by T. S. Eliot
V 21 crying shadow in] circling fury and ts1a add leaf 1st draft ‖ crying shadow and 3rd draft
V 22 lament of the] lament, the sweet ts1a add leaf 1st draft
V 25–39] erroneously inset in printings of 1936 beginning with 4th imp. (1941). See headnote.
V 30 ^ 31] Under which all things are relative ts1 del
V 39] ts1 1st reading:
Stretching before and after
[2]
Light
[new leaf]
Light
Light of light
[5]
Gone
This deletion makes the final leaf superfluous, and it was discarded from ts1a but in ts1b it survives. ‖ ts1a final reading, following the addition of Gone in pencil:
Stretching before and after.
Light
Gone
ts1b final reading, following the addition of Gone in pencil:
Stretching before and after.
Light
Gone.
[Poem I 183–84 · Commentary I 921–24]
East Coker
Published in NEW 21 Mar 1940 (referred to as a “Supplement”, the poem occupied the central four pages so as to be readily detachable, and some extra copies of these four pages were printed afterwards); Partisan Review May-June 1940 (first American printing, although V 1–18 had been quoted from NEW in Poetry May 1940, with no variants). The first printing with its own title page was NEW leaflet (see below), followed by the Faber pamphlet East Coker 12 Sept 1940 (EC; six impressions to Feb 1942); then US 1943, 1944+.
NEW leaflet: eight pages, stapled, “East Coker | A Poem by | T. S. Eliot | Reprinted from the Easter Number | of the New English Weekly, 1940.” Although at 8¼" x 6½" the leaflet is in a smaller format than NEW, the same setting of type was used, newly paginated (3–8). Text as NEW. TSE to Gallup, 7 Oct 1946: “I don’t think that the New English Weekly could be said to have published a separate edition of East Coker. I gave them the poem to be published as a kind of insert and I think that they sold a number of extra copies of that issue to people who wanted the poem. This was part of my design in giving them the poem.” And 1 Nov 1946: “Thank you very much for your letter of October 28th and for sending me the leaflet of East Coker produced by the New English Weekly. I had forgotten all about this, but I must have authorised its printing as I am personally interested in the New English Weekly and therefore concerned with its support · · · one of the three weeklies in London which are worth reading.”
ms Gallup (Beinecke; photostats at Houghton): four leaves from a ruled notebook, with undated pencil jottings for part IV. Accompanied by a letter to Hugh Walpole, 19 Apr 1940, sending them to be sold on behalf of the Red Cross: “Well, here are the scraps. As they appear so cryptic, I have attached a marked copy of the poem to which they belong, for identification. I shall be surprised if you get five shillings for them: the only point is the extreme rarity of any ms. verse of mine.” Four days previously, TSE had written to Walpole: “If you want manuscripts I am the most difficult person to get them from, because I never write anything out fully in long hand, but do everything on the typewriter. I can give you two or three pencilled pages of rough notes for my last poem, if you like. But anyone would have to be an almost maniacal collector of my work to want to buy them. Any previous manuscripts, or near manuscripts, have gone to Oxford and Harvard.” The “scraps” were bought at the Red Cross sale by C. A. Stonehill Inc. for Donald Gallup, and were published in Composition FQ 94–95.
[Poem I 185–92 · Commentary I 925–58]
fol 1: 1. The wounded surgeon—
fol 2: our only health is the disease
2) The dying nurse
fol 3: 3) Singing is silence
4) ill of love—
The Lover
hospital the earth
bankrupt banker
millionaire
[the second group of lines running diagonally uphill]
fol 4: I am cold
—must be consumed in fire
I faint with heat
—must be frozen in the lonely North,
the chill freeze
the fever
sharp Enigma of our fever chart
The surgeon
the nurse
the hospital
final.
[all but the first four lines running diagonally uphill]
Five tss, from different stages of composition, and a marked proof of NEW were sent together by TSE to Hayward on 23 June 1940: “I can now report that I have discovered the early drafts of East Coker, and as there are five copies all of which appear to have different alterations, I might as well send you the lot. There is also the proof from the N.E.W. authenticated by a letter from Mairet. There was no ms. except of section IV, and that I gave to Hugh Walpole to try to sell for the Red Cross” (Composition FQ 8–9; for the ms, see ms Gallup above). All five are now bound together, the drafts representing three discrete typings. (Those initially retained by TSE as working copies are described as “retained by TSE”, although later he gave them to Hayward.)
