T. S. Eliot the Poems, Volume 2
Page 74
Upon those stifling August nights
10
I know he used to walk the streets
Now diving into dark retreats—
Or following the lines of lights
Or following the lines of lights,
And knowing well to what they lead
15
To some inevitable cross
Whereon our souls are spread, and bleed.
And when he leaned across the bar
Twisting a hopeless cigarette
I noticed on his withered face
20
A smile which I cannot forget
A washed-out, unperceived disgrace.
1 those] uncertain reading ‖ these Gallup 1968
4 recollect] remember ms1 1st reading
12 the lines] a line ms1 1st reading
[Poems I 261–62 · Commentary I 1131–33]
14 And knowing] Knowing ms1 1st reading they lead] it leads ms1 1st reading
16] Whereon his soul is spread, and bleeds. 1st reading ms1 ‖ Whereon our soul are spread and bleed ms1
21] A thin, unconscious half-disgrace ms1 alt unperceived] infinite ms1 1st reading with barely (uncertain) and then and written above, and not unperceived below
The Burnt Dancer
Published in March Hare.
ts1 (Berg): loose leaf of typing paper, accompanying Notebook. Ribbon copy with the French refrain typed in red. Paper and typing match Oh little voices of the throats of men ts1.
4 heedless flight] hidden flight 1st reading (with the final reading typed over, then del) ‖ little flight 1st reading in March Hare (error)
14 as also 29 danse mon] danse 1st reading
19 us] not 1st reading
20 Children’s] Childrens’ ts1 (compare The Death of Saint Narcissus 17) little] hidden 1st reading
23 delight?] delight 1st reading
28 not with] with 1st reading
32 pain,] pain 1st reading
33 sinews,] sinews 1st reading
34 fire,] fire 1st reading
35 those] these 1st reading toss,] toss 1st reading
Oh little voices of the throats of men
Published in Letters (1988) with text from ts1; then March Hare with text from ts2.
ts1 (U. Maryland; now Hornbake Library; formerly, like other TSE tss, McKeldin Library): sent to Aiken 25 July 1914. Ribbon copy on two leaves also containing The Love Song of St. Sebastian. Text differs from ts2 in having no terminal punctuation to 2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 25, 28, 29, 31, 38, 41, 42, 44, 46, 48.
ts2 (Berg): ribbon copy with 6 added in pencil, on a loose leaf of “Marcus Ward’s” typing paper accompanying Notebook. Later than ts1.
[Poems I 262–64 · Commentary I 1133–37]
ts Aiken (Huntington, AIK 479): fair copy transcript of ts1 typed by Aiken on two leaves, treating this poem and The Love Song of St. Sebastian as one. That title is transferred to the head of this poem, and a row of dots is introduced at the foot of the first leaf, with The Love Song of St. Sebastian following on, without separate title, on the second leaf. TSE’s annotations are typed in the margins. His emendation of the verbs in “I should remember” and “I should for a moment” (28, 29) was misunderstood so that these appear as “Shall I remember” and “Should I for a moment”. (The rearrangement may have been an editorial intervention intended to help TSE, or an attempt to create from the fragments a single poem to set beside The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock so as to increase the value of the material to a collector. When ts1 was sold by Sotheby’s, NY, in 1972, it was catalogued as a single poem entitled The Love Song of St. Sebastian.) At the time of this typing, probably 1930/31, Aiken also folded into these two leaves a further transcript of Suppressed Complex and Afternoon on a leaf of the same paper (perhaps for safekeeping or to send to Maurice Firuski). As this transcript has no independent authority, its variants are not recorded below.
ts Quinby (Huntington, AIK 478): carbon of a transcript of ts1 (both this poem and The Love Song of St. Sebastian), typed by Jane Quinby, with TSE’s annotations transcribed in her hand. The first half of 25 is conflated with the second half of 26 to form a single line. As this ts has no independent authority, its variants are not recorded below. See description of Quinby’s transcript of The Love Song of St. Sebastian.
Text as ts2 and March Hare.
