by T. S. Eliot
No longer defeat and victory
But only a neutral fact.
III 43] We have our bequest from the victors, msA (over illegible erasure) fortunate] victors ts2 1st reading ‖ victors, ts2 2nd reading, ts3–ts5
III 44 We have taken] Receiving msA
III 45 leave] give ts6 1st reading symbol:] symbol msA ‖ symbol, ts6 2nd reading
III 46] not ts9~ts12
III 46–50] msA:
[Poem I 206–207 · Commentary I 1033–36]
The symbol created by death
The life only death can bequeathe
In death the perfection of the motive
Which the moment of death attained.
[1] death] apparently changed from dead in mid-formation
[4] attained.] over illegible erasure
ts2–ts5, finally all del ts4a:
The symbol created by death,
[2]
The life only death transmits,
The perfection of the motive
[4]
Which the moment of death brings to life.
[1] death,] death ts3–ts5
[1 ^ 2] (Created by such a death) ts3–ts5
[3] perfection] purification ts4, ts5
[4] Which assent to death perfects. ts4 ‖ Which consent to death perfects. ts4a 2nd reading, ts5
2nd draft (beside 1st) ts4a (Composition FQ 209):
The symbol of the defeated. the crown on the hedge—the Duke with his iron shutters. We must keep the symbol but not confuse it with the use we make of it. Who survives the test of victory?
3rd draft (upside down on verso of previous leaf) ts4a:
The damaged crown on the thornbush
The Duke with his iron shutters
Have the dignity of the defeated
In a world in which, as it happens,
[5]
Only the defeated have dignity,
[1] damaged] battered 2nd reading
[5] The victors seldom keep dignity. 2nd reading
ts6:
The symbol of the defeated—
The crown hanging in a thornbush
And the Duke with his iron shutters—
In the purification of the motive
[5]
In the ground of our beseeching.
[2–3] not 2nd reading
[4] In] With 2nd reading
III 47 And all shall be well and: Hayward to TSE, 18 June 1944: “I suggested, by the way, to Dick [de la Mare] that he should try to bring back a line to page 41 (I think it is) so that the page shouldn’t end with the broken phrase ‘And all shall be well and’ which looks very gauche and is jarring to the reader.” Instead, the line which jarred in LG was taken forward to the top of 42 in 1944.
III after 50] msA~ts4:
Soul of Christ, inspire them
Body of Christ, make their bodies good soil
Water from the side of Christ, wash them,
Fire from the heart of Christ, incinerate them.
[Poem I 207 · Commentary I 1036–37]
[1–4] inset ts3, ts4 ‖ braced with “cut by T.S.E.” Hayward ts3b ‖ braced with “?” then del ts4a
[1] inspire them] sanctify them, ts2–ts4
[2] make their bodies good soil] let their bodies be good earth, ts2–ts4
TSE to Hayward, 28 July 1941: “I have I think improved the poem a little by cutting out the second stanza of Part IV and also the Anima Christi lines at the end of Part III (too heavy, I think).”
IV
IV Genesis of the first published stanza.
msA fol. 100 has a draft in two stanzas, the second of them finally struck through (Composition FQ 213):
The dove descending breaks the air
With breath of crepitative fire
Its tongues declare
The culmination of desire,
[5]
Of expectation, doubt, despair.
Beneath those never resting feet
All aspirations end and meet.
The marked invisible watery cross,
The further mark of delegated hands,
[10]
But emphasise our loss,
Transformed into the sign that brands
The votary of Soledos
The gambler between death birth
Whose climax is a pinch of earth
[2] breath] tongues 1st reading
[3] Its] Where / While / Of which the alt 2nd readings
[5] Of expectation] Expectancy, hope 2nd reading
[9] further] forgotten Composition FQ The further mark] The unseen impress 2nd reading ‖ The touch final reading
[12] 3rd reading ‖ The miserable athanatos 1st reading ‖ The votaries of thanatos 2nd reading
[13] The gambler between] Who gambled 2nd reading
[14] Whose] written over T
msA fol. 100v. has a revised draft of the second of these stanzas:
Between the invisible watery sign
And climax of a pinch of earth
Our slippery hearts decline
To pay the dues of death birth
[5]
And mark the debt beneath the line
The deficit which is complete
Or cancelled by the Paraclete.
