H.D. Chronology: Part VI
1949 May 1. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I am all right alone, if it is cold or rains, as I have all this MSS and have been so happy going over two of the "novels", Madrigal and Pilate's Wife; I am so satisfied with the work" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 2. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I am reminded of Venice so much here- and of course, Cornwall. It?is a "Synthesis" invented for me, I always feel" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 3. Date announced by PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY as being the publication date of BY AVON RIVER (NHP to H.D. [unpubl. letter], 16/II/49); later changed to June 12 (NHP to H.D. [unpubl. letter] 13/IV/49). H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I have destroyed those notes. If at any time, you find any of the notes of "meetings" or other, having to do with that period, and can not get them to me, will you destroy? I thought I had destroyed this lot, but you say there are some pages and notes in the old folder in the file. I do not want them, just to look over and destroy" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 5. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "Emblems always intrigue me and there is much in them, connected with the old "secret" legends, myth and fantasy. I have the Herrnhuters, I will be glad to re-read. As a matter of fact, you did give me this. I have it with the Magg collection, but this Rimius is very valuable and difficult to get and though I told you not to send out any of the books, I am especially glad for this, in connection with the German Swiss Zin. that you gave me. Rimius is down on the lot, but for that reason, he gave all the lurid details" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 7. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Ezra Pound; thanks him for 2 notes and some Cocteau poems which Dorothy had sent earlier; refers to Mary to whom she will try to write; mentions that Pearson will be there in July or August and the he and "a friend" want her to go to Florence with them on the track of some Hawthorne relics [LHS note: the friend is course Bryher--LHS doesn't think H.D. dares to mention Bryher to Pound or else she deliberately avoids doing so] (H.D. to E.P., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
1949 May 8. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I would like you to send me P A L I M P S E S T, if you can find it in Kenwin. I did a sequel, short, that I had re-typed and have been reading it and the other MSS, here" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 11. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I am happy about my 5 opus-es, all neat and tidy, whatever happens, Madrigal, Pilate's Wife, Advent (short prelude or sequel to Writing on the Wall), For this Moment (seven long-short stories) and The Gift. Those are all self-contained, as it were. And I have the two last-summer's Synthesis books, The Sword and The Rose. Of course, this represents one way and another, about 30 years re-working and "synthesizing"" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 13. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I do depend so, as I wrote, on my simple luxuries, cold water, coffee, cigarettes" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 18. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: [mentions her two daily trips to Saipa cafe, one at 10 AM and one at 3 PM, where she reads Bryher's letters and tends to meet visitors to Lugano, people like Silvia D. and Miss Butler (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 21. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I have an idea, which please note "if I should die to-night." I think Algernon was ?MDUL?revenant?MDNM?, Shelley come back. There is the sea, swimming, the same sort of background, Eton and Oxford "scandal", intense political ideas, the Greek (both, I think wrote Greek verses), the Italian background. This is a "fancy" of mine but I just dream into it. By the same token, Rossetti might have been Byron" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 May 30. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: mentions reading more Joan Grant (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949.June 6. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I found or thought I found another "lost" character in the Tempest, the son of the usurping duke of Milan, Antonio. He is mentioned only once. I like this idea of lost, hidden or invisible characters and am on the hunt for more of them, having got-away, as it were with Claribel.... I do FEEL that I have a little flaire [sic] for the "invisible players" ... I am so happy about AVON and that it belongs to you" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 June 9. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I have been re-reading some of the Zinzendorf booklets you gave me, it is all very odd indeed!
1949 June 10 H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I have an idea for a Prague sequence but really must not begin writing again. It keeps me happy though; just to look up dates and 18 c. people is not so much fun, if you have no idea of "story" or sequence. It is really most illuminating, getting Garrick, Siddons, Mozart, Cagliostro and so on and so on, all nicely sorted out" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 June 11. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I really have got caught up again in this Prague sequence; there is so much, revolving round there; I haven't the exact date, but it is before French Revolution; there really is a meley [sic] of marvelous "characters" though I am being very stern with myself and insist that I am not writing a book until all these other MSS have got settled. . . [sic] not necessary to publish but to get them into my own sequence, so that I do not re-write. Yes, you and I can claim we have "books" to finish, but I don't think we will have much trouble, especially if Bear is here" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 July 5. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "Will you, when convenient, go over all the Bryher letters to H.D., and, as far as that goes, other letters in file. I think Aldington's 1918 Cornwall bundle + Dowding's bundle could be kept separate, or sent me later. Not now. I am glad you have sorted the lot of mine. I have also with me, my Freud collection" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 July 12. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: "I am so glad you have gone over letters. Please destroy when silly or aimless or, as I said before, "frivolous + uninspiring." I will hand over the Br. packets. There is only the Seehof gap, it can be noted that doctors, at time, forbid letters. Occassionally [sic], I destroyed a train-letter, or pencil P.C., written en route, but all others are there, though not in sequence" (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 July 14 & 15. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Bryher: tells story of visit to Hesse (Morris NOTES from H.D.'s letters to Bryher, not seen by LHS).
1949 July 15. H.D. at the Hotel Croix Blanche, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; refers to future arrival of Norman Holmes Pearson; has decided not to go along with him to Florence; says she is sending her the carbon of "The Guardians"; has had beautiful reviews of BY AVON RIVER; refers to her MSS being mostly in Pearson's charge; refers to a Pallas Athen? shield-pin which she wears almost every day (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 551-553).
1949 August. Norman Holmes Pearson in Europe; visits H.D. in Lugano; Bryher and Perdita also present--they go with Pearson to Florence after he sees H.D. [LHS note: since Pearson refers (29 VIII 49) to a letter written by H.D. on August 16 [missing] assume this was in early August; also Pearson sent H.D. a postcard from Florence, postmarked 8 VIII 49)].
1949 October (end) - 1951 April. H.D in Lausanne at the Hotel de la Paix. [Comment: H.D. did not go to Lugano in 1950 in case Perdita sent for her and Bryher to come to her wedding (Thorn Thicket, p. 38)]
1949 December (?) H.D. has a touch of the flu (source:NHP to H.D. [unpubl. letter], 23 XII 49).
1949 December 12. "H.D. by Delia Alton" begun (Thorn Thicket, p. 38); later titled "Notes on Recent Writing" by Norman Holmes Pearson.
1949 December 21. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; "I have been asked to list papers and MSS, was in fact, supposed to have done this, some time back but I have really got interested now, in places, dates and my reasons for writing poetry or prose and my `catalogue' is actually begun"; refers to reading Elizabeth Taylor's HARBOUR (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 556-557).
1949 December 24. Perdita decides to marry John Valentine Schaffner.
1950 January - June. Works on "H.D. by Delia Alton" (Thorn Thicket, p. 38).
1950 January 4. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Ezra Pound; thanks him for a letter dated December 17; is sending him some more Greek cards; refers to "Notes on Pausanius, Euripides, and Greek Lyric Poets": "Yes, I did have quite a time qith [sic] Pausanius. I wrote an essay on Messina chapter or book, and one actually was published (on Sparta) but this was long ago, after War I. I never published any but the Sparta, it was illustrated by Rockwell Kent, appeared in a magazine, I forgot the nane. I was so fascinated with the tiny towns, fountains, paths, statues, offerings, etc., that I was afraid I would never do anything else at all, if I went on delving. I have not gone back to the volume or volumes; one could wander in and around the tiny bays and inlets, pick up the pebbles, see pictures in the sacred fountains. But as I say, that is a life-work and I was experimenting and have continued to do so, on records or `novels'"; tells Pound of his role as Allen Flint in "The Sword went out to Sea" mentions that "the H.D. of the tale ... goes back through her life, collecting and `synthesizing' her emotional experiences"; returns to discussion of the `Pausanius' saying "Well, I counted it as the reward of 30 years work on the ART of wrting and the Pausanius, lovely as it was, and the Greek translations in general were taking me out of my path; but the were and are stepping-stones and I treasure my memories of them"; expects to stay in Lausanne for the Summer (H.D. to E.P., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
1950 March 12. H.D in Lausanne at the Hotel de la Paix; writes to Norman Holmes Pearson; comments that Bryher has proofs which she is bringing over for H.D. to see; remarks "I don't suppose it was the fault of Bryn Mawr that I didn't like it. My second year was broken into or across by my affair with E.P., who after all, at that time, proved a stimulus and was the scorpionic sting or urge that got me away - at that time, it was essential - felt there, I had fallen between two stools, what with my mother's musical connection and my father's and half-brother's stars. I did find my path- thanks partly to E.P., also R.A., Lawrence and the rest"; comments on Mary Herr who found Bryn Mawr to be an escape and fulfillment from an unhappy home life--comments that Mary Herr was also a link with Bethlehem as she was at the old seminary (which H.D. says she hated) and that Mary Herr was sort of adopted [nourished?] by the J. Fred Wolle family; Pearson and H.D. seem to be once again trying to get control of the Collected Edition [Collected Poems]; refers to writing a formal note if needed; asks Pearson to obtain additional copies of BY AVON RIVER (H.D. to NHP, [unpubl. letter]).
