by T. S. Eliot
[Poem I 208 · Commentary I 1040–41]
V 14 Or to an illegible stone:] not ts2 1st reading ‖ Or to an illegible stone. ts2 2nd reading and] And ts2
V 15] The dying die to us, ts2 1st reading ‖ We die with the dying, ts2 2nd reading, ts3
V 16 them.] them; ts3–ts5
V 17–18] not ts2
V 17 are born] return ts3 1st reading dead:] dead, ts3
V 18 them.] them: ts3
V 20 people] nation ts2
V 21 time,] time. ts4 1st reading for history] and history ts2
V 22 moments.] moments, 1944 7th–9th imp. (1949–52)
V 23 winter’s] winter ts2~ts9, with winter’s ts9a and Hayward ts9b chapel] chapel, ts2, ts5
V 23 ^ 24] two-line space at foot of verso, so as to move 24 to head of recto US 1952 (see V 24 ^ 25)
V 24 ^ 25 two-line space] ts13 (with instruction to printer “wide space” ts13a), LG, 1963, Valerie’s Own Book ‖ single line space NEW, Mardersteig, US 1963, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1995, Rampant Lions ‖ new page so line spacing indeterminate US 1943, 1959 pbk, Folio ‖ no line space, so as to prevent 24 being a widow, but with the effect of isolating 24 and 25 together at the head of the recto US 1952. Moody 258 urges a double space to indicate the relation of subsequent lines to all four Quartets (although Moody 304 and Moody 309 advocate triple spacing 24 ^ 25 and double spacing 25 ^ 26).
V 25] not ts2–ts5 ‖ 26 begins new leaf after two-line space ts2, ts5 ‖ 26 begins new leaf with line spacing indeterminate ts3 ‖ two-line space 24 ^ 26 ts4
V 25] indent 1959 pbk, Folio
V 25] with “X” Hayward ts9b ‖ with “‘x’” Hayward ts12b, prompting TSE to enclose line in inverted commas before deleting them ts12a Love · · · Calling] love · · · calling ts9, ts12, with L and C (for capitals) Hayward ts12b
V 25 ^ 26] line space ts13, with instruction to printer “space, not so wide” ts13a ‖ two-line space Valerie’s Own Book
V 26] indent 1959 pkb shall] must ts2
V 28 Will be] Is ts2 Will] Shall? Hayward ts12b where] with “or whence? (at where)” Hayward ts9b
V 29] not ts2
V 31 of earth] place ts2
V 32 which] where ts5 beginning;] beginning ts2, ts3 ‖ beginning: ts4
V 35] not ts2
V 37 stillness] ts12a 2nd reading+ ‖ silence ts2~ts12, with stillness and “X” Hayward ts12b (see Commentary)
[Poem I 208–209 · Commentary I 1041–43]
V 38 Between two waves of the sea.] ts9, with “X” Hayward ts9b, ts12 with Between the / trough / valley Hayward ts12b alts, ts13+ ‖ Of distant lands and seas. ts2–ts5 (TSE to Hayward, 2 Sept 1942: “I see yr points about daybreak and waves but can think of nothing which would not overstress.” For daybreak see II 36–38.) of the sea] on the shore ts12a 2nd reading with “?”
V 39–46] not ts2
V 39 Quick] Quick, ts3 1st reading
V 40 condition] matter ts3 1st reading complete] utter ts4a 2nd reading ‖ final ts4a 3rd reading, ts5
V 42–43] not ts3, ts5 ‖ not ts4 but with And all manner of thing shall be well added after V 46 in ts4a with “? · · ·?” before and after
V 44 tongues of flame] burning tongues ts12a 2nd reading (with 1st reading then reinstated), with “?” ts12b alt ‖ tongues of flames 1974 (error, later corrected) in-folded] infolded ts3, ts12a 1st reading, ts12b
V 45 knot] rose? ts4a alt ‖ rose ts5
V 46 one.] the same. ts3~ts12 with as one Hayward ts12b, where he (or perhaps TSE) underlined flame · · · same (V 44, 46) with “?” TSE to Hayward, 7 Sept 1942: “Very well then, ‘And the fire and the rose are one.’”