[Poem I 207 · Commentary I 1037–39]
[3] slippery hearts] false accounts 2nd reading
[4] pay] square 2nd reading ‖ show / set alt 3rd readings
[6–7] over illegible erased lines, not indented
msA fol. 99v. has three lines that contribute to another stanza (later abandoned):
This death shall call the bailiffs in
With all our patrimony spent
Or lost in worthless shares, we win
with “a | b | a | b” and “a” written below. (The first word—read here, as by Composition FQ 213, as “This”—is so like “Till” that TSE may have misread it when he first typed these lines, in ts2.)
When TSE began to type the whole poem, Part IV consisted, from ts2 until ts4, of three stanzas, two of them later abandoned.
IV.
Between the invisible watery sign
And climax of a pinch of earth
We in our false accounts decline
To square the dues of death and birth
[5]
And mark the debt below the line:
The deficit that is complete
Or cancelled by the Paraclete.
Till death shall bring the bailiffs in
To value all our worthless treasures:
[10]
Unprofitable Sin,
Comforting Thoughts, and Sundry Pleasures,
The assets that we think to win
By Prudence, and by Worldly Cares
Figure as gilt-edged stocks and shares.
[15]
The dove descending breaks the air
With breath of crepitative terror
Of which the tongues declare
The culmination of desire.
The only hope, or else despair
[20]
Is, like the bird upon the pyre
To be revoked from fire by fire.
ts2 (two drafts), ts3, ts4 (leaf missing from ts4a, so readings are from ts4b), ts5 (first stanza only).
[Poem I 207 · Commentary I 1037–39]
In the margin of ts2(i), shown above in its earliest state, TSE numbered the stanzas 2, 1, 3, and in ts2(ii) and ts3 he typed them in the new order. Hayward therefore first saw this part, in his carbon of ts3, as three stanzas: “Till death”, “Between the” and “The dove descending”. But TSE had already decided to restore the stanzas’ original order, so among other marks on Hayward’s carbon he again numbered them 2, 1, 3, with “Perhaps omit 2?” beside “Till death”. He typed ts4 with the three stanzas in original order, but on Geoffrey Faber’s carbon of this, he again asked of the second, “Perhaps omit this stanza?” To Hayward, 28 July: “I have I think improved the poem a little by cutting out the second stanza of Part IV and also the Anima
Christi lines at the end of Part III (too heavy I think).” Accordingly, against “Till death”, Hayward wrote “Cut by T. S. E.” in ts3b. Hayward also braced the remaining two stanzas with “IV obscure too little of it. non-sequiturish?” He amplified these doubts in a letter of 1 Aug (see Commentary, headnote to Little Gidding, 2. COMPOSITION) and perhaps in response to this TSE struck through both “Between the” and “Till death” in his own copy of ts4, writing to Geoffrey Faber, 22 Aug: “I think Part IV will have to be completely recast.”
[1] invisible] underlined with “?” and initial ts2(ii) 2nd reading ‖ initial ts3–ts5
[2] And ^ climax] the ts2(i) 1st reading earth] earth, ts2(ii)–ts5
[3] We in our] Our ts2(i) 2nd reading, ts3–ts5
[4] square the dues] underlined ts2(i) ‖ show the dues ts3–ts5 death] birth ts4 1st reading (typed over)
[5] And] Or ts3, ts4
[6, 7] no indent ts2(ii), ts3
[6] complete] complete, ts3 2nd reading
[8–10] typed on ts2(ii)v.:
Till death shall bring the audit in
To value all our worthless treasures:
Unprofitable Sin
before TSE turned over and reversed the leaf.