1950 March 14. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; discusses difficulties of getting things published--"They don't seem to want my Rosetti novel just now, though say they are ready to do my War II novel, but I can not publish it (or do not want to) because it brings in too many personal matters. That can wait" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 560-562).
1950 March 24. H.D in Lausanne at the Hotel de la Paix; writes to Norman Holmes Pearson; thanks him for a Valentine; discusses SWORD WENT OUT TO SEA, referring to publication possibility as well as another ms. which is still in London; thinks she needs to clear something in Book I with Howell before publication; has not made any Summer plans; refers to having heard from Howell who seemed favorably impressed with BY AVON RIVER [LHS comment: indication within this letter that not having heard from Pearson is causing H.D. some disquiet and she is backing off from pushing him] (H.D. to NHP, [unpubl. letter]).
1950 April. "To William Morris (l834-1896)" published in LIFE AND LETTERS TO-DAY.
1950 April 14. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; has received cards (twelve different desert blooms) from an old cousin in California [LHS note: possibly Hildegarde Wilde]--she is using them "to let a few of our friends know that Perdita announced her engagement on March 3l, when she was 31, to John Schaffner with whom she has been working (Literary Agent) for sme time now. He is 36 and seems to have very nice connections, his father is some sort of forest or tree specialist and has his laboratories near New Haven"; gives Silvia Perdita's address: Apt. 45, 112 East 54th St., N.Y. 22; they are being married quietly in Maine (at the insistance of a friend of his whose proteg? he was while at college there); does not plan to go far afield until the wedding is over (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 563).
1950 May 22. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; mentions that she plans to visit Perdita and John in New York in the Fall; has heard from Una Cherverton that Rachel Barnard is getting married to a Mexican [Max Araoz] (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 559, 564-565).
1950 June 24. Perdita and John Schaffner married at the Pulsifer farmhouse, ten or fifteen miles outside of Brunswick, Maine. Perdita is given in marriage by Norman Holmes Pearson. Preason described Perdita thus: "She looked really lovely--one of the guests called her a glamorous English girl--in a soft blue dress, rather lacy in effect, with a wide blue hat to match, and carrying a small bridal bouquet of white flowers rimmed with yellow roses, and white lace, with little stramers of white flowers flowing down from it"; ceremony performed by the college [? that John attended in Brunswick] Episcopalian rector although John is an Unitarian (NHP to H.D. [unpubl. letter], 27 VI 50). H.D in Lausanne at the Hotel de la Paix; writes to Norman Holmes Pearson; letter headed "Midsummer Day Wedding Day June 24, I950"; thanks him for letter--is taking it to Mutrux this afternoon where Bryher is meeting her for tea; is distressed about Pearson's having been overworked; refers to having received two books from New haven--one on Ezra Pound and one on the Peabody Sisters of Salem--has already begun to read the Pound book and comments on it; comments on photographs which he has sent (taken the previous summer); "YOU are excellent, there with Gandria for your background and Perdita and Bryher is PERFECT. And so is H.D. if a mummy can be perfect and there is something so very stark about that photograph, not really grim but authentic sort of MUMMY. It is not `good', is is [sic] dreadful but it is `grand'"; comments that she wasn't really concerned about his not pushing manuscripts, in fact, she is rather relieved that he hasn't been doing so "as I have at last, had time to go over MSS and have had some re-types made and am learning something of punctuation"; goes on to say "But I did feel with AVON that I had crossed literally my Rubicon, all, be-it AVON y-clept!"; refers to wedding--has heard from John Schaffner about gold orchids; is glad that the Pearsons are to be there; refers to request for permission to quote from old letters and thank him for keeping track "I am a little amazed and appaled that the old letters should be quoted - but you, I feel, will always censor"; comments that Aldington had just written of a similar experience--perhaps from the same group of letters--he wrote that the extracts "were not too personal though he seemed a little puzzled and slightly uneasy about some `rather regrettable jokes about Ezra and Lorenzo which the campus proletariat may take au pied de la lettre'"; comments on deaths of William Rose Benet and John Gould Fletcher" (H.D. to NHP, [unpubl. letter]).
1950 September 10. H.D. celebrates her birthday at Kenwin with Bryher and Doris Long (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 568).
1950 September 12. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks Silvia for a pillow sent for her birthday [in her notes Silvia explains that H.D.'s zodiac pillow came from San Sebastion]; mentions War II book ["The Sword went out to Sea"}--Pearson wants to publish it "But the person about and around whom it is written, doesn't want `the story' published"; is not going to New York as Perdita has written "in frantic joy" that she is expecting in late Spring--they have already named the baby Valentine, be it a boy or a girl (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 566, 568-569).
1950 November 28. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; refers to Christmas preparations and "the very difficult but happy job, of finding Bryher SOMETHING"; says "I have a little booklet, I will send one or two to the family [Dobsons], depending on how many are left. Robert Herring had it set up for me from his printer before L. and L. folded up. ... It is a set of poems `left over', from the war trilogy [in her notes Silvia Dobson identifies this as WHAT DO I LOVE] (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 567, 570-571).
1950 December 19. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Mollie Dobson; recalls the time "about ten years since you stood on my Lowndes Square roof to watch the over-heard `incidents'" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 572-573).
1950 December 22. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks her for gifts; has no tree this year and has given her little collection of tree things from the past four years to the floor maid; seems to be thinking of moving to the USA--perhaps "settle somewhere, not too far from Perdita and our-John" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 574-575).
1950 December 29. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Adrienne Monnier; refers to books by Paul Valery sent from Paris for Christmas by Monnier and Beach (HISTOIRES BRISEES and LES FOUQUET DE LA BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE); comments that she is going to the bank--"always a source of anxiety"; refers to her forth-coming status as a grandmother; comments on Schaffner cats ("Petunia." "Magnolia" and "Dr. Hugh de P. Van Brugh, Ph.D."); incates that the Schaffners plan to name the child Valentine, be it a boy or a girl; refers to reading THE FLORA OF THE UNICORN TAPISTRIES, which Bryher has brought her from New York; writes to Sylvia Beach too (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 121-123).
1951 - 1961. Hildegarde Howard Wylde serves as Chief Curator of the Division of Science, Los Angeles County Museum (Wolle. A MORAVIAN HERITAGE, p. 31).
1951 February 15. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; plans to fly to New York in early April, plans to stay a month then return to Lausanne to pick up Summer things and go on to Lugano; Perdita expects baby end of of March [LHS note: Perdita and John Schaffner regularly told H.D. that her grandchildren were expected a month later then the actually were so that she wouldn't worry as the actual time of birth drew near; this fact confirmed by Silvia Dobson in her notes]; will stay at a little hotel across the street from them; says she has been invited several places, "a cousin from Nova Scotia has been nagging me for years" [LHS note? this would be Gretchen Wolle Baker], old school-friends at Martha's Vineyard suggest I go there [unidentified by LHS and Silvia Dobson], "and the Pearsons want me in their neighbourhood outside New Haven, where they have a summer place" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 579, 583).
1951 February 21. Valentine Schaffner born.
1951 March 18. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; gives Perdita's address as of April 1 (328 East 51st St.); is excited about forthcoming trip--will fly from Paris, stop at Shannon for tea and Gander for breakfast; Perdita returned home on Febrary 21 (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 584).
1951 March 31. H.D. flies from Paris via Shannon to New York.
*1951 April 1 - April 20. H.D in New York at the Beekman Tower Hotel on the East River, on the 22nd floor, five minutes from Perdita; during this time she was driven by Mary Herr to Bethlehem [this fact needs to be confirmed].
1951 April 11. H.D. in New York at the Beekman Tower Hotel; sees Marianne Moore (H.D. to E.P., [unpubl. letter, 12 April 51], Lilly Library).
1951 April 12. H.D. in New York at the Beekman Tower Hotel; writes to Ezra Pound; says she had hoped to get to Washington as the Library of Congress wanted her to do some recordings but she just can't make it; will leave on the 20th--Pan-Am to Shannon, 2 nights in Paris & Swiss Air to Geneva; came to see Valentine and has gotten to the Cloisters; Valentine is to be christened in New Haven on Sunday so she plans to go to the Pearsons for the week-end; is to have Lunch with Viola; saw Marianne Moore yesterday; hopes to have summer in Lugano (H.D. to E.P., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
1951 April 20. H.D. leaves New York for Paris, via Shannon; stuck in Shannon overnight.
1951 April 22. H.D in Paris at the Hotel Lancaster; later told Dorothy Pound that she never left the Hotel (H.D. to D.P., [unpubl. letter, 25 Sept 51], Lilly Library).