[Poem I 209 · Commentary I 1043–44]
Occasional Verses
TYPESCRIPT OF THE SECTION
ts Occasional Verses (Washington U.): 11 leaves, professionally typed, but apparently not all at the same time. Consisting of ribbon copies, on at least two different papers, numbered 1–6 by TSE, beginning with a topsheet headed “Occasional Poems” and giving the prefatory notes to be inserted at the head of the section’s first four poems, followed by the five poems themselves; then further followed by carbons of all these leaves except “4”, To the Indian Soldiers who Died in Africa (so titled). Prepared in connection with Washington copy 1954 (see headnote to Textual History, 3. KEY TO EDITIONS), with which it was bought from Bertram Rota Ltd. in 1970. The carbons are unannotated, except for the deletion of a stop, probably not in TSE’s hand, at the end of A Dedication to My Wife 9. On the ribbon copy of The Defense of the Islands (so spelt), a pencilled note after the title has been erased but apparently referred to the American spelling. TSE also used pencil to correct “position” in the last line of this poem, to delete his name and the date at the foot, and to write out the date in fuller form. He then deleted and erased this, before pencilling the date in again, in slightly different form. Subsequently he used pen to delete this too. This suggests that the pencil corrections on these leaves precede those in ink. David Bland, whose ballpoint instructions appear also in Washington copy 1954, wrote on the topsheet “Each of the above notes to precede the verses attached”. TSE pencilled two asterisks beside this, and 1–4 beside the notes. Then on the ribbon copies of the poems he added chevrons in pencil (sometimes with a number) to indicate where the notes should be inserted. (The collation below treats this as having been done.) His other annotations on the topsheet are in ink: two changes of wording and a correction in the first note (see below), and the addition of dates of publication for the books mentioned in the other three. The spelling “Defense” appears also in TSE’s additions to the Contents of Washington copy 1954. The folder also contains a foolscap leaf listing TSE’s books for the half-title verso of what it calls “Collected Poems, 1909–1960” (the terminal date emended in pencil, perhaps in TSE’s hand, to “1962”). The leaf itself is dated by the typist “JL/ab 1. 3. 63”. The folder also contains TSE’s lists of poems to read at Boston College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4 and 13 Dec 1961) and with “Poetry Center 25. 11 .61” crossed out (referring to another reading).
Section-title page] 1963+
[Poems I 211–19 · Commentary I 1045–61]
Defence of the Islands
Published in Britain at War (1941), then 1963+.
The numerous typescripts are mostly by others and are so similar that their order here can only be tentative.
ms1 (Pierpont Morgan): working draft on a single leaf, with later presentation inscription “for Marion Dorn | in remembrance of | June 7–10, 1940 – | T. S. Eliot”. A capital is used at the beginning of each “clause” (TSE’s term: see Commentary headnote). Reproduced in facsimile in Autograph Letters & Manuscripts: Major Acquisitions of The Pierpont Morgan Library 1924–1974 (1974). Line endings are not recorded here.
ms2 (private collection; unavailable to editors): pencil ms on two leaves dated 9. vi. 40. Catalogued in Works of T. S. Eliot in the Thomas Shelton Collection (Quill & Brush), item 168.
ts1 (King’s): sent to Hayward with covering letter dated “Tuesday” with Hayward’s tentative “[June 1940] 11 June” in pencil. Text in narrow column on right-hand side of leaf, with typed description, bracketed, to the left of each clause.
ts2 (Haverford College): typescript dated at foot “T. S. ELIOT | 9. vi. 40” among Frank Morley’s papers. Each clause has a typed number in the left margin (“1.” to “7.”) and beneath this, in an unknown hand, are written descriptions: “Poetic England”, “Home defense”, “Navy”, “Air Force”, “Army”, “Home Defense”, “final”. The paper is American. Two identical carbons are in the Berg collection, where the title and publication details have been added on the first, presumably by Morley.
ts3 (Pierpont Morgan): carbon copy, untitled, with numbered clauses and dated “T. S. ELIOT | 9.vi.40.”
ts4 (Museum of Modern Art): carbon of another typing, with numbered clauses, again dated at foot “T. S. Eliot | 9.vi.40”. With ms heading in unknown hand: “Poem to Pho
tographic Exh. by T. S. Eliot”, and, in another hand, “Defense of the Islands” and “Museum exhibition and catalog”.
ts5 (Berg): ribbon copy, with title, and dated “T. S. ELIOT | 9. vi. 40”. Single leaf in Frank Morley papers. American spelling “Defense” in title and [5].
ts6 (Valerie Eliot collection): fair copy of a double-spaced typing, dated “T. S. Eliot 9/vi/40”. American spelling.
ts7 (Magdalene): ribbon copy and carbon of another typing, with explanatory subtitle, dated “T. S. Eliot | 9th June 1940”.
ts Occasional Verses: see above. After the final line, this ts originally had “T. S. Eliot | 9. vi. 40”, which TSE deleted and replaced with “June 9th June 1940”, in turn erased and struck through.
