Complete Poems and Plays (49 page)

Read Complete Poems and Plays Online

Authors: T. S. Eliot

Tags: #Literature, #20th Century, #American Literature, #Poetry, #Drama, #v.5, #Amazon.com, #Retail

That I am the only sane person in this house.

Your behaviour all seems to me quite unaccountable.

What
has
happened, Amy?

A
MY
.
Harry is going away — to become a missionary.

H
ARRY
.
But …!

C
HARLES
.
A missionary! that’s never happened in our family!

And why in such a hurry? Before you make up your mind …

V
IOLET
.
You can’t really think of
living
in a tropical climate!

G
ERALD
.
There’s nothing wrong with a tropical climate —

But you have to go in for some sort of training;

The medical knowledge is the first thing.

I’ve met with missionaries, often enough —

Some of them very decent fellows. A maligned profession.

They’re sometimes very useful, knowing the natives,

Though occasionally troublesome. But you’ll have to learn the language

And several dialects. It means a lot of preparation.

V
IOLET
.
And you need some religious qualification!

I think you should consult the vicar …

G
ERALD
.
                                                    And don’t forget

That you’ll need various inoculations —

That depends on where you’re going.

C
HARLES
.
                                                Such a thing

Has never happened in our family.

V
IOLET
.
                                                I cannot understand it.

H
ARRY
.
I never said that I was going to be a missionary.

I would explain, but you would none of you believe it;

If you believed it, still you would not understand.

You can’t know why I am going. You have not seen

What I have seen. Oh why should you make it so ridiculous

Just now? I only want, please,

As little fuss as possible. You must get used to it;

Meanwhile, I apologise for my bad manners.

But if you
could
understand you would be quite happy about it,

So I shall say good-bye, until we meet again.

G
ERALD
.
Well, if you are determined, Harry, we must accept it;

But it’s a bad night, and you will have to be careful.

You’re taking Downing with you?

H
ARRY
.
                                               Oh, yes, I’m taking Downing.

You need not fear that I am in any danger

Of such accidents as happen to Arthur and John:

Take care of
them.
My address, mother,

Will be care of the bank in London until you hear from me.

Good-bye, mother.

A
MY
.
                          Good-bye, Harry.

H
ARRY
.
                             Good-bye.

A
GATHA
.
                                   Good-bye.

H
ARRY
.
Good-bye, Mary.

M
ARY
.
                                Good-bye, Harry. Take care of yourself.

[
Exit
H
ARRY
]

A
MY
.
At my age, I only just begin to apprehend the truth

About things too late to mend: and that is to be old.

Nevertheless, I am glad if I can come to know them.

I always wanted too much for my children

More than life can give. And now I am punished for it.

Gerald! you are the stupidest person in this room,

Violet, you are the most malicious in a harmless way;

I prefer your company to that of any of the others

Just to help me to the next room. Where I can lie down.

Then you can leave me.

G
ERALD
.
                              Oh, certainly, Amy.

V
IOLET
.
                                                               I do not understand

A single thing that’s happened.

[
Exeunt
A
MY
, V
IOLET
, G
ERALD
]

C
HARLES
.
                                         It’s very odd,

But I am beginning to feel, just beginning to feel

That there is something I
could
understand, if I were told it.

But I’m not sure that I want to know. I suppose I’m getting old:

Old age came softly up to now. I felt safe enough;

And now I don’t feel safe. As if the earth should open

Right to the centre, as I was about to cross Pall Mall.

I thought that life could bring no further surprises;

But I remember now, that I am always surprised

By the bull-dog in the Burlington Arcade.

What if every moment were like that, if one were awake?

You both seem to know more about this than I do.

[
Enter
D
OWNING
,
hurriedly,
in
chauffeur’s
costume
]

D
OWNING
.
Oh, excuse me, Miss, excuse me, Mr. Charles:

His Lordship sent me back because he remembered

He thinks he left his cigarette-case on the table.

Oh, there it is. Thank you. Good night, Miss; good night,

Miss Mary; good night, Sir.

M
ARY
.
Downing, will you promise never to leave his Lordship

While you are away?

D
OWNING
.
                      Oh, certainly, Miss;

I’ll never leave him so long as he requires me.

M
ARY
.
But he will need you. You must never leave him.

D
OWNING
.
You may think it laughable, what I’m going to say —

But it’s not really strange, Miss, when you come to look at it:

After all these years that I’ve been with him

I think I understand his Lordship better than anybody;

And I have a kind of feeling that his Lordship won’t need me

Very long now. I can’t give you any reasons.

But to show you what I mean, though you’d hardly credit it,

I’ve always said, whatever happened to his Lordship

Was just a kind of preparation for something else.

I’ve no gift of language, but I’m sure of what I mean:

We most of us seem to live according to circumstance,

But with people like him, there’s something inside them

That accounts for what happens to them. You get a feeling of it.

So I seem to know beforehand, when something’s going to happen,

And it seems quite natural, being his Lordship.

And that’s why I say now, I have a feeling

That he won’t want me long, and he won’t want anybody.

A
GATHA
.
And, Downing, if his behaviour seems unaccountable

At times, you mustn’t worry about that.

He is every bit as sane as you or I,

He sees the world as clearly as you or I see it,

It is only that he has seen a great deal more than that,

And we have seen them too — Miss Mary and I.

D
OWNING
.
I understand you, Miss. And if I may say so,

Now that you’ve raised the subject, I’m most relieved —

If you understand my meaning. I thought that was the reason

We was off tonight. In fact, I half expected it,

So I had the car all ready. You mean them ghosts, Miss!

I wondered when his Lordship would get round to seeing them —

And so you’ve seen them too! They must have given you a turn!

They did me, at first. You soon get used to them.

Of course, I knew they was to do with his Lordship,

And not with me, so I could see them cheerful-like,

In a manner of speaking. There’s no harm in
them,

I’ll take my oath. Will that be all, Miss?

A
GATHA
.
That will be all, thank you, Downing. We mustn’t keep you;

His Lordship will be wondering why you’ve been so long.

[
Exit
D
OWNING
.
Enter
I
VY
]

I
VY
.
Where is Downing going? where is Harry?

Look. Here’s a telegram come from Arthur;

[
Enter
G
ERALD
and
V
IOLET
]

I wonder why he sent it, after telephoning.

Shall I read it to you? I was wondering

Whether to show it to Amy or not.

[
Reads
]

‘Regret delayed business in town many happy returns see you tomorrow many happy returns hurrah love Arthur.’

I mean, after what we know of what did happen,

Do you think Amy ought to see it?

V
IOLET
.
                                              No, certainly not.

You do not know what has been going on, Ivy.

And if you did, you would not understand it.

I do not understand, so how could you? Amy is not well;

And she is resting.

I
VY
.
                            Oh, I’m sorry. But can’t you explain?

Why do you all look so peculiar? I think I might be allowed

To know what has happened.

A
MY’S
V
OICE.
                             Agatha! Mary! come!

The clock has stopped in the dark!

[
Exeunt
A
GATHA
and
M
ARY
.
Pause.
Enter
W
ARBURTON
]

W
ARBURTON
.
Well! it’s a filthy night to be out in.

That’s why I’ve been so long, going and coming.

But I’m glad to say that John is getting on nicely;

It wasn’t so serious as Winchell made out,

And we’ll have him up here in the morning.

Other books

Confieso que he vivido by Pablo Neruda
Return of the Highlander by Julianne MacLean
Origins: The Fire by Debra Driza
Breaking Danger by Lisa Marie Rice
Murder in the Blood by Lesley Cookman
Hardcore: Volume 2 by Staci Hart