Selected Prose of T. S. Eliot

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Selected Prose of T. S. Eliot Page 45

by Frank Kermode


  Europe what it is, and about the common cultural elements which

  this common Christianity has brought with it. If Asia were converted to Christianity tomorrow, it would not thereby become a part of Europe. It is in Christianity that our arts have developed ;

  i t is in Christianity that the laws of Europe have - until recently been rooted. It is against a background of Christianity that all our thought has significance. An individual European may not believe

  that the Christian Faith is true, and yet what he says, and makes,

  and does, will all spring out of his heritage of Christian culture

  and depend upon that culture for its meaning. Only a Christian

  culture could have produced a Voltaire or a Nietzsche. I do not

  believe that the culture of Europe could survive the complete

  disappearance of the Christian Faith. And I am convinced of that,

  not merely because I am a Christian myself, but as a student of

  social biology. If Christianity goes, the whole of our culture goes.

  Then you must start painfully again, and you cannot put on a new

  culture ready made. You must wait for the grass to grow to feed

  the sheep to give the wool out of which your new coat will be

  made. You must pass through many centuries of barbarism. We

  should not live to see the new culture, nor would our great-greatgreat-grandchildren : and if we did, not one of us would be happy in it.

  To our Christian heritage we owe many things beside religious

  faith. Through it we trace the evolution of our arts, through it

  we have our conception of Roman Law which has done so much

  to shape the Western World, through it we have our conceptions

  of private and public morality. And through it we have our

  common standards of literature, in the literatures of Greece and

  Rome. The Western world has its unity in this heritage, in

  Christianity and in the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome and

  Israel, from which, owing to two thousand years of Christianity,

  we trace our descent. I shall not elaborate this point. What I wish

  to say is, that this unity in the common elements of culture,

  throughout many centuries, is the true bond between us. No

  political and economic organization, however much goodwill it

  J04

  N OTES TOWARDS THE DEFI N I T I O N O F CULTUR E

  commands, can supply what this culture unity gives. If we dissipate or throw away our common patrimony of culture, then all the organization and planning of the most ingenious minds will

  not help us, or bring us closer together.

  The unity of culture, in contrast to the unity of political

  organization, does not require us all to have only one loyalty : it

  means that there will be a variety of loyalties. It is wrong that the

  only duty of the individual should be held to be towards the

  State ; it is fantastic to hold that the supreme duty of every

  individual should be towards a Super-State. I will give one

  instance of what I mean by a variety of loyalties. No university

  ought to be merely a national institution, even if it is supported

  by the nation. The universities of Europe should have their

  common ideals, they should have their obligations towards each

  other. They should be independent of the governments of the

  countries in which they are situated. They should not be institutions for the training of an efficient bureaucracy, or for equipping scientists to get the better of foreign scientists ; they should stand

  for the preservation of learning, for the pursuit of truth, and in so

  far as men are capable of it, the attainment of wisdom . . . .

  305

  Appendix A

  NOTES

  These notes serve two very limited purposes. They provide a

  bare indication as to the first publication of each piece ; and they

  give the sources of Eliot's verse quotations whenever they are not

  apparent from the context. Nothing else is attempted, except

  that I draw attention to a few misquotations, not, I hope, from

  pedantry, but from a conviction that in the poet Eliot misquotation is sometimes creative ; and I have also added one or two notes for readers seeking help with unfamiliar languages, or wondering

  who wrote a particular book or poem when its author goes unmentioned. I am indebted to Valerie Eliot, John Sutherland, Christopher Ricks, Ian Fletcher and especially Keith Walker,

  whom I consulted when baffled.

  p. 31 'Reflections on Vers Libre' (first published New Statesman,

  3 March 1 91 7).

  Once, in .finesse of .fiddles. . . T. E. Hulme, 'The Embankment',

  The Complete Poetical Works ofT. E. Hulme, published at the

  end of Pound's Ripostes, 1 9 1 2.

  There shut up in his castle. . . Ezra Pound, 'Near Perigord,' I I I ;

  Personae, 1 69.

  I recover, like a spent taper. . . Webster, The White Deril, 5.6.

  Cover her face. . Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, 4.2.

  .

  You hat•e cause. . . The Duchess of Ma/fi, 3.2.

  This is a vain poetry. . . The Duchess of Ma/fi, 3.2.

  / loved this woman. . . Middleton, The Changeling, 5·3 (should

  read : 'in spite of her heart' ; Eliot quotes it correctly in

  'Thomas Middleton,' Selected Essays, 164).