[Poem I 213–14 · Commentary I 1046–50]
Broadside: Lines Written by T. S. Eliot to Accompany This Exhibition of Photographs, about fifty copies for posting in the exhibition. Printed at a hand-press, “[London, Printed for H. M. Government] 1940” (Gallup E2d). No variants except title. On the Beinecke copy, descriptive notes have been added beside the clauses: “Views of Peaceful England”, “Home Defense”, “Navy”, “Air Force”, “Army”, “Home Defense”, “Types of Service People”.
Britain at War ed. Monroe Wheeler (New York, 1941). American spelling.
No Mean Heritage ed. S. N. Ritchie (Melbourne, 1946). Arranged as paragraphs which ignore TSE’s lineation. Followed by a note as requested by TSE. On 22 Feb 1945, TSE wrote to Sylvia Ritchie, in Mansfield, Victoria (following her version of the title):
In view of your special plea, I have no objection to your publishing The Defence of the Island, if you will print, either at the head or as a footnote, the following explanation: “These lines were not intended by the author to be either poetry or verse. They were written to accompany an Exhibition of Photographs of National Defence Work, which was exhibited in New York in 1940. The ‘we’ of the lines is, therefore, the Army, Navy, Air Force or Civil Defence forces, accompanying the appropriate group of photographs.” I should be obliged if you would send me a copy of the book when published, as I have no copy of the lines myself. They were written on request in the course of an afternoon, and I do not wish any literary pretence to be made for them.
The extensive variants, including the running together of the first two clauses, are not recorded here. After receiving the book, TSE wrote again on 23 May 1946, so as
to point out a few errors of punctuation which very likely were in the text as it came to you, but which I should like very much to see corrected if the book runs to another edition. There should be no punctuation after Island at the end of the first clause; there should be a comma, not a full stop after floor at the end of the second clause; there should be a comma, not a full stop after fire at the end of the third clause, and after weapons at the end of the fifth clause there should be a colon. In the first clause there should be a dash after instrument to correspond to the dash before music’s. In the fourth clause there should be a semi-colon after France. The sixth clause should read as follows: “To say of the past and the future generations of our kin and of our speech, that we took up our positions, in obedience to orders.”
Even then, the punctuation would not quite have matched the text used in New York.
Valerie’s Own Book: later fair copy (two pages), dated at foot: “T. S. Eliot | 9. vi. 40”. With two-line spaces between clauses. American spelling.
The lineation varies slightly in the drafts and published texts, and is probably unimportant, although the present edition follows the lineation of Britain at War and 1963, in both of which “de- | feat” is broken across two lines. The word is likewise broken in ts4, but it is not known whether this precedes or follows its appearance in Britain at War. Although compositorial chance is more likely, it is conceivable that the very word “defeat” was not to be contemplated in 1940. (In Valerie’s Own Book, it is “darkness”, 12, that breaks across two lines.) The line breaks of other clauses are evidently happenstance, only those of the fifth clause, beginning with ts2, are recorded below (15–16, 16–17, 17).
[Poem I 213–14 · Commentary I 1046–50]
The American spelling “Defense” is used in title and text in ts5, ts6, Britain at War, ts Occasional Verses, US 1963, Valerie’s Own Book. Broadside has “defence” (in text only).