1951 April 23 - 1951 May 31. H.D in Lausanne at the Hotel de la Paix.
1951 April 26. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; she had a wonderful time though New York was over-stimulating and most exciting flights, both ways; comments on Valentine's lovely hands; plans to go to the Hotel Bristol in Lugano "(a large, more conventional hotel, at the top of the steps above the Angeli church") (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 585).
1951 May 31 - 1951 September(Mid). H.D in Lugano at the Hotel Bristol.
1951 July 28. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; has had a visit from Silvia Dobson with Enid Scase; has also had a wonderful 10 day visit from Bryher; mentions that Perdita should be there in August (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 586-587).
1951 September 2. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; John and Perdita Schaffner visiting.
1951 September 11. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; Bryher is there now; plans to return to Kenwin on the 17th for two weeks to visit Valentine and Perdita; refers to her writing: "My last novels seem to be very acceptible to the `few', but` not suitable for publication' by the many" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 590-591).
*1951 September (after the l7th?)-October (begining). H.D. in Burier-la-Tour at Kenwin; Perdita was visiting with Valentine at that time; John Schaffner was there initially but returned to Ne York earlier than Perdita. [LHS thinks H.D. went back to Lugano briefly after Perdita left, but he isn't sure.]
1951 September 25. H.D. in Burier-la-Tour at Kenwin; writes to to Dorothy Pound; says she will be there for another week or so; thanks her sending quills [?]; has heard from Ellen Hart who lives with Cornelia Brookfield [LHS note: implication is that Ezra and Dorothy Pound knew Ellen Hart]; expresses concern over Ezra; has heard of Dorothy's living situation through one of Pearson's students; describes her own life in Lugano and Lausanne; mentions Schaffner's visit (H.D. to D.P., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
1951 October 4. Perdita and Valentine left Kenwin (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 596).
1951 October - 1952 May 28. H.D in Lausanne at the Hotel de la Paix.
1951 December 12. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; has just gotten over five weeks of very hard grippe; expects to spend Christmas day at Kenwin (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 595-596).
1952. Harold Doolittle retires from Kopper's Coal and Coke Company in Pittsburgh (Wolle. A MORAVIAN HERITAGE, p. 37).
1952 January 4. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Adrienne Monnier; refers to hyacinth which Robert Herring has given to her for the new year (Herring is visiting); refers to reading Robert Ambelain's DANS L`OMBRE DES CATHEDRALES apparently sent by Monnier or Beach; also refers to volume called TAPISERIE by Peguy apparently just sent from Paris (to Kenwin?) and brought over by Bryher the day before; refers to a forthcoming visit from Perdita and the possiblity of going to Paris; refers to sending a "`buget' box" (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 123-125).
1952 January 5. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Ezra Pound; thanks him for THE PEABODY SISTERS OF SALEM which she already had; has heard from Margaret Snively and has sent her two copies of the Squares series (one for DeForrest); (H.D. to E.P., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
1952 January 5. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks Silvia for Christmas gifts of a puff and Culpeper; refers to the failure of Mervyn Dobson's marriage; says she has advised him to turn to Bryher for practical advice [in her notes Silvia explains that a few years earlier Bryher had sent Mervyn Dobson funds to take a trip abroad--on this trip he met his future wife, Audrey] (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 599, 605-606). Writes to Norah Dobson; says she has had "some editorial letters from America- just for scraps of poems but it seems best to keep the pot-boiling so that I am not altogethers forgotten in the `H.D.' world - whatever and wherever that happens to be"; describes her Christmas decoration--"a flat holly and one wreath on top of my book-case. with my three Wise Men, some stars and many candles"; Robert Herring, who is at Kenwin for the holidays, has brought her a blue hyacinth for the New Year (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 607-608).
1952 January 17. Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson, from Kemwin, giving her twelve hundred and fifty pounds (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 609-610).
1952 January 23. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 611).
1952 February 8. Norman Douglas dies (Macpherson. OMMES EODEM COGIMUR : SOME NOTES WRITTEN FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF NORMAN DOUGLAS ...); had swallowed a supply of pills on February 5; Kenneth Macpherson and Islay Lyons were staying with him at the time (Holloway, NORMAN DOUGLAS, p. 491).
1952 April 8. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson;; Kenneth Macpherson has been staying at the Hotel de la Paix with a friend, Islay (pronounced Eye-la) de Courcey Lyon; asks Silvia to do astrological chart for Islay, born March 7, l922; both Kenneth and Islay were with Norman Douglas at the end; Perdita apparently coming in May; H.D. plans to leave Lausanne about mid-May, stay at or near Kenwin to visit Valentine, then go to Lugano; comments that Bryher has had the proofs of her THE FOURTEENTH OF OCTOBER, "a lovely reconstruction of Hastings" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 614-615).
1952 May 26. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; sends birthday greeting on postcard; about to depart for Lugano (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 616).
1952 May 28 - 1952 November(Mid). H.D in Lugano at the Hotel Bristol.
1952 Summer. While in Lugano H.D. reads E.M. Butler's THE FORTUNES OF FAUST and SILVER WINGS ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 30); later credits THE FORTUNES OF FAUST with having started her on her own Helen sequence ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 21, 30, 62).
1952 July 14. H.D. goes with Perdita to Locarno, where Perdita departs on the Centovalle mountain local for Domodosola (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 618).
1952 August 30. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; asks if Silvia can find anything by Randolph Hughes for other than his LESBIA BRANDON, which she already has--is particularly interested in anything else he has written on Swinburne; Bryher is there now (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 616-617).
1952 September - 1954. HELEN IN EGYPT written.
1952 September 8. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Mervyn Dobson; comments that she had taken Perdita over to Locarno, when she left July 14, on the Centovalle Mountain local, for Domodosola and hence back to Bryher; Bryher is there now as well as Robert Herring; Bryher has been in New York; John and Perdita Schaffner have moved to a new house, not far from the first house; Perdita is expecting again--baby to be named either Miranda or Nicholas (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 618).
1952 September 10(?). HELEN IN EGYPT begun: wrote 8 of the initial sections in 3 days (H.D. to NHP, 23 Sept 52; Thorn Thicket, p. 50).
1952 October 2. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks her for gift of the Swinburne Pasipha; refers to the Schmidergs--Melitta is settled in New York--Walter seems to go back and forth; tells Silvia that she has stated a HELEN IN EGYPT series of love and war poems; comments that she has not written or wanted to write poetry for over five years (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 621).
1952 October 24. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Viola Jordan; says she is leaving Lugano on the 29th; sends special love to Dorothy Pound via Viola; discusses the Schaffners and gives her their new address (312 East 53rd Street, N.Y. 22); comments that in returning to Lausanne she has to change trains at Lucerne and at Berne (H.D. to V.J., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
1952 November - l953 January. H.D in Lausanne at the Hotel de la Paix.
1952 November 7. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; refers to the fact that Silvia has gotter LUCRETIA BORGIA for her for the forthcoming Christmas; Bryher is having new bookshelves made for H.D. as her Christmas gift; gives her Perdita's new address (312 East 53rd Street) (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 622).
1952 December 21. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; has reveived the LUCRETIA BORGIA; Rober Herring is due out and Kenneth Macpherson and Islay Lyon will be staying at the Hotel de la Paix [in her notes at this point, Silvia Dobson interjects the comment that "H.D. had once told me, after listening to Dolmetsch instruments with Pound, she decided to become a musicsian] (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 604, 623).
1952 December 31. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Norah Dobson; describes her Christmas decorations--the three wise men on the bookcase, an angel or two, a wooden bird hovering abome on a thread--carnations, Christmas roses, and branches of evergreens with cones (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 624-625).
1953 - 1961. H.D. in analytical consultance with Erich Heydt.
1953. THE PLAYER'S BOY by Bryher published in New York by Pantheon Books; dedicated to H.D.
1953 January 4. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Ezra Pound; discusses Sulamith W?lfing and her work; Pound has apparently ask for more reproductions as H.D. is trying to get Perdita to investigate possibilities for publication (H.D. to E.P., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
1953 January l6. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; has lost astrological charts for Kenneth Macpherson and Islay Lyon and asks Silvia to replace them; refers to waiting for Miranda-Nicholas; "as I hear from friends that Perdita's second baby is nearer than they led me to imagine. They put the date ahead, so I will not worry" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 629-630).
