twenty years] Twenty years, ts2 the years of] ts1 ‖ not ts1 1st reading ‖ of ts1 2nd reading l’entre deux guerres] l’entre deux guerres ts1 1st reading guerres—] guerres 1959 pbk ‖ guerres, Valerie’s Own Book

  V 4 different kind of] wholly fresh ts1

  V 6–8] ts1 1st reading:

  For the things one no longer has to say, so each venture

  Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate

  perhaps an eye-skip—after which so each venture was del and the missing words or the way in which | One is no longer disposed to say it, and so each venture were inserted

  V 7 it. And] it, and ts1 2nd reading

  V 9 shabby equipment] worn-out equipment, ts1, ts2, ts3a 1st reading. (See Commentary.)

  [Poem I 190–91 · Commentary I 946–52]

  V 15 fight] task ts1 ‖ urge ts2, ringed in ts2a recover] recover, ts1

  V 16 again:] again; ts1

  V 17 loss.] loss: ts1

  V 18 us,] us ts1 trying. The] effort. The ts1 1st reading ‖ trying: the ts2 our business.] ours. ts1 1st reading

  V 18 ^ 19] two-line space Valerie’s Own Book

  V 19 we grow] one grows ts1

  V 22 Isolated,] Isolated in a lifetime, ts1

  V 23 moment] moment, ts1, ts2

  V 27 A] And a ts2b 2nd reading

  V 28 (The] The ts1, Valerie’s Own Book 1st reading album).] album ts1

  V 29–38] ts1 has two drafts on the same page. 1st draft (all finally struck through):

  Here or there does not matter. We must be still

  And be still moving. The mind must venture

  Where it has not been, be separated

  For a further union, a deeper communion,

  [5]

  Aranyaka, the forest or the sea

  The empty cold with the desolation

  With the knowledge understanding and the consolation

  Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning.

  [7] The wave cry, the wind cry, and the consolation 2nd reading (with understanding accidentally not del). Gardner reads the intention differently (Composition FQ 112), taking “The wave cry, the wind cry” as an extra line, but this overlooks the deletion of “With the”, which would leave a line consisting of only “understanding and the consolation”.

  2nd draft:

  Love is itself unmoving

  But love is most nearly itself

  When now and now cease to matter.

  Here or there does not matter.

  [5]

  We must be still and still moving

  Into another intensity

  For a further union, a deeper communion,

  Through the empty cold with the desolation,

  The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters

  [10]

  Of the petrel and the porpoise.

  [2] But] And 2nd reading

  [3 ^ 4] Old men ought to be explorers 2nd reading

  [8] empty cold with the] dark cold and the empty 2nd reading

  [10] porpoise.] porpoise. In my end is my beginning 2nd reading

  [Poem I 191–92 · Commentary I 953–57]

  V 29] Love is itself unmoving | But love is most nearly itself ts2 1st reading, with ts2a having “X” against the first line, which is then del in ts2a and ts2b. ‖ Love is most nearly itself ts2a final reading ‖ And Love is most nearly itself ts2b final reading V 32 or] EC, 1974+ ‖ and US 1943, 1944, US 1952, 1959 pbk, Mardersteig, 1963, US 1963, Valerie’s Own Book, 1969, Folio

  V 33 still and] still, and ts2a 2nd reading

  V 38 porpoise. ^ In] four-character space US 1943, US 1952

  The Dry Salvages

  Published in NEW 27 Feb 1941; Partisan Review May–June 1941 (first American printing). Separately as a Faber pamphlet 4 Sept 1941 (DS; four impressions to Feb 1944); then within Four Quartets in US 1943, 1944+.

  Daedalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Spring 1960 follows US 1952 except in omitting the note beneath the title and the numeral “I”; reading “intractable” (I 2), inserting a line space (I 16 ^ 17), adding a stop after “seine” (I 22), and removing the erroneous stop after “union” (V 33).

  Drafts of sections of The Dry Salvages appear in msA at Magdalene, which is described leaf by leaf in Composition FQ, Appendix B.

  The earliest outline of the poem is msA fol. 65, a leaf (later) headed “Notes”, with jottings about each of the five sections:

  1. Sea picture —general

  2. —particular

  problem of permanence

  of past pain

  3. Past error can only be reconciled

  in eternity. Arjuna Krishna.

  4. Invocation to the B.V.M.

  meaning of “mother” “father”.

  5. Generalisation: Liberation from

  the past is liberation from the

  future. To get beyond time

  at the same time deeper into

  time — the Spirit the Earth

  The next extant leaf is msA fol. 68:

  sailing

  lowers

  oceanless

  wastage

  unflyable liable

  destination

  scaling hailing

  ours

  devotionless

  dockage trackage

  reliable

  consummation

  [Poems I 192–200 · Commentary I 957–88]

  msA fols. 70–72 have drafts of the opening of III and the whole of IV (shown in the variants below).

