A modern verse play dealing with the problem of man’s guilt and his need for expiation through his acceptance of responsibility for the sin of humanity. “What poets and playwrights have been fumbling at in their desire to put poetry into drama and drama into poetry has here been realized.... This is the finest verse play since the Elizabethans” (New York Times). THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT was born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1888. He moved to England in 1914 and published his first book of poems in 1917. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Eliot died in 1965. The Family Reunion By T. S. Eliot Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company Copyright © 1939 T. S. Eliot All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-15-630157-2 CHAPTER 1 PART I The Drawing Room, After Tea. An Afternoon in Late March Scene I Amy, Ivy, Violet, Agatha, Gerald, Charles, Mary Denman enters to draw the curtains Amy Not yet! I will ring for you. It is still quite light. I have nothing to do but watch the days draw out, Now that I sit in the house from October to June, And the swallow comes too soon and the spring will be over And the cuckoo will be gone before I am out again. O Sun, that was once so warm, O Light that was taken for granted When I was young and strong, and sun and light unsought for And the night unfeared and the day expected And clocks could be trusted, tomorrow assured And time would not stop in the dark! Put on the lights. But leave the curtains undrawn. Make up the fire. Will the spring never come? I am cold. Agatha Wishwood was always a cold place, Amy. Ivy I have always told Amy she should go south in the winter. Were I in Amy's position, I would go south in the winter. I would follow the sun, not wait for the sun to come here. I would go south in the winter, if I could afford it, Not freeze, as I do, in Bayswater, by a gas-fire counting shillings. Violet Go south! to the English circulating libraries, To the military widows and the English chaplains, To the chilly deck-chair and the strong cold tea — The strong cold stewed bad Indian tea. Charles That's not Amy's style at all. We are country-bred people. Amy has been too long used to our ways Living with horses and dogs and guns Ever to want to leave England in the winter. But a single man like me is better off in London: A man can be very cosy at his club Even in an English winter. Gerald Well, as for me, I'd just as soon be a subaltern again To be back in the East. An incomparable climate For a man who can exercise a little common prudence; And your servants look after you very much better. Amy My servants are perfectly competent, Gerald. I can still see to that. Violet Well, as for me, I would never go south, no, definitely never, Even could I do it as well as Amy: England's bad enough, I would never go south, Simply to see the vulgarest people — You can keep out of their way at home; People with money from heaven knows where — Gerald Dividends from aeroplane shares. Violet They bathe all day and they dance all night In the absolute minimum of clothes. Charles It's the cocktail-drinking does the harm: There's nothing on earth so bad for the young. All that a civilised person needs Is a glass of dry sherry or two before dinner. The modern young people don't know what they're drinking, Modern young people don't care what they're eating; They've lost their sense of taste and smell Because of their cocktails and cigarettes. [ Enter Denman with sherry and whisky. Charles takes sherry and Gerald whisky. ] That's what it comes to. [ Lights a cigarette. ] Lvy The younger generation Are undoubtedly decadent. Charles The younger generation Are not what we were. Haven't the stamina, Haven't the sense of responsibility. Gerald You're being very hard on the younger generation. I don't come across them very much now, myself; But I must say I've met some very decent specimens And some first-class shots — better than you were, Charles, as I remember. Besides, you've got to make allowances: We haven't left them such an easy world to live in. Let the younger generation speak for itself: It's Mary's generation. What does she think about it? Mary Really, Cousin Gerald, if you want information About the younger generation, you must ask someone else. I'm afraid that I don't deserve the compliment: I don't belong to any generation. [ Exit. ] Violet Really, Gerald, I must say you're very tactless, And I think that Charles might have been more considerate. Gerald I'm very sorry: but why was she upset? I only meant to draw her into the conversation. Charles She's a nice girl; but it's a difficult age for her. I suppose she must be getting on for thirty? She ought to be married, that's what it is. Amy So she should have been, if things had gone as I intended. Harry's return does not make things easy for her At the moment: but life may sti