T.S. Eliot Reads From his Work (1950)

 

On December 4, 1950, two years after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, T.S. Eliot stood behind a lectern in the Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y and read some of his best work in front of hundreds of people. Now the whole world can relive that moment: The 92nd Street Y has unearthed a never-before-heard recording ahead of a listening event on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. celebrating the Unterberg Poetry Center’s 80th anniversary. Eliot had recorded several poems before his death in 1965. But on that winter night, before delving into titles including “Preludes” and “La Figlia che Piange,” he delivered a preamble on his craft, often rousing the crowd to laughter. The clips below convey a more relaxed side to the modernist poet, one that’s thoughtful, humorous and self-effacing. When explaining why he always reads in chronological order (because an author “tends to like what he’s written most recently and therefore reads it best”), he admits that he’s “embarrassed” by his enduring, first published poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” At one moment, he cautioned: “I want to impress upon you that I realize that nothing that I say in this way, and nothing that I’m saying at the moment, is of a slightest importance. At least, it is a matter of no importance whether anything I say is of importance or not.” He goes on to say that he has reached the point where, in selecting poems for live readings, he chooses works that he likes rather than those others may want to hear. But he prefers to leave their meanings up for interpretation. He also discusses “the good deal of trouble” that went into some of his recorded work. “One of the things he notes in the introduction about the experience of being in the recording studio is wanting to get it perfect,” said Bernard Schwartz, the director of the poetry center. But, he adds, “If you’re in a recording studio and you screw up, you can do another take — unless it’s post-World War II London and electricity is in short supply, which is something he also talks about.” Noting that many of his recordings are available to the public, Eliot wonders why anyone would leave the comfort of their home to hear him speak in person. Here, he offers advice for fellow poets and says that remarks between poems at live readings help both the reader and listener relax. For instance, during the event, he introduced each poem by placing it in a period of time or style in his career. “This is a collection of voices that were captured and properly preserved, in some cases, over many, many decades,” Mr. Schwartz said. “When you hear them, the experience is as if you were there.”