  The
re were five principal ts drafts (ts1–ts5):

  ts1 (Magdalene): “1st draft”; all five parts on eleven leaves heavily corrected.

  ts2 two versions of second typing on ten leaves:

  ts2a (Magdalene): ribbon copy, designated “2nd draft” (written in crayon over the same in pencil). Pencilled line numbers by TSE every ten lines, and total (232) at foot.

  ts2b (King’s): carbon sent to Hayward (at the end of Dec 1940: Composition FQ 19), with some corrections by TSE matching those on ts2a, and pencilled marks by Hayward. TSE’s corrections are mostly in ink, but the deletions at V 16 are in pencil, apparently by TSE at another time. For Hayward’s Queries on receipt of ts2, see Commentary headnote to The Dry Salvages, 3. COMPOSITION.

  ts3 two versions of third typing, on ten leaves:

  ts3a (Magdalene): “3d Draft”, ribbon copy.

  ts3b (Texas): carbon of ts3a, with ms changes by TSE. Sent to Philip Mairet, 5 Jan 1941.

  ts4 (Magdalene): “ 4th Draft”, with smaller type-height than previous typings. Carbon on ten leaves, sent to Geoffrey Faber, 21 Jan 1941.

  ts5 (Faber archive, Geoffrey Faber papers): incomplete carbon (nine leaves of ten) of a typing with further revisions. Not listed in Composition FQ. An untraced copy, perhaps made by a Faber secretary from ts5, was sent to Frank Morley in the USA (and may be related to ts Richards). TSE to Morley, 13 Feb 1941: “Geoffrey will have sent you an imperfect text of the Dry Salvages. I hope he made it clear that this was not for immediate publication, because I had not finished working on it. It was sent merely for safe‑keeping and for your own improvement. You will be receiving shortly the text as it will appear in the New English Weekly and on receipt of that you will know that I want you to peddle it for copyright.” (10 Mar: “my cable will now have informed you that the final draft, that is to say, copies of the New English Weekly, are now on the way.” Accordingly, the text in Partisan was set from NEW, repeating the error at II 20.)

  ms Mairet (Texas): final eighteen lines of the poem, on cardboard, with blue crayon at the head: “One more version of the end! T.S.E.”, and at the foot: “Please incorporate” (ringed). TSE’s name has been added at the foot by another hand, then deleted. Apparently sent to Philip Mairet for NEW, of which he was editor. Not listed in Composition FQ.

  [Poem I 193–200 · Commentary I 959–88]

  ts Mairet (Texas): final eight lines of the poem, in a letter of 15 Feb 1941 to Mairet (illustrated in An Exhibition of Manuscripts and First Editions of T. S. Eliot, Texas, 1961). Not listed in Composition FQ. “I am wondering whether you got my corrected proof. I hope so, because I made a number of alterations, and I don’t want the poem to appear without them. Also, by the time I had finished the pages had become such a griffonage that they were almost illegible, and I am particularly [word omitted?] to get the last six lines right: which was why I asked for another pull. In case, here are the last lines again: [‘For most of us · · · significant soil.’] It is important, because, however I have tried it, it turns out to be something to which people will give a topical allusion—not part of the fundamental intention—and if so, then it must not be a wrong twist which will put the rest of the poem out of joint.”

  ts Richards (Magdalene, Richards box 44): typed on airmail paper, originally folded in two and subsequently in three. Probably typed by a professional secretary and apparently sent to Eliot’s brother, Henry, and thence to I. A. Richards, then teaching at Harvard. He in turn lent it to James Johnson Sweeney (whose letter returning it is also contained in the wallet with Henry Eliot’s address sticker). The text is close to ts4 or ts5. A secondary carbon of this, also on airmail paper and folded in two, is additionally present. Another carbon (Houghton, bMS Am 1691 [15]) was sent to Henry Eliot and emended by him after publication (“The changes are those made by T. S. Eliot before publication. Not his writing—mine, HWE”, with a note at the end adding that the changes are to give the “published words”). These typescripts are not listed in Composition FQ. Only readings from ts Richards are given here.

  NEW proof (Magdalene): corrected proof dated “Jan. 29 [1941]”. As NEW except where noted.

  TSE’s NEW (Valerie Eliot collection): TSE’s corrected copy of NEW. Not listed in Composition FQ.

  Printer’s DS 4th imp. (Pierpont Morgan): printer’s marked copy of this impression (Feb 1944). On the cover are written the print-run and a date: “2,350 copies, 22. 2. 44”. Another note on the cover, dated 12 Mar 1945, reads: “See correction (circled in blue) on p.7 [‘hermit’, I 19]. This will need to be made on the plate when a reprint is ordered.” The marks in this copy were intended for further impressions of the pamphlet, not for Four Quartets itself, but no 5th imp. was issued.

  This ed. Composition FQ

  First typing: ts1 M1 (retained by TSE)

  Second typing (ts2): ts2a M2 (retained by TSE)

  ts2b D (sent to Hayward)

  Third typing (ts3): ts3a M3 (retained by TSE)

  ts3b T (sent to Mairet)

  Fourth typing ts4 M4 (sent to Geoffrey Faber)

  Fifth typing ts5 — (Faber archive)

  Airmail typing for USA ts Richards — (probably secretarial)

  Eighteen lines ms Mairet — (sent to Mairet)

  Eight lines ts Mairet — (letter to Mairet)

  Comments by Geoffrey Faber in the margins of ts4 caused TSE to reconsider a number of lines, which he marked there with“X” in brown crayon. Some of the comments by Faber and by Hayward are discussed in the Commentary.