1953 January - 1953 March. H.D in Lausanne at the Clinique C?cil (operated on for abdominal intestinal occlusions). Describes experience in "Compassionate Friendship" (p. 11); was examined and operated upon by a Dr. Perret; after operation, is informed "that he had unknotted and removed a length of `innards', as long as this - and he stretches out his long arm. I hear from another doctor, that it was a brilliant surgical - opus, shall we say?" Later writes "Dr. Perret in his green semi-transparent X-ray coat and close-fitting rubber cap was a Mephisto image, but he saved my life ("Compassionate Friendship". p. 39).
1953 January 28. Nicholas Schaffner born.
1953 March 25. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes postcard to Ezra Pound; is being lent Phyllis Bottome's last book; recalls that Ezra sent H.D. to see Phyllis Bottome in Rome, Winter 19122--comments that she thinks much of her but can't recall when she las saw her, possibly in Paris 1924--thinks she last saw Pound in London, 1938 (H.D. to E.P., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
1953 March (end). H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Silvia Dobson; describes herself as a "frustrated convalescent" [in her notes Silvia Dobson comments that H.D. had told her "quite casually that she had had part of her intestine removed. `It was too long anyway. They just took a tuck in it'"] (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 627. 631-632).
1953 April 3. H.D. at the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne; writes to Adrienne Monnier; comments that this is her first letter in 2 or 3 months; Bryher is urging her to send some manuscripts--is thinking of "The Sword went out to Sea", the second of a series; regards "White Rose and the Red" as the first of the series; will talk to Bryher this afternoon and decide wheither or not to post it; refers to Sylvia Beach's going to America; comments briefly on use of Delia Alton; refers to SWORD as being "wildly `occult'"; comments on Pearson's prying to get it published in 1940 when the hero, Lord Dowding, finally said that he had no right to prevent its publication (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 126-127).
1953 April 4. Adrienne Monnier writes to H.D., expressing interest in seeing "White Rose and the Red" (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 127-129).
1953 April l6. H.D. at Beekman Tower Hotel, New York (Collecott. Notes).
1953 April - 1953 July. H.D in Lausanne at the Hotel de la Paix; Book I of HELEN IN EGYPT completed (Thorn Thicket, p. 50)
1953 May 30 - June (mid ?). H.D. at Clinique C?cil.
1953 May 30. H.D. writes to Bryher that she has taken room no. 70 at the Clinique (Morris notes, letter not seen by LHS).
1953 May 31. H.D. writes to Bryher; tells Bryher that the Dr. thinks he can perform a minor operation without cutting (Morris notes, letter not seen by LHS).
1953 June 3. H.D. writes to Bryher; she has to stay flat in bed till early the next week (Morris notes, letter not seen by LHS).
1953 July - 1954 June. H.D? in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Am Strand).
1953 July 7. H.D. takes up residence at Kusnacht (exact date of arrival from "Compassionate Friendship", p. [1], 36); is received by Dr. Brunner, his son, and a visiting specialist; is attended by Sister Gr?til; has been brought to Kusnacht by car by Bryher, Walter Schmideberg, and Miss Divorne (of the Clinique C?cil); Brunner wants her moved to the Sanatorium where there are day and night nurses but she begs to be allowed to remain in his own house, Am Strand ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 25).
1953 July 8 (?). H.D. at Kusnacht, Am Strand; is attended by Erich Heydt for the first time--who says as he jabs in a hypodermic needle "You know Ezra Pound, don't you?" ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 25).
1953 July 14. H.D. writes to Bryher; tells her of meeting Erich Heydt (Morris notes, letter not seen by LHS).
1953 Summer (late). H.D. begins Book II of HELEN IN EGYPT (Thorn Thicket, p. 50-51).
1953 September 8. H.D? in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Am Strand); writes to Silvia Dobson; Bryher is due over on Thursday, then she (Bryher) will go to Lugano; comments that it has been seven years since she first came to Kusnacht and reflects on the cycles of mystic 7 (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 636-637).
1953 December (?). Walter Schmideberg becomes a patient at the Klinik Brunner; arrives before Christmas ("Compassionate Friendship". p. 36). Bryher and Robert Herring are there to be with him; Herring is charmed with Erich Heydt and he and H.D. agree that Heydt is like the early Conrad Veidt whose film personality had so fascinated H.D. ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 39).
1953 December 7. Adrienne Monnier writes to H.D. at Kusnacht; comments on preparations to have "White Rose and the Red" translated by Francoise Hartmann with the assistance of a Mr. Allan of the British Institute (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 129-130).
1953 December 12. H.D? in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner; writes to Adrienne Monnier; says Bryher is due over on Friday, hopes to keep her there a few days and perhaps go down to Lugano on the 22; is reading Monnier's LES GAZETTES D`ADRIENNE MONNIER, 1925-1945; refers to Francoise Hartmann and translating of "White Rose and the Red"; comments on acknowledgement to be made to Violet Hunt (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 131-132).
1953 December 31. H.D? in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Am Strand); writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks her for Christmas flowers (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 638). Also wrote to Norah Dobson (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 639).
1954. ROMAN WALL by Bryher published in New York by Pantheon Books; H.D. is represented by the character called Fabula.
1954. John (Pop) Macpherson, Kenneth's father, dies.
1954 January. H.D. Begins Book III of HELEN IN EGYPT; continues it in Lugano in September (Thorn Thicket, p. 5l).
1954 June l0. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner; writes to Silvia Dobson; has noted date that Silvia Dobson and Enid Scase will be in Zurich; tries to suggest that they come to Lugano instead; is upset because Bryher has sent on a cart load of Books and MSS from Kenwin to go into in a little room under the roof at Am Strand which she has been given for storage purposes; is trying to dodge several interviewers--wishes Bryher were there to handle them (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 646).
1954 June 29. H.D. leaves Kusnacht to journey to Lugano ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 66).
1954 June (end) - 1954 November. H.D in Lugano at the Hotel Bristol.
1954 July 9. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; receives a postcard from Walter Schmideberg, dated this date, saying that Erich Heydt has left Kusnacht and is now in Munich "?" ("Compassionate Friendship". 66)
1955 July 17. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; expects Erich Heydt to stop in Lugano on his way back to Zurich from Munich; receives a card from him while he is staying with a widow friend in Innsbruck explaining that he will not be stopping in Lugano--H.D. iis relieved as she wanted time to settle in and get back to the old Lugano atmosphere ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 66).
1954 September 12. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson from Saipa Cafe; Bryher has left; Perdita is due over soon for about two weeks, and Bryher will return to Lugano then (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 619).
1954 September 22. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; receives a telephone call from Erich Heydt who tells her that Walter Schmideberg has died in a clinic in Zurich at 4 A.M.; H.D. had just finished the third section of Helen in Egypt ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 36).
1954 September 24. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; Erich Heydt arrives late evening ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 36).
1954 September 26. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; Erich Heydt leaves Lugano for Venice; asks H.D. to go to Venice with him but she declines since she is expecting Harold and Nettie Doolittle as well as Bryher and Perdita to arrive soon; H.D. commented later "I felt caught for a moment, the first dash for liberty that had tempted me, for years, for centuries" ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 36-37).
1954 September 30. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; Erich Heydt stops in Lugano , returning to Zurich from Venice; H.D., Bryher, and Perdita have dinner with him and then they rushed him up to the station ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 37).
1954 October 9. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; Perdita flies back to America (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 648).
l954 October 11. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; Bryher leaves Lugano (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 648).
1954 October 12. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; says that they have been reading "flying saucer" books; refers to Walter Schmideberg's death--"Dr. Brunner wrote me that he really had been ill for years, & his end was merciful, as he would only have lingered on, in a state of misery, mental, physical"; has had many visitors--her brother & wife, Perdita, Byher, Erich Heydt (twice, going to and from Venice); is reading Iris Murdoch's UNDER THE NET (apparently Iris Murdoch was reccommended to H.D. by Silvia Dobson) (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 648-649).
1954 October 18. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; has dinner with Erich Heydt who has stopped there enroute to Rome and takes him to the station to catch the train; has a discussion with him about her reluctance to let unknown admirers come to see her ("I am not Goethe")--in particular, Eckhardt, the brother of a friend of Heydt's from East Berlin; H.D. feels shattered by this idea and resists it; also discusses the fact that she is happy as she is and does not want to alter her situation ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 64-5).
1954 October 27. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; is sending her a flying saucer book; is planning to return to Kusnacht in about a week or ten days; talks of going to Rome around Christmas time--Kenneth Macpherson is urging that the spend Christmas together; Norman Holmes Pearson is due at Kusnacht with Bryher for a short visit around November llth so she must sort out more and more papers; is desperately trying to find a suitable apartment in Zurich (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 650).
