by T. S. Eliot
8–12] The Elder Statesman:
To you I dedicate this book, to return as best I can
With words a little part of what you have given me.
The words mean what they say, but some have a further meaning
For you and me only.
Valerie’s Own Book:
To you I dedicate this book, to return as best I can
In words, some little part of what you have given me.
The words mean what they say; but some have a further meaning
For you and me only.
[Poem I 219 · Commentary I 1060–61]
Uncollected Poems
A Lyric (“If Time and Space, as Sages say”)
Published in Smith Academy Record, Apr 1905. Reprinted in Early Youth 1950, 1967+ and in Powel in 1957.
Song (“If space and time, as sages say”)
Published in Harvard Advocate 3 June 1907, then Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+.
As in Early Youth (1950, 1967) and 1969, two texts of this poem are given in the present edition. When printed in the Smith Academy Record, the first immediately followed TSE’s A Tale of a Whale. Beneath the printed date “June, 1907” in his copy of Adv 1938 (King’s), TSE pencilled “Written early in 1905.”
To Hayward, 19 Aug 1943: “I enclose for your collection a curiosity which is, I fear, of biographical rather than literary interest · · · You will find enclosed the original draft of the first poem I ever wrote to be shown to other eyes. On the reverse you will find my name, the date and my mark for the poem. I remember that the English master, a certain Mr. Roger Conant Hatch, conceived great hopes of a literary career for me.” In 1953: “Mr. Hatch, who taught English [at Smith Academy], commended warmly my first poem, written as a class exercise, at the same time asking me suspiciously if I had had any help in writing it”, American Literature and the American Language 5. In 1963 TSE told Donald Hall that the first poem of his that had been preserved “is one which appeared first in the Smith Academy Record, and later in The Harvard Advocate, which was written as an exercise for my English teacher and was an imitation of Ben Jonson”, Paris Review (1959).
A LYRIC
ms1 (King’s): fair copy in black ink (now very faded) on a ruled leaf of school paper, endorsed on verso “Eliot | January 24 1905” and graded “A” by his English teacher, Roger Conant Hatch. Also in black ink but perhaps later, TSE has written at the foot “(Doggerel Licence No. 3,271,574)”, see plate facing 116 in March & Tambimuttu eds. (OED gives “poetic licence” from 1530; many US states require dog owners to have licences.)
Sent to John Hayward, 19 Aug 1943 together with ts3 of To the Class of 1905. Hayward acknowledged receipt on 22 Aug 1943. A typed copy of this (including the Doggerel No., typed) is in the Linda Melton (Benson) collection at Houghton and was probably an unauthorised copy made by her while working as TSE’s secretary, when the ms was sent to Hayward in 1943 (variants not recorded below). For her collection, see also What O! Epitaff in “Other Verses”.
[Poems I 223 · Commentary I 1069]
ms2 (Houghton): untitled, in Charlotte Eliot’s hand and mounted on a leaf from her scrapbook.
ts1 (Houghton): carbon of a typescript made for TSE’s mother: on which she has written “A school composition | Thos. S. Eliot”, with later typed note: “The first (or first known) poem written by T. S. Eliot, at fifteen years of age. This is one of a number of copies which his mother had made at the time.” Harvard also has two identical carbons. TSE’s uncle, Thomas L. Eliot, was sent one of these by TSE’s father, who wrote on it: “verses by Thomas Stearns Eliot for one of his classes in ‘Composition’. Good for 16 yrs!”
ms1 has no indents in first stanza except 5; ms2 has no indents; tss have no indents. In Smith Academy Record, title and text are all italic. Variants in Powel are not recorded here.