Title] not ms1, ts1, ts2, ts3, ts4 as typed (added in another hand), No Mean Heritage ‖ Lines Written by T. S. Eliot | To accompany the exhibition of photographs in the war exhibit | in the British Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair ts7 ‖ Lines Written by T. S. Eliot | to Accompany this Exhibition of Photographs Broadside
Note] not ms1–ts7, Valerie’s Own Book Islands] islands ts Occasional Verses, US 1963 makes] make ts Occasional Verses 1st reading McKnight] Edward McKnight ts Occasional Verses 1st reading They were] It was ts Occasional Verses 1st reading York,] York 1963
1–2 stone—music’s enduring instrument,] stone, music’s grey timeless instrument, ms1 ‖ stone, ts1 ‖ stone—music’s enduring instrument— Valerie’s Own Book 2nd reading
1–4] with “(Views of Canterbury, countryside, Stratford on Avon etc.)” ts1
2–3 many centuries of patient] of the generations ms1
5–6] with “(Home Defence preparations)” ts1 with the] in ms1 of this defence of the islands] with the defence of this Island by those who dwelt there ms1 1st reading ‖ with those of the defence of this Island by us who dwelt there ms1 2nd reading ‖ with those of the defence of this Island ms1 final reading defence] with “s” added above in unknown hand ts4
6 islands] island ts1
7 the memory of those] by those who were ms1 1st reading ‖ by us who were ms1
7–10] with “(Navy)” ts1
8] ships, the battle cruiser, destroyer, battle ship, merchant seaman, trawler, ms1
9 their share to the ages’ pavement] to the centuries’ store ms1
11 of] by ms1 those] us ms1 2nd reading man’s] the world’s most ms1 1st reading ‖ the world’s ms1 form of] not ms1
11–13] with “(Air Force)” ts1
12 fight] fought ms1
12–13 air and fire] fire and air ms1 ‖ air and fire, ts1
14–17] with “(Army)” ts1 ‖
And those from century to century destined
to release some of their number to rest
in Flanders in France, unchanged in
everything but their weopons
ms1 1st reading, with revisions to the first line probably as follows: And those who for [rest of line illegible] ms1 2nd reading ‖ And those like their forebears destined ms1 3rd reading ‖ And by us like our forebears destined ms1 final reading
15–16 in de- | feat, unalterable (line break)] ts4, ts6 ‖ in | defeat, unalterable ts2, ts3, Valerie’s Own Book ‖ in defeat, | unalterable ts5, ts7
[Poem I 213 · Commentary I 1047–49]
16–17 changing nothing | of their ancestors’ (line break)] ts3–ts6 ‖ changing | nothing of their ancestors’ ts2 ‖ changing nothing of their | ancestors’ ts7 ‖
17 weapons] on new line ts2 ‖ weopons, ms1, ts1
18–19] with “(Home Defence forces)” ts1 those] by us ms1 2nd reading paths] field ms1 1st reading ‖ fields ms1 final reading glory] honour ms1 are the lanes and the streets of Britain:] is a field at home— ms1 1st reading ‖ are the field and streets of our homes— ms1 2nd reading ‖ are the field and towns of our homes— ms1 final reading
20-22] with “(Over the Exit)” ts1 ‖ ms1 1st draft of these lines, 1st reading:
Let these tell the English, and their kin,
and those who speak their speech,
that we
ms1 2nd reading:
Let these tell the English generations of past and future, and our kin,
and those who speak our speech,
that we
TSE then substituted our for the English before deleting this draft and writing ms1 2nd draft:
Let these memorials say to th
e generations
of past future that for their sake
we took up our positions, in obedience to orders.
22 positions] position ts Occasional Verses 1st reading instructions.] orders. with “At the end: would this be better: ‘we took up our places, in obedience to instructions’? What I wanted to say was: ‘we took up our positions, in obedience to instructions’, but you can’t have two –ions so close together.” ts1 (see Commentary)
A Note on War Poetry
Published in London Calling, ed. Storm Jameson (New York, 1942), then 1963+. ms1 (King’s): pencil on two ruled leaves from a small notebook.
ts1 (Leeds U.): with letter to Bonamy Dobrée, 13 July 1942. Dated at foot: “July ’42.”
ts2 (King’s): carbon, on pink paper, of a fair copy typescript. A second carbon on pink paper, pasted into the Morley family scrapbook, has a typed addition at the foot: “P.S. This is NOT a Poem: it is a SET OF VERSES” (for a similar caution in TSE’s letter to Dobrée, see Commentary to “Occasional Verses”, headnote).
ts3 (Valerie Eliot collection): fair copy, with 14–15 protruding into margin by one character. With “(1942)” added after title by TSE, but apparently not from his usual typewriter and perhaps dating from considerably later.
Title] Notes on Poetry in Wartime ms1 1st reading ‖ A Note on Wartime Poetry ms1 2nd reading
Note] 1963+ New York, 1942).] New York). ts Occasional Verses 1st reading
1 emotion] emotions ms1 1st reading ‖ emotions, ms1 2nd reading with comma del
2] What is the residue of all these experiences? ms1 1st reading ‖ Imperfectly recorded in the daily papers . . ms1 2nd reading (with in changed to by)
[Poems I 213–15 · Commentary I 1049–52]
3 Where] And where ms1 2nd reading with And del merely] not ms1 1st reading