1–14] braced with “Introduction. To be amplified at the end also.” ts1
6] not ts1, ts2 1st reading
7 hell] hell Sha ts1 1st reading (starting 8)
8 paths] ways ts1, ts2 1st reading
8 ^ 9] no space ts1
9 roads] ways ts1
11 balance pleasure] measure joy ts1
14 ^ 15] five line space with rule across page added ts1
15–34] with marginal note “This theme to recur twice, in variations” ts1
18 led] lead ts1, ts2 (and March Hare)
19 unvaried] unvarièd ts1
20 Intolerable interminable] Interminable intolerable ts1
25 Appearances, appearances,] Appearances appearances ts1
27 yet] but ts1
28 whether] Whether ts1
30 word] truth ts1 1st reading, ts2 1st reading paths you tread] ways you keep ts1 1st reading
31 true] truth ts1 be, when all is said:] be (when all is said) ts1
34 but] than ts1 than] but ts1 2nd reading
37–49] new leaf, with marginal reminder “finale to the foregoing” ts1
37 plumes] plumes the ts1 1st reading
[Poem I 264 · Commentary I 1137–41]
40 light] not ts1 1st reading (error, miscopying?)
43 on] in ts1, ts2 1st reading
44 morning] daylight ts1
47 in] at ts1 1st reading
49 known] not ts1 1st reading (error, miscopying?)
The Love Song of St. Sebastian
Published in Letters (1988) with text from ts1; then March Hare with text from ts2.
ts1 (U. Maryland; now Hornbake Library; formerly McKeldin Library): sent to Aiken 25 July 1914. Differs from ts2 in having no terminal punctuation to 3, 4, 8, 11, 15, 25, 26, 27, 31, 32, 33. Subsequently in the collection of Urling Iselin of New York, along with Aiken’s ts of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. A letter to Aiken from Mrs. Iselin’s assistant, Jane Quinby, 24 Nov 1948, asking to buy TSE’s original accompanying letter, is in the Huntington.
ts2 (Berg): loose leaf of “Marcus Ward’s” typing paper, accompanying Notebook. Untitled, and beginning so high on the leaf as to look like a continuation of Oh little voices of the throats of men. Later than ts1.
ts Aiken (Huntington, AIK 479): transcript by Aiken of ts1. See textual headnote to Oh little voices of the throats of men.
[Poems I 264–65 · Commentary I 1141–43]
ts Quinby (Huntington, AIK 478): transcript by Quinby of ts1. See textual headnote to Oh little voices of the throats of men. Only 1–11, 22–23, 28–29 and 34–38 of The Love Song of St. Sebastian are given, with rules separating the extracts. This transcript appears to have been made in 1948 to send to Aiken, the original owner of ts1. He had written to Maurice Firuski of the Housatonic Bookshop, Connecticut, 11 Sept 1930: “Would I have a chance of selling, for example, a typescript of the Prufrock poem, typed by T.S.E. himself, with corrections in his handwriting, and signed? It looks good. I also have a letter from him which contains three poems never published. One of them, long, unfinished, with marginal comments. Could anything be done with this . . ?” Firuski, 25 Mar 1931: “As to the T. S. Eliot ms—do I dare catalogue it? It would be a swell stunt. I shall not do so till I get your permission. Your name would not figure in it. Are the other poems unpublished? I can’t seem to figure out what to ask for the stuff. Give me more dope on it. Why is the name M. D. Armstrong (of fragrant memory) on the Prufrock? are the comments to him or to you? What draft of Prufrock is it actually? Early? Late? Revised? I need material for a selling talk. Let me know and there will be cold cash.” (Both letters, Hunt
ington.) Aiken then sold his drafts of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Oh little voices of the throats of men, The Love Song of St. Sebastian, Suppressed Complex and Afternoon, which Firuski himself sold “quite promptly” (Gallup 1998 295) to Mrs. Iselin. When her assistant Jane Quinby wrote to TSE about them, he replied, 6 Apr 1948: “I think that the most likely explanation of the manuscript which has come into your hands is that these were all the original property of Conrad Aiken. I should think that it is likely that the pencil address in the upper right hand corner of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock would turn out to be in Mr. Aiken’s writing, since Mr. M. D. Armstrong was Mr. Aiken’s friend and not mine. I suspect that this is a copy which I gave to Conrad Aiken in 1912 or 1913 to take to London with him and which he unsuccessfully attempted to place at that time on my behalf with several English periodicals.” Then, on 3 May: “I have your letter of April 25th with the fuller transcription of the unidentified verses. I am afraid I must admit the likelihood that the fragments entitled The Love Song of St. Sebastian, Suppressed Complex, and Afternoon were written by myself. I cannot swear that the first page [Oh little voices of the throats of men] is not by myself either. But whether the lines are by Conrad Aiken or by me I think it is a great pity that any of them have been preserved because they all strike me as very bad indeed.” After Mrs. Iselin’s death, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Oh little voices of the throats of men and The Love Song of St. Sebastian were sold on 31 Oct 1972 at Sotheby’s, NY (see The Times 2 Nov), where they were bought by The House of Books for U. Maryland. The auction contained two other TSE lots. The first, lot 261, contained four letters to Quinby about these materials from 1948: two from TSE and two from Aiken. It must have been bought by a dealer, for the lot was split, with TSE’s letters going to Maryland and Aiken’s to the Huntington (which in 1975 bought his papers, probably including the transcriptions sent by Quinby in 1948).