To signal the relation between versions of the same typing, and to make the notation of the composition’s successive stages clear and economical, Helen Gardner’s designations for the drafts have been changed as follows:
[Poem I 185–92 · Commentary I 925–58]
This ed. Hayward vol Composition FQ
First typing: ts1a bound first (retained by TSE) D1
ts1b bound second (sent to Fr. Hebert) D2
Second typing: ts2a bound third (sent to Hayward) D3
ts2b bound fourth (retained by TSE) D4
Third typing: ts3a bound fifth (printer’s ts) D5
ts3b — (sent to Morley)
ts1: two versions of first typing of Parts I–IV on eight leaves, with two add. leaves for Part V:
ts1a (retained by TSE): carbon on eight leaves.
ts1b (sent to Hebert): ribbon copy on eight leaves, folded and sent to Fr. Gabriel Hebert, of Kelham Theological College, a Faber author whose “incisive but temperate criticism” was commended by TSE in Liberal Manifesto (1939). During binding, the first leaf of this ribbon copy (reading “tattered”, 13, and with TSE’s line numbering) and the first leaf of ts2a (reading “tatterred” and without line numbering) have inadvertently been exchanged. They are here treated as though in their original positions. (Gardner proposes that the recipient was Herbert Read and describes the hand that made the comment against 58–60 as very like his. Yet a letter to Read of 18 Sept 1942 suggests that he was not privy to the next Quartet, The Dry Salvages, in draft. By contrast, TSE had relied for some years on Fr. Hebert’s opinion of theological submissions, and on 1 Aug 1939 invited his criticisms while completing The Idea of a Christian Society. The name “Hebert” is twice clearly typed. See note to I 3 variant.)
ts1 add. leaves (retained by TSE?): ribbon copy of Part V, on two leaves, without line numbering and without typed part or page numbers. At some stage these leaves have been folded with ts1b, perhaps for posting, but they bear no marks by other hands, and the second leaf especially is much less tidy than other drafts that TSE sent to friends at this time.
ts2 two versions of second typing; all five Parts on nine leaves:
ts2a (sent to Hayward): ribbon copy, posted apparently in Feb 1940 (Composition FQ 9, 17), and with Hayward’s pencilled annotations, some of which are now almost invisible.
ts2b (retained by TSE): carbon with a few annotations and pencilled line numbering by TSE.
ts3 two versions of third typing; all five Parts on nine leaves:
ts3a: typescript for printer with instructions from editor “10pt. Please keep exactly to spaces shown” and, braced against 29–34, “Printer to copy the spelling exactly”.
ts3b (Berg): secondary carbon with line numbering every five lines, probably by TSE (acquired by Berg with Frank Morley’s papers; not listed in Composition FQ). With a few emendations and notes in an unknown hand. Accompanied by a
list of “corrigenda” bringing readings into line with the final text. The corrigenda are not listed below.
[Poem I 185–92 · Commentary I 925–58]
ts Texas (Texas): single leaf, headed “From East Coker by T. S. Eliot”. Not typed by TSE. I 14–23 only, with “the warm” for “a warm” (I 20).
Matthews 144 claimed that TSE sent a ts of East Coker to Emily Hale “before the poem was published”, but this is untraced.
NEW 1st proof (King’s): corrected by TSE. With a compliments slip from the editor, Philip Mairet, noting: “Shocking bad proofs. I’ve asked them to send you better ones, as these show breaks in the lines owing to faulty bedding. But these would do for corrections.” As NEW except where noted.
NEW 2nd proof (Texas): adopting the changes marked in NEW 1st proof and with later changes and comments by TSE. Sent to Montgomery Belgion, and with “M. B. from T. S. E.” on the first page. Sold by Belgion’s widow to Bertram Rota Ltd. in 1974. Another copy (Harvard U. Archives), has a single variant at III 32, and is inscribed “to Mrs. Irving Babbitt from T. S. Eliot” on the first page. As NEW except where noted.
V 1–18 were quoted from NEW in Poetry (Chicago) May 1940, with no variants.
BBC script (Beinecke): six mimeographed pages of a professional transcript, headed Literature in the West | 12: East Coker | Read by T. S. Eliot, with dates of transmission (17 Mar 1946, 10.38–10.53pm) and repeat (18 Mar 1946, 4.15–4.30pm), and the announcer’s words: “This is the West of England Home Service. Tonight listeners in the Scottish Home Service are joining us to hear T. S. Eliot read his poem East Coker. East Coker is a small village in Somerset from which Mr. Eliot’s ancestors came. This is the last programme in our first series of Literature in the West.” The part numbers are not marked, and parts I and II are run on. In I 13, “silent” appears in inverted commas (which may have been marked by TSE for aural emphasis). Having no independent authority, other variants are not recorded.