[8] bailiffs] audit ts2(i) alt, ts2(ii)–ts4
[9] worthless] hoarded ts2(i) alt, ts2(ii)–ts4 treasures:] treasures— ts3 2nd reading, ts4
[10–11] Unprofitable Sin | Sundry Pleasures jotting on inside lower cover of msA
[10] Unprofitable] The Profitable ts2(ii)–ts4 Sin] sin ts2(i) 1st reading
[11] Comforting] Cosseting ts2(ii), ts3 1st reading ‖ Consenting ts3, ts4 Pleasures,] Pleasures; ts2(ii) 2nd reading, ts3 1st reading ‖ Pleasures: ts3, ts4
[12] assets] ventures ts2(i) 2nd reading ‖ prizes ts2(ii)–ts4 to] we ts2(i) 1st reading (error)
[13, 14] indented ts4
[13] Cares] Cares, ts3, ts4
[14] gilt-edged] gilt-edge ts2(ii)–ts4
[16] breath] flame ts2(i) 2nd reading–ts4 crepitative] underlined with “?” and incandescent as alt ts2(ii) ‖ incandescent ts3, ts4
[18] The one restorative from error. ts2(i) 2nd reading ‖ The one discharge from mortal error. ts2 ‖ The one discharge from sin and error. ts3, ts4
[20] Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre ts2(i) 2nd reading ‖ Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre— ts3, ts4
[21] revoked] redeemed ts2(i) 2nd reading, ts3, ts4 from fire by fire] by fire from fire ts3, ts4
[Poem I 207 · Commentary I 1037–39]
IV 6] no indent Valerie’s Own Book 1st reading (then marked with caret)
IV 7 ^ 8] four-line space at the foot of page after first stanza US 1943 ‖ two-line space Valerie’s Own Book
IV 8–14] Genesis of the second published stanza.
msC fol. 4 has an initial draft (Composition FQ 216):
Who heaped the brittle rose leaves? Love.
Love put the match; and blew the coals.
Who fed the fire? Love.
To torture and to temper souls
[5]
In that consumption from above
Where all delights torments cease
The will is purified to peace.
[5] Endless consumption, which is love written below stanza, probably as alt for this line In] With alt
Second and third drafts appear in msD (Composition FQ 217; the leaf bearing the 3rd draft is now bound before the 2nd draft); 2nd draft:
Who then devised the torture? Love.
He laid the train, and fixed the cure.
[3]
And he it was who wove
The insupportable shirt of fire
[1] devised] designed alt
[2] train, and] fuel, 2nd reading the] over illegible letter or letters
[3] He also wove 1st reading del (false start) he] He 2nd reading
Below this 2nd draft is a further jotting:
He set the ambush
He kindled the encircling fire
[3]
Who then designed the torture? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar name
Of Him, below, above,
[1] del
[5] Him] what 1st reading
3rd draft:
Who then devised the torture? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar name
Of what, before Eden, wove
The insupportable shirt of flame
[5]
Which we must wear, and not remove
But always live, and still expire,
Consumed by either fire or fire.
[1] torture?] torment? alt
[2] unfamiliar] unspeakable alt
[Poem I 207 · Commentary I 1037–39]
[3] Of what, in the beginning, wove alt ‖ Of what, before time, wove 2nd reading ‖ Behind the power that wove alt 2nd reading with power then changed to loom ‖ Written by the hands that wove additional alt ‖ Behind the hands that wove further additional alt
[5] we must wear, and not] human kind cannot 2nd reading
[6] But always] We only 2nd reading and still] only 2nd reading
The two stanzas that were eventually printed appear together first in ts12, which Hayward dated 2 Sept 1942.
IV 7 ^ 8] no line space NEW 1st proof with rule and “< space if possible” ‖ new page in 2nd and 3rd proofs, NEW
IV 8] indent US 1952, 1959 pbk devised] designed ts12 torment] torture ts12a 1st reading, ts12b
IV 14] no indent NEW proofs 1–2, emended on 1st proof probably by printer
IV ^ V] no line space NEW 1st proof, with instruction to add space probably from printer
V
msC fols. 17–18 have a verse draft of V:
What we think a beginning is often an end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. For every moment
Is both beginning and end. So every phrase,
[5]
When it is right, when every word has power
To sustain the others, to do its part
In subservience to the phrase,
Is the end and the beginning. The only obituary
Is written in every word of the man who writes it:
[10]
Every poem is its own epitaph every action
A step on the scaffold, to the fire, to the sea.