Text as ts2 and March Hare.
Title] added in pen ts1 ‖ not ts2
2 lamp] little lamp ts1
4 bled] bleed ts1 1st reading
7] with arrow and question to Aiken: “does this mean anything to you? I mean stand all about in a pool on the floor” ts1 lamp] light ts1 1st reading, ts2 1st reading
9 arise your neophyte] arise, your neophyte, ts1 2nd reading
11] To] And ts1 1st reading led] lead ts1 with “preterite! not present”, ts2 (and March Hare)
18 in without] in to your bed without ts1
23 beneath my knees] between my knees ts1 1st reading ‖ below my knees. ts1 2nd (final) reading
28 shall] should ts1 1st reading
29 should] shall ts1 1st reading, ts2 1st reading
31 beneath] between ts1
32 as also 33 would] will ts2 1st reading
33 be nothing more] not be one word ts1
34 would · · · should] will · · · shall ts2 1st reading
35 infamy;] infammy. with second “m” del and “Not to rhyme with ‘mammy’” ts1
36 should · · · had] shall · · · have ts2 1st reading
37–38] one line (to fit leaf) with stroke indicating division ts1
[Poem I 265–66 · Commentary I 1143–45]
Paysage Triste
Published in March Hare.
ts1 (Berg): leaf laid into Notebook.
2 a] the 1st reading
3 Who] The girl who 1st reading
16 my] your 1st reading
Afternoon
Published in Letters (1988); then March Hare.
ms1 (Berg): Notebook 49; black ink.
ms2 (untraced): folded leaf with Afternoon and Suppressed Complex on fols. 1 and 3 respectively. Sent to Aiken with TSE’s letter of 25 Feb [1915], later owned by Mrs. Iselin, but not sold at Sotheby’s, NY, in 1972 when her (Aiken) tss of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Oh little voices of the throats of men and The Love Song of St. Sebastian were sold. Gallup 1998 295 implies that ms1 was a copy from this leaf, but without stating whether Gallup had ever seen the leaf itself.
ts Aiken (Huntington, AIK 484): fair copy by Aiken of Suppressed Complex followed by Afternoon on a single leaf. Typed at the same time and on the same paper as the two leaves of his copy of Oh little voices of the throats of men and The Love Song of St. Sebastian (ts Aiken) and folded together with those.
ts Quinby (Huntington, AIK 483): carbon of a transcript of Suppressed Complex and Afternoon typed by Jane Quinby, with description of the source, ms2, typed at head: “Autograph manuscript on 1st and 3rd pages of single folded sheet:”. A note by Quinby at the foot reads: “(This is all in the same handwriting as the notes and corrections on the typescript)”, meaning that ms2 is in the same hand as that seen on the ts of Oh little voices of the throats of men and The Love Song of St. Sebastian. Quinby also typed for Donald Gallup copies, themselves now untraced, of “the Iselin poems” (Gallup 1998 297).
Text from ms1.