Valerie’s Own Book: four pages (I 1 to II 23), then eight pages headed “East Coker continued” (II 24 to V 19), then a final page, headed “East Coker Continued” (V 20–38); in the contents list at the end of the first exercise book, the last becomes “East Coker (completed)”. The thirteen pages are interrupted by eight other poems (see Textual History headnote, 6. VALERIE’S OWN BOOK).
No paragraph indents NEW, Partisan.
I
I 1] indent 1963 (not 1963 proof, US 1963), 1969
I 2 extended] rebuilt ts1, ts2 1st reading, ts2b
I 3 restored] replaced ts1, ts2 1st reading, ts2b ‖ restored / supplied ts2a alt 2nd readings. The words replaced and place underlined with “?” by Hebert ts1b and, with “?”, by Hayward ts2a. To Hayward, 27 Feb 1940: “Replaced and place. It was intentional, but Hebert also objects, so I had better do something about it.”
I 4 by-pass] ringed with “?” by unknown hand ts3b
I 12 wainscot] wainscoat ts1, ts2. The words wainscoat and field-mouse underlined with “X” by Hayward ts2a
[Poem I 185–92 · Commentary I 925–31]
I 13 arras] EC+‖ aresse ts1–ts3, NEW, Partisan, underlined with arras? by Hayward ts2a, ringed with? arras by unknown hand ts3b, changed to arras by TSE in NEW 2nd proof after publication (see Commentary)
I 13 ^ 14, as also 46 ^ 47] two-line space Valerie’s Own Book
I 15 field] fields ts1–ts3, NEW 1st proof deep] dark ts3, NEW 1st proof 1st reading
I 19 electric] underlined with “X” by Hayward ts2a. To Hayward, 27 Feb 1940: “Electric. I will think about alternatives.”
I 21 not] but ts1 1st reading (typed over) refracted] refrected Valerie’s Own Book 1st reading by] by the Valerie’s Own Book
I 23 owl. ^ In] new page so step indeterminate ts1–ts3, EC, 1944, Folio ‖ stepped with extra word space but with no line space Partisan ‖ stepped but with no line space or word space US 1943, 1959 pbk, Mardersteig, 1979, 1995, Rampant Lions. (The “open field” of the stepped phrase is a repetition from 4 and 15, as the stepped phrase “If you came this way” at Little Gidding I 20 and 39 appears also at 23.)
I 25 summer] May ts1–ts3a 1st reading, ts3b ‖ Summer Partisan, US 1943, 1944 author’s proof 1st reading (emended to summer by TSE), US 1952
I 28–33] beside these lines: “N.B. This is a quotation (1531)” NEW 2nd proof (after publication)
I 29 matrimonie—] matrimonie ts1, ts2
I 30] not ts1, ts2 (but see 45–46)
I 35 rustic] ts1 ‖ solemn ts2 1st reading, ts3 1st reading, ts3b
I 36 shoes,] US 1943+ ‖ shoes ts1–ts3, NEW, Partisan, EC. TSE to Frank Morley, 20 Feb 1943, listing proof corrections for US 1943: “Comma after shoes.”
I 44 man and woman] men and women ts1
I 45–46 And that of beasts. Feet rising and falling. | Eating and drinking. Dung and death.]
And that of beasts. Eating and drinking,
Dung and death. Feet rising and falling.
ts1, ts2 ‖ transposed to final sequence ts2b falling.] falling: ts2
I 46 ^ 47] A most dignified and commodious sacrament. ts1, ts2 ‖ bracketed for possible deletion by Hebert ts1b ‖ bracketed and ringed to move after 29 by TSE ts2b. To Hayward, 27 Feb 1940: “Dignified. Hebert also objects. I think this line is out of its place, and I can’t think why I put most. It looks as if daunsinge and not matrimonie was the sacrament. I will deal with this.” most] underlined with “X” by Hayward ts2a ‖ del ts2b
I 47] with “X” by Hayward ts2a points, and another] points and the star fades, and another ts1, ts2 ‖ points. Another ts2a 2nd reading. To Hayward, 27 Feb 1940: “Star fades. You are right.” Gardner: “Probably Hayward pointed out that the morning star does not fade at dawn” (Composition FQ 99).
I 48–49 Out at sea · · · slides] Out at sea the little | Dawn wind slides. ts1, ts2 1st reading, ts2b ‖ Out at sea | The dawn wind slides [wrinkles alt] ts2a 2nd reading (undeleted) ‖ And the dawn wind | Wrinkles the sea ts2a alt 2nd and final reading
I 50 my] the ts1, ts2
[Poem I 185–86 · Commentary I 931–35]
II
II 6] line bracketed with “?” by Hebert ts1b down] down, ts1a, ts1b 1st reading
II 7 snow?] snow. ts1a, ts1b 1st reading (emended perhaps by Hebert)
II 8–10] bracketed with “reminiscent of something? Burnt Norton II, 4–5” by Hebert ts1b (referring to “Sings below inveterate scars | Appeasing long forgotten wars.”)