  I would have these herbs. . . The White Devil, 5-4-

  Whether the spirit. . . The Duchess of Ma/fi, 1 . 1 .

  The boughs of the trees. . H . D . 'Hermes of the Ways', ii.

  .

  307

  APPEN D I X A

  Whm the white dawn first� . . Matthew Arnold, The Strayed

  Reveller, 24ff.

  p. 37 'Tradition and the Individua-l Talent' (first published Egoist

  September and December 1919).

  And npw methinks. . . 'Tourneur', The Revenger's Traged,y, 3·5·

  o 8£ voiic; tawc;. . . 'The mind is doubtless more divine and less

  subject to passion' (Aristotle, De Anima, 1 .4).

  p. 45 'Hamlet' (first published, as 'Hamlet and his problems', in

  Athenaeum, 26 September 1919).

  p. so 'The Perfect Critic' (first published Athenaeum, 23 July 1920).

  Lettres a l'Amazone : by Remy de Gourmont (1914).

  Le Probleme du style : By Remy de Gourmont (1902).

  p. 59 'The Metaphysical Poets' (first published Times Literary

  Supplement, 20 October 1921).

  On a round ball. . . Donne, 'A Valediction : Of Weeping', 10ff.

  A bracelet. . . Donne, 'The Relique', 6.

  Notre ame. . . Baudelaire, 'Le Voyage', II.

  His fate was. . . Vanity of Human Wishes, 2 19ff. (misquoted ;

  first line begins 'His fall was . . .', third line 'He left the

  name . . .

  ').

  So when from hence. . . Lord Herbert of Cherbury, 'Ode upon

  a Question Moved, Whether Love should Continue for

  ever ?' st. 33-5.

  in this one thing. . . The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, 4. 1 .

  No, when the fight. . . 'Bishop Blougram's Apology', 693ff.

  One walked between. . . 'The Two Voices', 412ff.

  0 geraniums. . . Jules Laforgue, Derniers Vers (1 89o), X.

  Elle est bien loin. . . Laforgue, 'Sur une defunte', Derniers

  Vers.

  Pour !'enfant. . . Baudelaire, 'Le Voyage', I.

  p. 68 'The Function of Criticism' (first published Criterion, October

  1923).

  p. 77 Preface to Anabasis (first published 1930; Anabasis is Eliot's

  translation of the Anabase of St.-Jean Per
se (Alexis Leger)

  published in French 1 924).

  p. 79 The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (lectures delivered at

  Harvard University 1932-3 ; first published 1 933. The titles

  here given to the extracts have been provided by the editor).

  Some have accused me. . . Don Juan, 4·5·

  Then what I thought. . . Triumph of Life, 1 82ff.

  On a battle-trumpet's blast. . . Prometheus Unbound, 1 .694-701 .

  To suffer woes. . . Prometheus Unbound, 4· 57o-4.

  True love in this. . . Epipsychidion, 16o-1 , 149-53.

  A vision like. . . Epipsychidion, 1 2 1-3 (earlier, not later).

  Fly where the evening. . . Bussy D'Ambois, 5·3·

  NOTES

  die sub Aurora. . . Hermles CEteus, 1 521f. ('Tell the Sabaeans

  placed under Aurora, tell the Hibernians placed under the

  sunset, and those who suffer under the chariot of the Bear,

  and those who are oppressed by the burning axletree . . .' ).

  sub ortu so/is. . . Hercules Furens, 1 14o--1 ('Beneath the sun's

  rising, or beneath the course of the frozen Bear . . .' ).

  lips only sing when they cannot kiss 'Art', section 3 (Collected

  Poems, 127).

  p. 97 'Religion and Literature' (first published in The Faith That

  Illuminates, ed. V. A. Demant, 1935).

  p. 107 'The Music of Poetry' (first published as the W. P. Ker Lecture

  for 1942 by the University of Glasgow Press).

  p. l i S 'What is a Classic ?' (the Presidential Address to the Virgil

  Society, 1 944 ; first published by Faber & Faber, 1945).

  i/ temporal foco. . . Purgatorio, XXVII.

  p. 1 32 'Poetry and Drama' (The first Theodore Spencer Memorial

  Lecture at Harvard University, published by Faber & Faber

  and Harvard University Press, 195 1).

  p. 149 Ezra Pound: His Metric and Poetry (first published anonymously in New York, 1917).

  p. 151 'Henry James' (first published in The Little Re1:iew, January

  1 9 1 8).

  p. 153 'Philip Massinger' (first published in Times Literar,)' Supplement, 27 May 1920 ; a second part, here omitted, appeared in Athenaeum, I I June 1920).