  [Poems I 193–200 · Commentary I 959–88]

  No paragraph indents, NEW, Partisan, DS, US 1943, 1944, US 1963, Folio, 1979, 1995, Rampant Lions

  Title] not ts1 ‖ THE DRY SALVAGES. ts3, with quotation marks added before and after ts3a

  Prefatory note] not ts1, ts2 ‖ (Les trois sauvages) ts3, del ts3a ‖ with additional sentence: The Gloucester fishing fleet of schooners, manned by Yankees, Irish or Portuguese, has been superseded by the motor trawlers. ts4, ts5, NEW and Partisan (without the before motor in the printings, TSE having deleted it in the NEW proof). TSE to Frank Morley, 20 Feb 1943, listing proof corrections for US 1943: “Delete the sentence ‘The Gloucester fishing fleet · · · etc.’ from the prefatory note.” N.E.] north-east DS (emended to N.E. in Printer’s DS 4th imp.) assuages] rampages ts4, ts5, NEW proof 1st reading

  The whole note bracketed ts4, ts5, NEW, DS, US 1943, 1944, 1959 pbk, 1963, Folio ‖ without brackets Mardersteig, 1979+

  Hayward to TSE, 5 Mar: “The Dry Salvages with its revisions and additions—particularly the extra lines where I hoped you might add something—is a splendid piece and I long to see it dressed up to match Burnt Norton & East Coker · · · When the poem is published separately I think the note should be removed to the verso of the leaf facing the first page of the text.” The note appeared as a paragraph on its own verso before the poem in DS and Rampant Lions; on the section-title page below the title in US 1943 and Mardersteig (justified) and Folio (unjustified); and on the section title page below the title in 1979 and 1995 (unjustified in both). Because of the chance arrangement of the paragraph in 1979, where both “Salvages” and “Groaner” happen to begin a line, 1995 and Rampant Lions set it as three unjustified paragraphs, without paragraph indents.

  I

  I 1] indent 1963 (not 1963 proof, US 1963)

  I 2 god—] god: ts1, ts2 ‖ god; ts3

  I 3 to some degree] ts1 3rd reading, ts2+ ‖ to all appearance ts1 1st reading ‖ to some appearance ts1 2nd reading ‖ underlined Geoffrey Faber ts4, with “possibly not the finally satisfactory expression?” at first recognised] known for a time ts1 1st reading, ts2a 2nd reading+ ‖ recognised for a time ts1 2nd reading, ts2

  I 6 solved,] solved, then ts1–ts5, NEW proof 1st reading. In ts4 Geoffrey Faber ringed then in this line and the previous with “? perhaps the repetition might be considered further—but I don’t know. I think it is needed.” the] a ts4 1st reading, ts Richards almost] not ts1–ts5, NEW proof 1st reading

&nb
sp; I 7 ever, however] underlined Geoffrey Faber ts4, with “is this intentional? Yes, it must be. Not quite sure I get the exact significance of ‘however’ in that case. One reads it at first as = ‘Always, nevertheless’. Does it then mean, rather ‘Always, whatever happens’?”

  I 11 was] i ts3 1st reading (typed over) present] ts1 final reading+ ‖ present, is present, ts1 1st reading ‖ present underneath ts1 2nd reading

  [Poem I 193 · Commentary I 963–65]

  I 12 In] ringed ts1, ts3 1st reading rank ailanthus] efflorescence ts1 1st reading ‖ rank ailantus ts1 3rd reading, ts2–ts5, NEW proof 1st reading ailanthus] underlined Geoffrey Faber ts4, with “one of the words I don’t know! tho’ I feel I ought to” (this comment marked “X” by TSE; see Commentary) of] in ts3 1st reading (typed over) dooryard] ts1 3rd reading, ts2+ ‖ suburbs ts1 1st reading ‖ garden ts1 2nd reading ‖ backyard with “?” ts1 alt 3rd reading s

  I 13 In the] The ts1 1st reading

  I 15 us;] us, ts1

  I 18] marked by Geoffrey Faber ts4, with “ITS INTS … SI ST.NS ? onomatopoeia but, if so, isn’t the effect possibly too much muffled by the middle part of the line?” creation:] existence, ts1 ‖ existence: ts2–ts5, NEW proof 1st reading

  I 19 horseshoe] hermit ts1–ts5, NEW, Partisan, DS (emended to horseshoe in Printer’s DS 4th imp.), US 1943 (corrected long after), 1944 (corrected 3rd imp., Aug 1945), US 1952 (see Commentary) crab, the] crab, and ts Richards

  I 20 offers to] nourishes for ts1, ts2 1st reading

  I 22] with “X” Hayward ts2b up] us ts1, with up as alt torn seine] broken fishnet ts1 1st reading

 

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