And that is the beginning. [new leaf]
The dying die for us
And we die with them. But to speak of regret
[15]
Is to outlive regret. The moment of the rose
And the moment of the yew tree are equally moments
And so must vanish to become eternal
So, they return: and the winter sunlight
Freedom past and future
[20]
Is union with past future
[1] often] over illegible false start
[5] right,] the right one— 2nd reading
[7] phrase,] phrase— 2nd reading
[8] obituary] 1st and final readings (though the word looks more like obituaries) ‖ epitaph 2nd reading
[12] beginning] written over illegible false start
[12 ^ 13] new leaf
[15] to] written over no (perhaps for not)
[Poem I 207–208 · Commentary I 1039–40]
[18] they] these alt
[19] Freedom] Freedom from 2nd reading
V 1–16] leaf missing from ts4a so ts4 readings are from ts4b
V 1 call] ts12b 2nd alt with “?”, with marginal tick (crossed through) ‖ think ts2~ts9, ‖ suppose? Hayward ts9b ‖ mark as ts9a 2nd reading, ts12 beginning] beginnin LG proof 1st reading is] if 1969 (later corrected) the end] an end msC, ts2
V 2] msA fol. 95 consists of this line alone (without terminal stop) beneath “V”.
V 3 And every phrase] For every moment msC
V 3 ^ 4] Is both beginning and end. So every phrase, msC
V 4 And] Or ts2–ts5, ts12, NEW right] right, ts2 (where] (which ts2 1st reading home,] home
in ts2 1st reading
V 5 Taking its place] Doing its part ts2~ts9 support] sustain ts2
V 6 ostentatious] ostentations ts3 1st reading, ts12 1st reading, ts13, LG proof 1st reading
V 8 common] new ts2 1st reading exact] simple, ts2 1st reading ‖ precise ts2 2nd reading ‖ exact ts2 3rd reading with precise? in margin
V 9 formal] old ts2 1st reading precise] formal, ts2 1st reading ‖ exact ts2 2nd reading ‖ precise ts2 3rd reading but not pedantic,] without pedantry, ts2 1st reading, ts3 2nd reading~ts9 ‖ without pedantry) ts2 2nd reading, ts3 1st reading ‖ but not pedantic, ts9a 2nd reading ‖ yet not pedantic, ts9a 3rd reading
V 8–9] Hayward marks stresses: adding his own ts9b
V 10] not ts2
V 11 Every] So every ts2 1st reading and every sentence] not ts2 1st reading ‖ and sentence ts2 2nd reading, ts4, ts5 ‖ or sentence ts2 3rd reading, ts3 an end and] an end or ts3 1st reading ‖ and end and 1969 (later corrected) beginning,] beginning. ts2 1st reading
V 11–13] to Hayward, 7 Sept 1942 (between sending ts12 and sending ts13):
Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,
Every poem an epitaph. And any decision
Is a step … (or, May be a step?)
(Composition FQ 221)
V 12] ts2 1st reading:
So every poem is its own epitaph
And that of the writer. Every action
ts2 2nd reading, ts3~ts12:
Every poem its own epitaph. And every action
(in emending ts2, TSE originally put a comma after epitaph then crossed it through for a full stop) ‖ Every poem an epitaph. And any decision ts12a 2nd reading Every] Evey 1979
V 12–13 And any action | Is a step] And all our actions | Are steps Hayward, with “cf. of all our exploring” ts12b (referring to V 27)
V 13 Is a] A ts2 1st reading ‖ May be ts12a 2nd reading to the block] on the scaffold ts2 ‖ up the scaffold ts3–ts5 fire, down] fire, to ts2 throat] throat, ts2