Title] not mss, ts1
1 Time] time ms2, Record Space,] Space ms2 ‖ space, Record Sages] sages ms1 2nd reading (uncertain), ms2, Record say] underlined in red by teacher with “?” ms1 (TSE reinforced the originally malformed “y”)
2 which] that ms2 2nd reading be,] be ms2
3 does not feel] never knows ms2 decay] decay, Record
4 greater] better ms2
5 So] Then ms2 Love] love ms2, ts1
6 century?] century ms2
7 that] wh[ich] ms2
9 gave] brought ms2 1st and final reading ‖ pluck 2nd reading
10 vine] malformed word underlined in red by teacher with “?” ms1
12 eglantine.] eglantine ms2
13 So] Then ms2 to pluck] pluck ms2 anew] anew, Record
14 mourn] grieve ms2 pine,] pine ms2
15 be few] be few, ms2 ‖ are few, Record
16 Yet] O, ms2
SONG
1 say,] say Adv 1938
[Poem I 223–24 · Commentary I 1069–70]
A Fable for Feasters
Published in Smith Academy Record Feb 1905, signed “T. E. ’05”, then Early Youth 1950+.
ms1 (untraced): in a memo of 8 Oct 1969 to Eileen Brooksbank concerning the text of 1969, Valerie Eliot wrote “I have checked the manuscript” and “checked against original manuscript” (Faber archive).
To the Class of 1905
Published in Early Youth 1950+ under a provided title, At Graduation 1905.
ts1 (Valerie Eliot collection): two leaves. Untitled and with stanzas numbered II–XV, with space at head as though in anticipation of a new first stanza. This typescript is probably what Valerie Eliot had in mind when she wrote in a memo to Eileen Brooksbank, 8 Oct 1969 (Faber archive), that the “manuscript” was in her possession.
ts2 (Houghton): two-page carbon laid into scrapbook of Charlotte Eliot and apparently from her typewriter. Like ts1, this is untitled and has stanzas numbered II–XV, with space at head as though in anticipation of a new first stanza, but it is a fresh typing incorporating revisions from ts1, the final text of which it follows precisely.
ts3 (King’s): carbon from an unknown source on four leaves, used by Hayward for Early Youth 1950 and headed by him in faint pencil “[AT GRADUATION 1905]”. TSE, sending it to Hayward, 19 Aug 1943: “I do not know who typed the poem and the original has completely disappeared.”
ts4 (Washington U.): untitled ribbon copy on two leaves of turn-of-the-century paper. Discovered in 1964, tipped into Smith Academy yearbook 1904–05, and taken by Hayward to be identical to ts3 when he was sent a xerographic copy (King’s). Though the two were made on the same typewriter and match extremely closely, the horizontal position of the stanza numbers differs slightly, as does the text. A different typewriter has added the heading “Written by Thomas Stearns Eliot | Class of 1905 | Smith Academy”, and the first leaf is stamped “Property of Chancellor’s Office Washington University.”
Stanza numbers] followed by stops ts1–ts4
Title To the Class of 1905] from “Fiftieth Annual Graduating Exercises Smith Academy” (13 June 1905). This “Programme” lists a reading of the poem as item VII (Washington U.) ‖ [At Graduation 1905] printings prior to the present edition
16 to] seek ts1 1st reading
21 hopeful] the hopeful ts1 1st reading
[Poems I 224–28 · Commentary I 1070–71]
36 bestow] Early Youth 1950+ ‖ bestow. ts1–ts3, ts4 1st reading ‖ bestow, ts4 2nd reading
64 schools—a] schools a ts4
70 thy] the Early Youth 1967, 1969 (acknowledged as an error by Valerie Eliot in a memo to Peter du Sautoy, 23 Mar 1967)
Song (“When we came home across the hill”)
Published in Harvard Advocate 24 May 1907, then Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+. No ms or ts known.
5 still,] Early Youth 1950+ (Hayward’s emendation) ‖ still printings prior to Early Youth 1950
Before Morning
Published in Harvard Advocate 13 Nov 1908, then Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+. No ms or ts known.
6 daw
n,] dawn. Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
Circe’s Palace
Published in Harvard Advocate 25 Nov 1908, repr. in Cap and Gown: Some College Verse (1931). Then Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+. No ms or ts known.
5 stain] strain Cap and Gown (error)
After 14] additional lines:
Let us quickly gather and go:
We shall not come here again.
pencilled into the copy of Adv 1938 sent by TSE to Hayward (King’s).
On a Portrait
Published in Harvard Advocate 26 Jan 1909, then Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+.