2 Museum.] Museum ts Quinby
4 overshoes] shoes ts Quinby
7 statuary] statuary, ts Aiken
8 lawn] lawn, ts Aiken, ts Quinby
9 unconscious,] unconscious ts Quinby absolute] absolute. ts Aiken, ts Quinby
[Poems I 267–68 · Commentary I 1145–48]
Suppressed Complex
Published in Letters (1988), then March Hare, both with text from ms1.
ms1 (Berg): Notebook 50; black ink.
ms2 (untraced): folded leaf with Afternoon and Suppressed Complex on fols. 1 and 3 respectively. See description of Afternoon ms2.
ts1 (Beinecke): ribbon copy on the top third of a leaf of Croxley Manifest Bank. Enclosed, along with an untraced “copy of the Lady” (Portrait of a Lady), in TSE to Pound, 2 Feb 1915 (a ms letter on the same paper). “I enclose one small verse. I know it is not good, but everything else I have done is worse. Besides, I am constipated have a cold on the chest. Burn it.”
ts Aiken (Huntington, AIK 484): see description of Afternoon ts Aiken. Alternate lines indented.
ts Quinby (Huntington, AIK 483): see description of Afternoon ts Quinby.
Text from ts1.
2 think.] think ms1, ts Quinby, March Hare
5 fingers] fingers. Letters (1988) 87 (erroneous transcript of Notebook)
7 morning] l ts1 1st reading shook] stirred ts Quinby, ts Aiken
8 out through] through ts1 1st reading, emended in ink in unknown hand
In the Department Store
Published in March Hare.
ts1 (Berg): leaf laid into Notebook. No variants.
Do I know how I feel? Do I know what I think?
Published in March Hare.
ms1 (Berg): pencil on both sides of a loose leaf of blue ruled paper, accompanying Notebook. The leaf has been punched for filing.
6 would he tell me] he would know 1st reading and feel] probably added when revising 9
8 or] of 1st reading more”—] more— ms1
9] And yet I dread what I know he will not say 1st reading
[Poems I 268–69 · Commentary I 1149–52]
10 we] I 1st reading
12 or stifled in] in neurasthetic 1st reading
13 can] has the heart to alt
15 There is] written over I have (uncertain reading)
16 something] water 1st reading
17 his] the 1st reading
18] Will investigate 1st reading (anticipating next line)
20 Would] As he pulls back the skin, would 1st reading
23 in] like 1st reading
The Death of Saint Narcissus
Published in Early Youth (1950, 1967), then WL Facs. Lines 1–5 printed in Kenner 33. Probably written in 1915; submitted to Poetry by Pound, 29 May 1916 (see Commentary headnote to this poem).
ms1 (Berg; WLFacs 90–93): rough pencil draft on both sides of a single leaf of Excelsior Fine British Make paper, matching that of Mr. Apollinax ms1.
ms2 (WLFacs 94–97): fair copy on both sides of a leaf of blind-ruled laid paper, matching that of The Engine ms2. The p
aper is similar, but not quite a match for, that of the “Fresca couplets” ms1924 (see The Waste Land, Textual History, 5. THE “FRESCA COUPLETS”).
ts Poetry (U. Chicago): purple carbon sent to Poetry and marked up for the printer by H. B. Fuller, with the general heading “POEMS” added by him above the title. Assigned to 1915 by Rainey 198. For details of the submission by Pound of five poems by TSE to Poetry on 29 May 1916, see Textual History headnote to Morning at the Window.
galley (U. Chicago): galley-proof pulled for Poetry, to appear on two pages, but all finally scored through with “kill” on each half, and with Harriet Monroe’s later comment at head: “This poem never pub’d T. S. Eliot”. John Hayward claimed to have followed this text in Early Youth 1950, but printed the colon from ts Poetry in 5.
Except for the removal of editorial indents, the text is as Early Youth 1950, which presumably had the imprimatur of TSE.
Title] not ms1 Death] death ms2 Saint] a Saint ms2 1st reading
1, as also 8, 21, 24, 28, 33] no indent mss, ts Poetry 1st reading ‖ indent ts Poetry 2nd reading (editorial?)+
1 gray rock—] ts Poetry 2nd reading (editorial?)+ ‖ grey rock mss ‖ gray rock ts Poetry 1st reading
2 in]
[Poems I 269–70 · Commentary I 1152–56]
3 something] a shadow mss
5 leaping] huddled ms1 behind] by ms1, ms2 1st reading red rock:] redrock. ms1 ‖ red rock; galley
6 cloth] coat ms1 2nd reading limbs] green limbs ms1 1st reading ‖ bloodless limbs ms1 2nd reading, del
7 gray] blue ms1 1st reading ‖ grey ms1 2nd reading, ms2 on] between ms1