1954 November - 1954 December. H.D in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Am Strand).
*1954 November 4. H.D in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Am Strand); writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks Silvia for doing an astrological chart of Erich Heydt; tells Silvia that Heydt "is training for ps-a in Zurich and he wants me to type out details [of the chart] for him to take into his analyst"; recalls that Schmideberg had "no truck with our astrology";; "Erich is, I should say very good at his job, assistant doctor here and general ps-a factotem- they call him the psychiatrist; he doesn't do our classic ps-a but just talks to people, when `down' ... He is a very balanced person, in life- but has such a wealth of knowledge outside his `profession', books and music. He is an accomplished musician and linguist ... (he is NOT with the Jung analysts, but someone who knew the Bear in Berlin)"; Bryher has shut up Kenwin for some weeks as she is away--H.D. says she doesn't know where, but possibly USA (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 651). [LHS must watch this carefully as well as the one for December 6, l954 to be sure it is really 1954; did H.D. and Bryher go to Lugano and Rome both? Definitely to Rome.]
1954 November 11-16. H.D in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Am Strand); is visited by Bryher and Norman Holmes Pearson; makes out a script of selections from Helen in Egypt with short introductions to each separate poem ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 15)
*1954 December 6. H.D in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Am Strand) (?); writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks Silvia for doing a second astrological chart of Erich Heydt; refers to Christmas plans--Bryher is to come over on the 21st and they will travel to Lugano on the 22 where she will stay at the Hotel Bristol; plans to return to Kusnacht "as I have a marvelous apartment now, with glassed-in balcony-room, overlooking the lake, and I have made friends here and I have trips into Zurich" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 652). [LHS must watch this carefully as well as the one for November 4, l954 to be sure it is really 1954; did H.D. and Bryher go to Lugano and Rome both? Definitely to Rome.]
1954 (?) December 21 (?). H.D. at Kusnacht with Bryher; hears broadcast of Euripides Ion, "the Tuesday of Xmas week", as referred to in "Compassionate Friendship" (p. 28, 71).
1954 December 23 - 1955 January 4. H.D. makes trip to Rome with Bryher.
1954 December 23. H.D. and Bryher leave for Rome; H.D. receives a phone call at the air-field from Erich Heydt who has been in London; they have a rough flight ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 38); Erich Heydt later tells H.D. that Bryher told him that "everyone on the plane was upset but you" ("Compassionate Friendship". p. 64).
1955 - 1956. Prose interludes for HELEN IN EGYPT written (Friedman. DLB 45:140).
1955 January 4. H.D. and Bryher return to Kusnacht from Rome ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 8).
1955 January 26. First recording session of HELEN IN EGYPT in Zurich at the Studio W.H. von der M?hll; H.D. is alone and reads selections; in "Compassionate Friendship" (p. 14-16) H.D. comments "I was a little surprised myself when Herr von der M?hll ran off the first long-record for me, in the studio. I was alone and felt that I had an alter-ego, this Helen, speaking with my own voice, but with a self-assurance that I generally lack in every-day life"; Herr von der M?hll wanted to take H.D. to the station but she rushed off, "a little over-charged", intending to catch the 4.21 Stadelhofen train back to Kusnacht; however she does not make it as Heydt, who escorted her to the studio and left her there, and who has returned there to meet her but missed her but has heard a little of the recording, catches up with her outside of the station and "accosts" her in raptures; H.D. has insctucted Herr von der M?hll not to mail of the recording air-mail to Pearson yet as "I don't want it to get there too early. I want to have time to catch up."
1955 January 30(?). H.D. at Kusnacht; Erich Heydt takes her to "an unmitigated magic-mountain, a little Inn, ?MDUL?Wasberg?MDNM?, where we sat at a wooden table and had a goblet each of red wine" ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 10).
1955 February 2. Second recording session of HELEN IN EGYPT in Zurich at the Studio W.H. von der M?hll; this time Erich Heydt is with her--Heydt insists that the second tape go to Pearson air-mail; comments "I thonk the Helen has two god-fathers, for when Erich sat behind my right shoulder at the second reading, I seemed to lose myself, to be myself, as hardly ever in my life before. It seemed that I had missed my vocation. This is what I would have liked to have done always - always and always. It wasn't singing, it wasn't acting but it was both" ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 14-16).
1955 February 18 - September 21. "Compassionate Friendship" written.
1955 February 18. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); begins notes entitled "Compassionate Friendship"; describes going to Erich Heydt's apartment in "Geduld" (one of the houses at the Brunner Sanitarium) for tea; comments "I have no real excuse to stay on [at Kusnacht] except that I seem to love them and Dr. Erich says they love me"; comments on her storage room upstairs and the little bedroom where Bryher stays and where Norman Holmes Pearson has stayed; refects on Aldington and his comments on T. E. Lawrence's sexuality--has discussed them with Heydt; continues to reflect on Aldington and the attempts to suppress his book (unpubl. ms.).
1955 February 19. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; comments on reviews of Aldington's book on T.E. Lawrence; reflects on her own interest in T.E. Lawrence and comparing it with her interest in Lord Dowding; appreciated fact that after Aldington read the the first part of "The Sword Went Out to Sea" he wrote her that it was publishable; says that for some years she had not realized its implications--"It was aimed at a Great Secret, the secret that held the Roman empire together, that held the British empire together"--it was Aldington who first recognized it; comments "one of my oldest and sympathetic London friends, wrote, `don't publish the book. It will turn like a scorpion and sting you to death,' Perhaps Aldington's book has turned like a scorpion but it won't sting him to death"; has been reading Ellen Glasgow's The Woman Within, sent by Bryher; comments "Ellen Glasgow died in 1945, she was born in 1873. I was born in 1886 - and in 1945, my own apotheosis or re-birth took place. That is a long, long story and my Sword tried to tell it"; agrees with Ellen Glasgow that "our lives begin, some of them, when we are 60"; is awaiting a visit from Heydt since they have missed their usual tea-hour; comments that she lent him two of her early books and wonders why this disturbs her; remarks that Bryher sent her The Missing Macleans which may have been a mistake to begin; disturbed by talk of another German translation; concludes "True, I have lived too much, seen too much, travelled too much - been too cerebrally aware of events ... that war, the recrudescence of memories with the Lawrence, the `other' Lawrence whom I knew at one time and I think adequately portrayed in my own novel, Madrigal" (unpubl. ms.). Reports the next day in "Compassionate Friendship" that Heydt had visited her after she had writing what she had; Bryher calls at 6:15 from Pully, Lausanne (the usual time); it has been snowing at Pully so H.D. discourages Bryher from making a trip over to Kusnacht; after call, H.D. gets into fur coat and snow-boots for her walk over to the House for dinner; Heydt catches up with her enroute--they discuss the fact that Dr. Rudolph {Brunner}'s broken arm had disrupted Heydt's plans for a holiday in Sicily; Heydt suggests that H.D. join him and she laughingly rejects the idea.
1955 February 20. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; discusses her relationship with Heydt and comments "There is a great deal of inner conflict in my semi-professional relationship with Erich"; reflects on her fur coat which Bryher gave her as being "the wages of sin" much to Heydt's bewilderment; reflects upon the proximity of Thomas Mann and Carl Jung--in reference to Jung, H.D. comments "I take my alchemists straight", explaining to Heydt about her readings in Robert Ambelain; comments on her intensive readings in Ambelain and Jean Chaboseau during her last winters in Lausanne before she collapsed and was taken to the Clinique C?cil--reflects that Pearson had once asked where she got her "Isis information"; reflects on her examination and the resulting operation at the Clinique C?cil; Heydt comes a little before 2:30, having ordered the house car which has not arrived yet, and sits down to discuss translation difficulties--his friend, Ivan, has tried to translate "Mid-Day" with difficulty--H.D. comments "a poem that I must have written before War I or early in the war. I cannot remember when I wrote it; it has made me too sad to look at these early poems"; continues "I was shuffling through some fallen leaves, in front of the British Museum. one late summer day when I wrote that or Sitalkas"; while riding in the car H.D. tells Heydt "I am surprised at the sadness in these poems - you see, I have never been able to discuss them. I don't think it was personal - that is - I had a - a - married life. There was something that I was looking for. I could not have reached artistic maturity in the America of that day. We had no sign-posts, at that time. I was married in England in 1913, and then the - the - I call it the Iron curtain, a term we all understand. That iron-curtain fell between me and my somewhat - well - not hot-house, but in a way, very comfortable surroundings - I mean, I had in a way, a very petted and spoiled America life - one girl with brothers - I don't know. It is hard to explain it. We say (old-fashioned people used to say) when someone dies, he or she has gone home. I was looking for home, I think. But a sort of heaven-is-my-home, I was looking for that - that super-ego - that father-lover - I don't know - How can I explain it?"; they stop the car and walk, continuing their diiscussion, focusing on one of the patients at Kusnacht, stopping at a inn, different from the one two weeks earlier; H.D. catches sight of a child sweepiing snow off its leggings with a broom and comments "I am always reminded of Rose-white and rose-red when I see a broom sweeping snow" (unpubl. ms.)