  Can I call back. . . The Emperor of the East, 5.2.

  Not poppy. . . Othello, 3·3·

  Thou didst not borrow. . . The Duke of Milan, 3. 1 .

  God knows, my son. . . II Henry IV, 4·5·

  And now, in the evening. . . The Virgin Martyr, 5.2.

  I shall fall. . . Henry VIII, 3.2.

  What you deliver. . . The Great Duke of Florence, 3 . 1 .

  'Tis in my memory locked. . . Hamlet, 1 .3.

  Here he comes. . . The Roman Actor, 4· 1.

  the Cardinal lifts up. . . Duchess of Malfi, 3·4 ('he lifts up's

  nose').

  as tann' d galle_y-slat•es. . . The Roman Actor, 4· 1. (The 'great

  lines' are in Duchess of Malfi 4.2.).

  in her strong toil. . . Antony and Cleopatra, 5.2.

  Does the silk worm. . . 'Tourneur', Ret•enger's Tragedy, 3·5·

  Let the common sewer. . . Middleton, The Changeling, 5·3·

  Lust and forgetfulness. . . Middleton, Women Beware Jflomen,

  5· I .

  What though my father. . . Massinger, The Fatal Dowry, 1.2.

  Why, 'tis impossible. . . The Changeling, 3+

  APPEN D I X A

  p. 161 'Andrew Marvell' (first pablished Times Literary Supplement,

  3 1 March 1921).

  'It is such a king. . . 'The. Statue in Stocks-Market' (not by

  Marvell).

  'Men . . . ought and might. . . Marvell, The Rehearsal Transpros' d.

  Pal/ida Mors. . . Horace, Odes 1.4: 'Pale Death knocks impartially at pauper's hut and prince's palace.'

  Nobis, cum seme/. . . Catullus, Carmina 5 ('Vivamus, mea

  Lesbia') : 'When our brief light has faded, we must sleep an

  everlasting night.'

  Le squelette. . . Theophile Gautier, 'Buchers et tombeaux'

  (Emaux et carnies, 1852).

  Cannot we delude. . . The song in Volpone, 3·7·

  Necessitifaict. . . Villon, 'Le Testament', XXI.

  The midwife. . . The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel,

  476-7.

  A numerous host. . . Absalom and Achitophel, 529-30.

  Oft he seems. . . Samson Agonistes, 1 749ff.

  Comely in thousand shapes. . . 'Of Wit', 6-8.

  In a true piece. . . 'Of Wit', 57ff.

  Art thou pale. . . 'To the Moon', 1-6.

  p. 172 'Marie Lloyd' (first published Dial, December 1922 and as 'In

  Memoriam, Marie Lloyd', Criterion I, January 1923).

  p. 175 'Ulysses, Order, and Myth' (first published Dial, November,

  1923).

  p. 179 'Lancelot Andrewes' (first published Times Literary Supplement,

  23 September 1926, then in For Lancelot Andrewes, 1928).

  che in questo mondo. . . Dante, Paradiso, 3 1 , r 1 o--1 1 ('Who in

  this world tasted, by means of meditation, the peace of that

  one').

  Who is it. . . Nativity Sermon of r622.

  I know not how . . . ibid.

  Christ is no wild-cat . . . ibid.

  the word within a word. . . ' Verbum infans, the Word without a

  word ; the eternal Word not able to speak a word . . . ' (Nativity

  Sermon of r6r8). In this most curious of his misquotations

  Eliot is remembering his own Gerontion ('The word within a

  word, unable to speak a word'). In Ash Wednesday V there is

  a variant which restores the sense of Andrewes without

  altogether abandoning 'within' : 'The Word without a word,

  the Word within / The world . . .'

  It was no summer progress . . . Nativity Sermon of 1622.

  I add yet farther . . . Nativity Sermon of r61 1 .

  I a m here speaking. . . Fifty Sermons (1649), Sermon 14.

  310

  NOTES

  A memory of yesterday's pleasures. . . LXXX Sermons ( 1640),

  Sermon LXXX.

  p. 1 89 'Thomas Middleton' (first published Times Literary Supple-

  ment, 30 June 1 927).