II 13 and] the NEW 1st proof 1st reading
II 15–17] upside down on ts1b fol.5v:
Alone—the ice cap
Separated from the surfaces of human beings
To be reunited in the Communion
(Composition FQ 111 has reunited and in its transcription of the third line, corrected Moody 331.)
II 16 that] underlined (perhaps by Hebert) with its? alt (perhaps by Hebert) ts1b ‖ the ts2a 2nd reading
II 17 Which burns before the] Before the patient ts1, ts2
II 17 ^ 18, as also 48 ^ 49, 49 ^ 50] two-line space Valerie’s Own Book
II 18 satisfactory:] satisfactory— ts1, ts2
II 19 fashion,] fashion: ts1, ts2
II 21 matter.] ts1–ts3, printings prior to 1946, US 1950, 1963, Folio, 1969 ‖ matter 1944 4th imp. (1946) and later printings of Four Quartets (incl. Mardersteig, Rampant Lions, 1979), 1963 proof, US 1963
II 22 expected.] expected: Valerie’s Own Book
II 24 serenity] serenity, ts1
II 25 us,] 1963 ‖ us tss, printings prior to 1963, Mardersteig, Valerie’s Own Book, 1979, 1995
II 27 receipt] underlined with “X” by Hayward ts2a
II 32 At best,] None, or ts1 ‖ None, or bracketed (perhaps by Hebert) ts1b ‖ At best, ts1b alt
II 33 knowledge] knowledge that is merely ts1b 2nd reading experience.] experience— ts1
II 35 moment] movement ts1
II 39 way] way, ts1 1st reading
III
III 2 vacant,] vacant: EC
III
3 letters,] letters. 1963 (not US 1963), 1969 (error)
III 5 chairmen] chairman 1963 (corrected 1974), 1969
III 6 dark,] dark EC
III 7 Sun and Moon] sun and moon Valerie’s Own Book 1st reading
III 13 God. As] God.—As ts1–ts3 ‖ God. As Partisan, US 1943, US 1952 in a] in ts3 1st reading, ts3b
[Poem I 186–88 · Commentary I 935–42]
III 15 wings,] wings. ts1 1st reading
III 16 and the] and Valerie’s Own Book trees,] trees, and ts1, ts2 1st reading, ts2b
III 17 rolled] taken ts1, ts2 1st reading, ts2b
III 18 as,] as ts1
III 19 into silence] away ts1 1st reading
III 20 mental emptiness deepen] mental activity fail ts1, ts2 ‖ image activity fail ts2a 2nd reading, against which Hayward wrote “X”. ‖ mental image fail ts2a final reading. To Hayward, 27 Feb 1940: “Mental image is right: I crossed out the wrong word.”
III 24 as also 25 thing;] thing: ts1
III 25 there] wait Valerie’s Own Book 1st reading
III 26 faith and the] faith and US 1963 love] hope ts1, Valerie’s Own Book 1st reading hope] love ts1 all] not ts1
III 28 So the] So that the ts1 ‖ But the ts2
III 28 ^ 29 line space] ts1–ts3, NEW, Partisan, US 1943, US 1952 ‖ new page so line spacing indeterminate EC, 1944, 1963, 1974 ‖ no line space 1959 pbk, Mardersteig, Valerie’s Own Book, 1969, Folio, 1979+
III 29 Whisper] Whispers ts1, ts2 lightning,] ts1–ts3, NEW, EC ‖ lightning. Partisan, US 1943, 1944+, Valerie’s Own Book. Helen Gardner: “The comma is obviously right and should be restored” (Composition FQ 105).
III 31 echoed] shadowed ts1a, ts1b 1st reading ecstasy] NEW 2nd proof+‖ ecstasy, ts1 ‖ ecstacy NEW 1st proof
III 32 lost,] lost; NEW 2nd proof (Texas), punctuation emended to a comma in NEW 2nd proof (Harvard)
III 33] stepped but with no line space ts1, ts3, NEW 1st proof, US 1952 ‖ with “<” ts2a (indicating eye-skip from 33 to 35 and omission of You say · · · it again?) ‖ stepped with a half-line space and exaggerated horizontal space NEW ‖ stepped with no line space and exaggerated horizontal space Partisan, US 1943 ‖ two-line space Valerie’s Own Book birth.] birth ts1–ts3, NEW, Partisan