[Poems I 228–32 · Commentary I 1071–74]
ms1 (Houghton): blue ink, with emendations in black ink and pencil, and some awkward readings reinforced in pencil. Endorsed later: “Original MS. written by myself. T. S. Eliot 24. vi. 53”, and, referring to his own name, in black ink: “(Name written in by Tinckom-Fernandez T. S. E.)”. However, the hand of the poem is quite unlike that of Song: The moonflower opens to the moth, and may not be TSE’s. A facsimile copy at Brown U. was made before the addition in 1953.
2 brain] brains ms1 1st reading
5 goddess carved] carved goddess 1969 (corrected in reprints) of] from ms1 1st reading
13 spy,] spy. Advocate
Song (“The moonflower opens to the moth”)
Published in Harvard Advocate 26 Jan 1909, then Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+.
ms1 (Houghton): The title and stanza numbers I and II appear to be editorial additions. The signature at the foot has been changed from “T. S. E.” to “T. S. Eliot”, then deleted and replaced by “T. S. E.” once more, these changes likewise perhaps editorial. A much later note beneath the signature reads: “Original ms. written by myself. I hope it will never be reprinted. Shd. have been rejected. T. S. Eliot 24. vi. 53”. The annotations at 1, 3, 4, 5 are probably editorial. An accompanying sheet of comments shows that Advocate editors were divided about its merits. The manuscript was retrieved from the printers by Haniel Long along with that of On a Portrait (see Crawford 2015 104). On the back of a photograph showing the ms before 1953, Harford Powel notes the discrepancy in the last line (Hay Library, Brown U.).
1 moonflower] second and third syllables of “moonflower” underlined later with both straight and wavy lines, with “monosyl.”, itself del ms1 (see 5).
3 great] underlined, with wavy marginal line ms1
4 alder] underlined later, with “Why ‘alder’” ms1
4 ^ 5] no line space Undergrad. Poems
5 flowers,] flowers underlined with caret to note, “dissyl.”, itself del ms1 ‖ flowers Advocate Love,] ms1+ ‖ which ms1 1st reading ‖ that 2nd reading
8 lips] ms1 ‖ life printings prior to the present edition
Ballade of the Fox Dinner
Recited 15 May 1909. Published in Fifty Years: William R. Castle (1949) and repr. in Soldo (both without variants).
[Poems I 232–33 · Commentary I 1074]
ms1 (Valerie Eliot collection): three leaves. Fair copy with filing note at head in another hand, “Thos. S. Eliot ’10”. Beneath the Envoi, TSE has written: “This is the original manuscript of the Ballade of the Fox Dinner which I wrote at the behest (I think) of Charles Wilkins Short. But I think that someone has dated it wrongly. Leland, McNeill and Short (as well as Talbot, who however only managed to stay in college two years) were all of the class of 1908. Bowen and Devereux (Nick) were 1909. I should date this 1908. I give it to my beloved Valerie. T. S. Eliot. 6 May 1958.”
Jonathan H. Morgan, Undergraduate Secretary of the Fox Club, to TSE, 3 Apr 1958: “In browsing through the Fox Club archives, I was suddenly struck by a letter written by you some ten years ago in which you enquired about the manuscript of the Ballade of the Fox Dinner, written May 15, 1909. I thereupon browsed further back among the archives and there it was, and here it is · · · It once appeared in print that you were a Fox because you had been ensnared by the ‘drinking crowd.’ Alas, the wiles of Bacchus still prevail · · · It would be most wonderful if you could come to the Club during your sojourn here in Cambridge this spring, say for cocktails from 5 to 7 or so.” TSE to Morgan, 10 Apr 1958: “I shall be delighted to have the MS. of my Ballade of 1909 and my wife will be still more pleased to have such a curiosity to add to her collection. Please keep it until we meet. I should be delighted to come in to have a few drinks with members one afternoon while we are in Cambridge · · · When I was in Cambridge two years ago, I passed the Club several times and wondered whether to walk in and introduce myself to anybody present or not. Sometimes an old buffer who has not been seen for a long time feels as timid as the newest member!”
After this correspondence in 1958, his dating of the manuscript to 1908 on giving it to Valerie may have been influenced by a wish to celebrate a half-century.