1955 February 21. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; reflects that Valentine Schaffner is 4 to-day and recalls Perdita's fourth birthday; comments on Ellen Glasgow's The Woman Within and the sense that she is "not alone in finding that those years between wars seemed almost to be marking time"; reacts to acclaim that Pearson has given to two her Helen recordings; recalls that she had been asked in 1951 to do some records for the Library of Congress but did not feel inspired to undertake the project; during Pearson's recent visit, November 11-16, 1954, she had made out a script with short introductions; reflects on the experience of making the recording and comments "I had found myself, I had found my alter-ego or my double - and that my mother's name was Helen has no doubt something to do with it. This is myself, Helen out of the body, in another world, the eidolon of the legend. Bryher ut she is not alone. There, she meets the legendary Achilles, a phantom but a reality. There I, there Helen lives out her war - her wars. There in the second long-playing disc, is Helen with Achilles on one side, on the other, Helen with Paris. There is the conflict solved - as The Woman Within asks `Is it true, I wonder, that the only way to escape a war is to be in it?'" (unpubl. ms.)
1955 February 22. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; thinking of a letter which she received from Philip Frere before Christmas, she reflects on her will and her conversations with her brother, Harold, who had visit her the previous summer with his wife, Nettie, about spend the money left to H.D. by Helen Wolle Doolittle which Harold had built into a considerable sum over the years--H.D. comments "I am not extravagant, I want only peace and security and such stamina as I can accrue or accumulate, so as to finish my work"--the will which she Had made out through Bertram Baylis, "left everything unconditionally to Bryher, to be dealt with, as she thought suitable for friends who needed help" and thinking then of Perdita--howver Perdita is now taken care of, throuugh John and Bryher--Is currently thinking of establishing a trust, minus legacies for her nieces and tokens for the Schaffners, for the Kinik Brunner to assist with expenses for patients who need to stay longer but can't afford it; comments that the Klinik Brunner had started two generations earlier as a sort of Kurhouse, treatment with baths, which still exist; Frere had suggested, prompted H.D. felels by Bryher, that she leave her money directly to Perdita; Frere also asked how H.D. would like to be buried--will not answer now but continue to think about it; has heard from Pearson, who has been in touch with Eva Hesse, about interest of Arche Verlag in doing a German/English edition of her poems; Pearson wants her to do more readings, this time of early poems with explanatory captions; he also wants her to do more translations of Euripides to make up a new volume which would include Ion (which was broadcast three times from London); she is to write similar captions for the whole Helen sequence--to all this, H.D. comments "I need space and time and at the moment, so happy with the Woman Within"; has heard from Aldington who has enclosed a laudatory letter abot the T.E. Lawrence biography, writeen by Colonel Breese to the editor of the Illustrated (unpubl. ms.).
1955 February 23. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; Bryher is due on Friday in Zurich about 3:00; plans a week of activities, including seeing an Etruscan exhibition at the Museum; reflects on recent excursions; and thinks of herself in relation to her contemporaries and their illnesses, paticularily E.M. Butler, whose Fortunes of Faust she says ""really struck the spark that started my Helen in Lugano, in the summer of 1952"; has read Silver Wings, which most of her friends don't like, at least 10 times; dreams of a Magic Mountain sort of place where her friends could come, stay, rest, get proper treatment, etc.; Heydt has brought her a recent Arche publication, Fisch und Schatten--English/German poems of Ezra Pound (translations by Eva Hesse; Pearson has sent The Pound Newsletter: 5, asking her to check pp. 22 ff for queried identifations of the Cantos--comments "Norman has done so much for me that I would like to `have a little game', as he writes, `with the queried identifications'. If I do I must drop this simple, single world" (unpubl. ms.) Heydt has a free day and takes a group of H.D.'s books to Arche Verlag where he learned and reported to H.D. that Elisabeth Schnack is going to America and will look over the books and consult with Norman Holmes Pearson there ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 26)
1955 February 24. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; has been up to the attic-den for some clothing; reflects on having heard the broadcast of Ion; pulls down Ezra's Cantos and turns to Canto XXI, reads and reflects on it--"but long ago, I stepped out of the track of this particular whirlwind, this phychic landslide"; comments "I think, however, that I, like T.S. Eliot, have always credited Ezra with my own first awakening"; reflects on pain of early gathering volumes for Erich to take to Arche Verlag, as Pearson wishes--"it was one of those early poems that Ezra scrutinized and with a flourish of a large lead-pencil, in the British Museum tea-shop, deleted and trimmed or pruned or chiselled into the then unfamiliar free-verse"; comments that Ezra did not like her later work and told her so, and that he wanted her to translate Callimachus--"I was a little surprised recently when he wrote me `crawl out of your pig-sty'"; rereads Canto XX and reflects on the little edition, Tre Cantos, which Mary de Rachewiltz had sent her; is transported back to pre-War I London when Ezra had pruned "Hermes of the Way" ("a rough translation of a short poem from the Greek Anthology, into vers libre")--"Hermes, actor, charlatan, magician. Ezra was the first of these initiators. There were no more initiations, I had thought, after my final experience in the London of the second war. But there is another Hermes, musician, healer, actor, charlatan, maybe - a very subtle actor, if I may presume to challenge certain affirmations - I mean, a woman of my age should not be taken in, when a German of 34 says that it would be wonderful if we could go to Sicily together"; comments that Heydt, "our latest Hermes is the assistant physician and psycho-analyst here," reminds her at times of the psycho-analyst in T.S. Eliot's Cocktail Party--views her present envirionment as similar--instead of cocktails "there is a vibration, intoxication in the air, induced, you might say, for me at any rate, by the companionship of this latest Hermes"; relects on her arrival at Kusnacht and her first encounter with Heydt [in July 1953] (unpubl. ms.). Meets Erich Heydt on the terrace at the door of the House at night and records conversation (re the moon) the next day.
comments that she has written Pearson that Heydt took a collection of her books to the Verlag on Wednesday; goes to her attic room to get the Cantos and decides to take the volume along with a copy of the Pound Newsletter 5, so that he can play with rubrics; Pearson has requested an article on Pound in a Stuttgart Merkur which Heydt will get for him; Heydt asks for a sample of Pounds handwriting so that he can loan it to one of the Zurich analysts; after H.D. greets Bryher she find's Pound's last letter for Heydt; notes reading that v. 4 of Jung's collected works has been published and comments "Geduld, patience, perhaps I will collect my scattered volumes sometime" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 February 26. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; reads through Hippolytus Temporizes, making corrections, chiefly commas (has added 172 commas, a few dashes, and corrected a few mis-spelt words) ; will send Pearson one of the corrected copies-has three copies; recalls that Schmideberg used to say "I am in a comma"; reflects on it's publication and creation; comments "I can see why I was so careless about proof-reading. The stanzas and lines run on and into the abstract [LHS note: the word "abstract" replaces the word "infinite" which H.D. crossed out] - realised by rock and shale and snow and wind and foam and storm. I was realising a self, a super-ego, if you will, that was an octave above my ordinary self - and fighting to realise it ..."; relects that she was working on prose at the same time and that she must return to that sometime--is thinking specifically of PALIMPSEST; she runs upstairs and gets the only copy she still has (unpubl. ms.).
1955 February 27. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); H.D. and Bryher meet Erich Heydt for tea at Hug then they go to Heydt's room where he plays the first tape of H.D.'s reading for Bryher ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 29).
1955 February 28. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; has been rereading "Hipparchia" in PALIMPSEST; agrees with Edith Sitwell that the writing is "hallucinated"; though the writing is un-even, has held and astonished her--doesn't think she has read it for 20 years; "it is it actually the same story as the much later ?MDUL?Madrigal?MDNM?, where I assemble the same set of players in modern dress; it took me twenty years or more to get the Greek characters into time. They are out-of-time in the Greek scene, the only way that I could assemble them in the early or mid-twenties"; reflects on hearing the tape the previous day and comments "There the Helen always satisfys me, the final and complete solution of the life-long search for the answer - the companion in-time and out-of-time together"; reflects on Jung, whom she has read very little of--also has never read all of Freud--but she has studied her mysticism directly from the French writers; comments on when she wrote various pieces; reflects that she had thought that she had satisfied herself with her novels of the late 40's and would not touch on the mystery or romance again but with her reading of E. M. Butler in Luganao, Summer 1952, she found herself returning to thr Greek scene in poetry; comments "But it was the old serpent of the Gnossis, biting its tail. Around, around it all, was the fulfilment, the actuality of the "love story" and of the religious or mystical search, the alchemy and the hermetism of the old grimoires, affirmed and realised together"; comments on a print of Freud in his study which she has on the wall above her couchand reflects that without her work with the Professor she could not have faced this final stage of the initiation. (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 4. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; describes having gone [with Bryher?] to an exhibition of Etruscan treasures at the Zurich Kunsthaus; sees in it the Troy of her Helen sequence; hopes to go in again this evening to see the effect under wall and ceiling lights--thinks that it will be like walking into a furnace; comments that they have played the second disc for Bryher in Heydt's rooms; has beeen trying to collect poems for another recording session as requested by Bryher and Norman Holmes Pearson but "after the Helen, I do not feel that I can go back to the lesser phases of the initiation or processus [sic]"; Bryher has just brought her flowers--carnations and her favorite freezias (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 6. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; sees Erich Heydt for a half-hour before she and Bryher go out for tea--"A word opens doors and we play our old game of word association" ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 33).