  Why, 'tis impossible. . . The Changeling, 3-4-

  Can you weep. . . The Changeling, 3·4·

  A wondrous necessary man. . . The Changeling, 5 . 1 .

  Beneath the stars. . . The Changeling, 5.2.

  I loved this woman. . . The Changeling, 5·3·

  Did I not say. . . Women Beware Women, 2.2.

  Troth, you speak. . . Women Beware Women, 3· 1 .

  'A fine journey . . .' Michaelmas Term, 4. 1 .

  I that am of your blood. . . The Changeling, 5·3 (or, 'I am that of

  your blood . . . ').

  p. 1 96 'Francis Herbert Bradley' (first published Times Literary

  Supplement, 29 December 1 927).

  p. 205 Dante (first published 1929).

  She looks like sleep. . . Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, 5.2.

  Giustizia mosse. . . Inferno, 3·

  E come gli stornei. . . Inferno, 5·

  E come i gru. . . Inferno, 5·

  Noi leggevamo. . . Inferno, 5·

  se Josse amico. . . Inferno, 5·

  Amor, che a nullo. . . Inferno, 5·

  ed ei s' erg ea. . . Inferno, 6.

  Poi si rivolse. . . Inferno, 1 5 .

  L o maggior corno. . . Inferno, 26.

  moans round. . . 'Ulysses', ss-6 ('The deep I Moans round . . .').

  Put up your bright swords.

  Othello, 1 .2 ('Keep up your

  bright swords . . .' ).

  ov' Ercole. . . Inferno, 26.

  '0 frati . . .' Inferno, 26.

  n'apparve tma montagna. . . Inferno, 26.

  'lo fui di
Mmttefeltro . . .' Purgatorio, 5·

  Non aspeuar. . . Purgatorio, 27.

  tma donna so/ella. . . Purgatorio, 28.

  Nel suo aspello. . . Paradiso, 1 .

  Beatrice mi guardo. . . Paradiso, 4·

  Come in peschiera. . . Paradiso, 5·

  Q!u1le allodella. . . Paradiso, 20.

  Nel mo profondo. . . Paradiso, 33·

  0 qwmto e corto. . . Paradiso, 33·

  p. 23 1 'Baudelaire' (first published as I ntroduction to The !taimate

  Journals of Charles Baudelaire, translated by Christopher

  Isherwood, 1 930).

  3 1 1

  APPEND I X A

  ses ailes de giant. . . 'L'Aibatros'.

  Maint joyau. . . 'Le Guignon'.

  Valse milancolique. . . 'Harmonie du soir'.

  Au coeur d'un vieux faubourg. . . 'Le vin des chiffoniers'.

  p. 237 'Pensies of Pascal' (first published as Introduction to Pascal's

  Pensies, translated by W. F. Trotter, 1 93 I).

  p. 239 'In Memoriam' (first published as I ntroduction to Poems of

  Tennyson, I 936).

  All day within. . . 'Mariana'.

  Of love. . . 'Love and Duty'.

  Dark house. . . In Memoriam, vii.

  shall he. . . ibid., lvi.

  No longer. . . ibid., Conclusion.

  Dear as remember'd kisses. . . The Princess, 4·54·

  And now no sacred. . . Swinburne, 'Ave atque Vale : I n

  Memory o f Charles Baudelaire'.

  p. 248 'Yeats '(the first annual Yeats Lecture, delivered to the

  Friends of the Irish Academy at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin,

  in I940; subsequently published in Purpose, July-December

  I940, as 'The Poetry of W. B. Yeats').

  You think it horrible. . . 'The Spur'.

  p. 258 'Milton I' (first published Essays and Studies of the English

  Association, I936).

  O'er the smooth. . . Arcades, 84 .

  . . . paths of this drear wood. . . Comus, 37·

  Shadowing more beauty. . . Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, 1 . 1 .

  While the ploughman. . . L' Allegro, 63ff.

  The sun to me. . . Samson Agonistes, 86ff.

  Thrones, dominations. . . Paradise Lost, 5.772.

  Cambula, seat of . . Paradise Lost, I I .388.

  p. 265 'Milton II' (first published in Proceedings of the British Academy, 33 (I947).

  'a dissociation of sensibility . . . ' This passage occurs not in an

  essay on Dryden but in 'The Metaphysical Poets' (pp. 59-

  67 supra).

  p. 277 'The Humanism of Irving Babbitt' (first published Forum,

 

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