23 will] still ms1 1st reading
Nocturne
Published in Harvard Advocate 12 Nov 1909. After being reprinted in Adv 1938, the poem appeared in a non-Harvard publication, Time 2 Jan 1939, without a title and against TSE’s wishes. Then Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+.
1 sérieux] Early Youth 1950+ ‖ serieux Advocate, Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
12 forever] Forever Time
First Caprice in North Cambridge
Published in March Hare (with facsimile 97).
ms1 (Berg): March Hare Notebook 4; blue ink. No variants. For details of the Notebook and accompanying leaves, see headnote to Prufrock and Other Observations in Commentary.
[Poems I 233–35 · Commentary I 1074–77]
Second Caprice in North Cambridge
Published in March Hare.
ms1 (Berg): Notebook 6; blue ink.
4 rack] haunt 1st reading
8 débris] debris 1st reading
12 fields] lots 1st reading
15 an unexplained] a quite unknown 1st reading
Opera
Published in March Hare.
ms1 (Berg): Notebook 8; blue ink.
5 love] probable reading; life possible reading
Humouresque
Published in Harvard Advocate 12 Jan 1910, then Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+. March Hare published the text of ms1, whereas the text of the present edition follows Early Youth 1967.
ms1 (Berg): Notebook 46. Black ink, indenting even-numbered lines 2–16.
Title] Advocate, Adv Anth, Early Youth (1950, 1967) ‖ Humoresque Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
(AFTER J. LAFORGUE)] not ms1 ‖ upper and lower case italics Advocate, Adv Anth, Early Poems I ‖ without brackets, as if first line of text Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
4] not bracketed ms1 frame).] frame), Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
5 deceasèd] deceased Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
6 liked: a common face,] liked—I liked his face ms1
7] not bracketed ms1 we forget] you forget, ms1
8 Pinched] Locked ms1
9] Half-bullying, half-imploring air ms1
10 Mouth twisted to] And mouth that knew ms1
11 ^ 12] line space ms1
[Poems I 235–37 · Commentary I 1077–81]
12 moon.] moon ms1
13 useless] cast-off ms1
14 set him there;] fancy him there ms1
15 fashion since last spring’s,] fashion, just this spring’s ms1
16 “The] The ms1 style,] cry ms1 ‖ style Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Adv Anth swear.] swear.” ms1
16 ^ 17] no line space Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
17 class?] class” ms1
18 (Feebly] (And here ms1 nose),] nose) ms1 ‖ hose), Advocate, Adv 1938 (corrected in TSE’s copy and that sent to Hayward), Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
20 “Now] Now ms1 York—” ms1 ‖ York”— printings prior to the present ed. goes.] goes ‖ ms1
21 a marionette’s,] —a marionette’s ms1
22 premises; yet] premises—but ms1
> 23 hero!] life! Where] but where ms1 1st reading ‖ and where ms1 he] it ms1
24 But, even at that,] And after all— ms1 mask] masque ms1 ‖ mark Advocate, Adv 1938 (corrected in TSE’s copy and that sent to Hayward), Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems bizarre!] bizarre! ms1 ‖ bizzarre! Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
Convictions (Curtain Raiser)
Published in March Hare.
ms1 (Berg): Notebook 2–3; blue ink.
2 intense!] intense: 1st reading
11 The] 1st and final reading ‖ And The 2nd reading
24 One who] Who shall alt, but without consequential change to “appreciate”
Spleen
Published in Harvard Advocate 26 Jan 1910, then Adv 1938, Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems, Early Youth 1950+. No ms or ts known.
1 Sunday:] Sunday ‖ Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
12, 13] transposed Undergrad. Poems (despite being a re-impression from the type of Adv 1948)
14 of] to Adv 1948, Undergrad. Poems
[Poems I 237–39 · Commentary I 1081–85]
First Debate between the Body and Soul
Published in March Hare.
ms1 (Berg): both sides of a loose leaf watermarked “Harvard Co-operative Society”, accompanying Notebook. Pencil, which is hard to decipher, so that several readings, especially deletions and alternatives, are doubtful and here differ slightly from March Hare.