1955 March 7. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; reflects on Erich Heydt as an actor--"He fills in the background of the psychic map, weaves over from the War I, Magrigal days, through to War II"; he and Ivan (now at Durham University) have translated her poem "Mid=Day"; has been receiving beautiful letters from Aldington and is enjoying the folders of miniatures being sent to her from the Metropolitan Museum of Art via Norman Holmes Pearson; Bryher is still there (unpubl. ms.)
1955 March 13. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; goes out in the car and walks with Erich Heydt ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 34).
1955 March 14. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; comments that Bryher has been gone almost a week but she is due back from Rome at Easter; reflects on the beautiful time they had there with Kenneth and Islay last Christmas and the fact fact she would have liked to have talked more with Kenneth--they talked alone very little--once about Eileen's recent death in America and his mother's going in London; comments that Pop (Kenneth's father) was staying with her and Bryher in London when she roughed out "Magic Ring" (1943) beginning it with carobon copies of the letters which she had written to Dowding; commentts "I managed at last, in Magic Ring, to present the earlier mystery of Peter van Eck (as I called him) and the phenomena of that 1920 Greek trip with Bryher ..."; has just received a book which Pearson has sent her on Lawrence [Harry T. Moore's THE INTELLIGENT HEART]--Pearson wants her to check references to H.D.--"I have not the courage to do this , at the moment"; Heydt has had the grippe but comments that they were able to order the car and go out on one of their trips the previous day; has reread the Maclean book and sent it back to Bryher and experienced a short period of escapism with Elizabeth Bowen's latest novel [A WORLD OF LOVE?] (unpubl. ms.). Glances at the Lawrence book and as a result had a wretched night ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 35)
1955 March 15. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; reflects on Lawrence and his place in her sequence of seven initiators--lists them as 1. Pound, 2. Aldington, 3. John Cournos, 4. Lawrence, 5. Cecil Gray (whom she identifies as "the friend of his and Frieda's), 6. Macpherson ("as a later double, as iit were of Gray"), 7. Schmideberg--"now Erich comes in here as a sort of inheritor od the bear and hence of the whole group"; says she saw nothing of the Lawrences afrer leaving Richard though he did come into dreams rarely and his name came up occasionally when she was with Freud--"It was something of a shock to find a letter from him to her printed in the book"--wonders how that letter came to be at large; reflects "this sort of thing works destruction"--both Pearson and Horace Gregory want her to verify statements relating to H.D. and Amy Lowell--"this would waste hours and hours and would take me away from myself - jerk me out of my radius"; comments "But within the circumference of my circle, the legendary duality of the Typhon-Osiris, Mephisto-Christ is stressed by the Madrigal memory of the Frederico, old Rico of my own story. And that story conditioned me to deception, loss, destruction. The later Lord Howell was the perfected Image" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 16. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; comments that she ought to be writing letters "But I feel drawn to this letter to - myself? To whom? To Walter Schmideberg, the Bear of the fairy-tale, Rose-red and Rose-White? I only thought of him yesterday, as the last of my minor initiatord"; comments that he came to Kusnachtt before Christmas, 1953; and that he is mentioned in "Writing on the Wall"; recalls the circumstances of his death and its occurring just as she finished Helen in Egypt and comments "I have satisfied myself with my final Helen poems, and with a certain corelation of entities, my friend who feature in these books (mostly unpublished) and I feel I have made my peace with Freud, with God, with poor Schmideberg"; reflects on her relationship with Heydt and his friends; comments on publication plans of translations--Urzidil has arranged for BY AVON RIVER to be published in Frankfurt--Heydt wants TRILOGY published in German; says Heydt has revitalized her interest in getting things published; descriibes Heydt's room as being "gay with modernistic bright sketches of a young German-Swiss, one of his proteges"; reflects on her fear of Heydt and their relationship as well as his impact on her; recalls her conversations with Schmideberg who cast Heydt in the role of a spy and called him "Spy Number I" and his friend Ivan "Spy Number II"--Bryher claimed that the Bear had paranoia and saw everyone as spies and she refused to play the game; describes playing the spy game with Schmideberg (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 18. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; comments that she has a sense of guilt about writing these notes; has been reading the D.H. Lawrence volume; thinks of heer will and comments that she has written Harold Doolittle and Mr. Baylis (in London) that Bryher and Norman Holmes Pearson are to take of all MSS and papers; has had a sleepless night, thinking of D.H. and Frieda Lawrence; recalls her experience exchanging experimental autobiographical sketches or stories with Stephen Guest and never having been able to retrieve hers from him--it included a reference to Lawrence and she wonders where and when it will turn up; links Erich with Eric, her favourite half-brother; has sent Pearson the photograph of Freud and Yo-Fi for the American edition of TRIBUTE TO FREUD; mentions that she has cracked an important bridge tooth but Dr. Hanhart, a dentist in the nearby village, has been able to temporarily repair it; has put up another photograph of Freud; has ordered the car for the next day in order to meet Joan Leader Waluga, whom Bryher has asked them to have at Kusnacht for about 10 days--"Erich is to talk to her, to help her if he can, over the shock of the disappearance of a very sketchy Polish husband whom she married by proxy, a few years ago" (unpubl. ms.). [LHS note: Joan Waluga was the daughter of Ethel Banfield Leader, the sister of Doris Banfield Shorter Long, who was one of Bryher's oldest and closest friends from Queenswood days.]
1955 March 19. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; mentions her daily habit of breakfasting at 8 then crawliing back to bed for an hour; comments on Father Brunner's having been in to find out what she knows about Joan Waluga (unpubl. ms.). Goes to Kloten to meet Joan at the air-port ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 44).
1955 March 20. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); has tea with Joan Waluga at the Kunstube and shows her Seehof, "the Manor House beyond the great barn" ("Compassionate Friendship", p 44.)
1955 March 21. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; Erich Heydt has reported to her that Joan Waluga "is in no way un-balanced, simply suffering from normal emotional shock"; has been reading the D.H. Lawrence biography and comments "I do not think I was disloyal to Lawrence as this Mr. Moore implies. It was a matter of life and death, spiritual as well as physical. I have already told that story in Madrigal"; mentions that she is going to Erich at the usual time (four); they discuss Joan's background (formative years in India, sent back to England to school)--supposedly she is to be there for only 10 days; Heydt tells H.D. when she says that she thinks that she ought to to have tea with Joan at 4:00 then meet with Heydt "You must come at 4, every day. You see you are the control, this is control-analysis, you give me" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 22. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; comments on Joan Waluga: "She is like the Little Mermaid and I can almost weave her into my Helen sequence, the idol or eidolon on Achilles' ship"; has been discussing Joan with Erich; remembers seeing her as a child at Tregonning when Joan asked her to go to a lily-pool with her but H.D. didn't, feeling restrained by social pressures; also thinks she saw her in Cornwall, Summer 1941; compares Joan with one of Kipling's characters who is sent back to England from India; recalls, prompted by reading in Harry T. Moore volume, a "picture which she had hanging at Mecklenburg Square while the Lawrences were staying there (which she did not mention in MADRIGAL), and has a mental image of Lawrence sitting across or sideways from her at the table where they ate their meals discussing the picture which she describes as a scene possibly set in India and now thinks that somehow it relates "to the meeting of the Priestess of Isis and the deposed Prophet in The Man Who Died, though there Lawrence has invoked or created a small marble temple on the coast of Lebanon" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 23. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; comments on Lawrence biography: "I follow the story now with interest, seeing as it were, a sort of minor arcana of initiations with women and men, too, many of whom I knew personally or had met occassionally or heard of"; comments that she continued to read Lawrence after she went to Greece with Bryher though she found some of the heavy going (i.e. KANGAROO) but "When I read The Man Who Died first in London, in the early thirties, I did feel that that was Lawrence, the Man I had contacted and known briefly. The other was to me a dangerous Maelstrom - and this is merely a personal reaction. I particularly disliked and distrusted his books on the `unconscious.' I spoke of this once to Barbara Low, who said, yes, it was perhaps a pity and she in a way, blamed herself for having suggested his writing psycho-analytic criticism or comment" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 24. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; recalls Helen Wolle Doolittle bringing her a bunch of red roses and a small book of Lawrence's poems in Cairo in 1923; reflects on her reaction; remarks that she has a card from Bryher who is in Rome, off to Paestum, to stay three days in Capri, possibily to return to Anticoli where Kenneth and Islay have their villa and where Lawrence once stayed; recalls a vision which she had while staying on the top floor of the pension where she was was waiting for Perdita's birth and where she had double-pneumonia [LHS Note: this vision is described in the entry for March 3, 1919]; H.D. wonders if her mother bring her the roses and the book was actually one of her "visitor" experiences like the doctor from St. Faith's in her vision; says she has used "this changing apparition of the `Visitor'in my Mystery"; comments "He [Lawrence] never wrote me after I told him I was expecting this child"; recalls Amy Lowell taking her and Aldington to see the Lawrences in their Cottage at Chesham in Bukinghamshire where they met Katherine Masefield and Mark Gertler; recalls the dinner party at the Berkely and comments that "In Magrigal, I overlap time a little to bring the occasion into the first week of the war"; recalls that in 1926 Brigit Patmore came to see H.D. and told her that the Lawrences were anxious to see people and asked if H.D. would go to see them; H.D. comments "I do not know if Lawrence suggested this but I was apprehensive and did not make the effort to contact him again. Bryher met them both at a party that Jean and Louis Untermeyer gave; I was asked to that, too. I remember how I struggled with myself in my little flat on Sloane Street - shall I? Shan't I? I did not go to the party. [LHS note: this affair occurred on September 22, l926--see entry for that date] Afterwards Bryher came and told me that Lawrence had said, `give my love to Hilda. Mind you, you are to give my love to Hilda'; recalls that at that time she had been planning "Pilate's Wife" (which she did not finish for some years afterwards), inspired by her reading of a George Moore story about the Christ taken down half dead from the cross, and she had told Brigit of this story; comments "I always felt she must have told Lawrence, in any case, my own story followed the pattern of The Man Who Died"; further comments "perhaps some picture of the bearded Lawrence did impose itself in Pilate's Wife, though I did not comsciously think of him or use him as a model for the Christ image"; comments also "It was only in 1939, the summer before War II, that the War I story bubbled up, fully into consciousness as Madrigal. The important last section of the story, however, the letter that Julia writes to Rico as from Cornwall, late summer, 1918, "I will never see you again," was not finished until Winter 1948, in Lausanne"; says that in general Lawrence did not come into World War II although "once in a sark, bomb-shattered night, I had a dream of him. It was a fiery golden Lawrence, it was nothing but a fleeting presence and the words, `Hilda, you are the only one of the whole crowd, who can really write'"; Erich Heydt has been in before tea, talking about Joan Waluga and saying that she should stay at least three more weeks; H.D. hopes that Joan stays on, at least until Bryher comes about April 5th; has seen Elisabeth Schnack, who is going to America where she expects to meet Norman Holmes Pearson and go to New Mexico to be near Frieda Lawrence in Taos-they have had a stimulating conversation about writing and writers--"I have not had such an intelligent contact for years" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 25. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; comments on a little cluster of roses and lily-of-the-valley which Elisabeth Schnack had brought her the day before; has continued reading the Lawrence biography: "I am not, assuredly, important like Lawrence but I feel the swooping wings of the kites or vultures, as many of my generation must do. This is a new departure, this minute and painstaking detective-like survey of the private lives of the comparatively recent dead"; reflects on THE INTELLIGENT HEART and comments "the Harry T. Moores of this world give a vitality to the present with their reviews of the past ... but ... Who else waits the descent of the kites?'; comments that in the process of lapping time over in Madrigal, she brought in the suppression of The Rainbow which was not actually suppressed until summer 1915 (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 28. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; wonders if she has been unfair to to Harry T. Moore in her letters to Aldington and to Pearson; reflects on a conversation which she had with Frieda Lawrence about love and about Lawrence: "Frieda said that she had had a friend, an older man [Otto Gross?] who had told her that `if love is free, everything is free'. There had been the scene the night before or shortly before, in which Lawrence said that Frieda was there for ever on his right hand, I was there forever - on his left. Frieda said when we were alone, `but Lawrence does not really care for women. He only cares for men. Hilda, you have no idea of what he is like.' Was she trying to break across this possible relationship? If so, she was doing the physically immature and frustrated Julia (of Madrigal) a very good turn, indeed"; reflects on Frieda's remarks about Esther Andrews and recalls going to meet her and her `man,' Robert Mountsier, at Lawrence's request--they lived in a pleasant old-world flat on the river in Chelsea; recalls Lawrence jeering at the name "Doolittle"; comments that at that time Lawrence had had more guidance than she in psycho-analysis, through Frieda and Dr. Eder, the step-father of Stephen Guest; reflects again on the loss of the pages whichh she had written to help Stephen Guest and wonders if he gave them to Barbara Low and if it was Barbara Lpw who gave the impression that H.D. was disloyal to Lawrence: "`Actually, Lawrence mistrusted H.D.'s loyality,' I quote direct from Mr. Moore, page 415 of the book"; recalls that she and Barabara Low had an intense argument in H.D.' London flat after she had her analysis with Freud--"I could not swallow D.H.L. whole" (in reference to the Fantasia); reflects on Aaron's Rod and the Julia character "a tall stag of a thing" who "sat hunched up like a witch" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 29. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; recalls Stephen Guest telling her that Brigit Patmore had written a novel featuring this Julia ("a sort of witch-woman or girl who enticed or excited men and then did not satisfy them") which had been published in America and then mysteriously withdrawn; reflects on the loss of her letters from Lawrence--"I left them in a suit-case in the basement of 44 Mechlenburg [sic] Square, with great stacks of Richard's letters. When I saw Richard and Brigit in Paris, after the Port-Cros episode, I asked Richard what had become of my old letters. He said he had burnt them, `I'm sorry, Dooley'"; recalls that Aldington had picked up the use of her school-girl nick-name when he me Margaret and Muriel Snively in London, just before or during the first war; recalls seeing Aldington and Brigit Patmore in Paris, just about the time she bagan "Pilate's Wife" after they had seen Lawrence at Port-Clos (October 1928) and asking after Lawrence; reflects on Richard's breaking off with Arabella (Dorothy Yorke) and taking up with Brigit (unpubl. ms.). Begings reading G. Wilson Knight's THE MUTUAL FLAME which Bryher had ordered for H.D. ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 62).
1955 March 30. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; comments that Erich Heydt has been away for three days with Kurt Forster and that he found a paperback of LADY CHATTERLY'S LOVER in St. Moritz which they discuss; recalls finding G. Wilson Knight's THE OLIVE AND THE SWORD in Stratford, 1945; confesses that she has a passion for Knight's writings and equates them with those of E. M. Butler; wonders if they are as happy with their works as she is with her own; refers to the Frankfort edition of BY AVON RIVER and how happy she is that it is being set up there; reflects on her Achilles as opposed to that of Knight; has tea with Heydt in his room and feels disturbed when he tells her that he is going to Rome on the 10th (Easter Sunday) for 15 days; Comments "I am quite self-contained alone. But I feel the responsibility for Joan. Erich went away to London at Christmas-time, suddenly. That was a surprise. I always feel that he may go at any time, and go for good" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 March 31. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; reflects that it is Perdita's birthday; Heydt did not show up at lunch and one of the patients was in tears; later Heydt, in a state as the patient had said that she wanted to throttle him, rang up H.D. and asked her to join him for tea and they discuss the case and his relationship with the Brunners; [LHS note: it is obvious that Heydt found H.D. to be a calming and supportive influence as well as a quick thinker and someone to be relied upon to handle situations--at one point while Heydt was in St. Moritz he had rung up H.D. and when Dr. Brunner had asked her why he had called her, she had come up with a logical explanation]; H.D. reflects "Poor Erich - the Bear [Schmideberg] always said it was too much for him (or anybody) to have to live daily with one's analysands"; H.D. asks Heydt why he doesn't leave and he replies that he can't practice independantly in Switzerland and that he is still finishing his analysis with Dr. Medard Boss; Heydt tells H.D. : "You seem so - so retiring and - and timid. Then you are the strongest of all. Like the flight to Rome, before Christmas in that dreadful storm. Bryher said everyone on the plane was upset but you"; Heydt shows H.D. three volumes of translations by Elisabeth Schnack, including one of stories of D. H. Lawrence with a picture of Lawrence on the cover which H.D. recognizes as being one which was on the cover of the TAOS volume which she had on her table in the hotel Regina in Vienna at the time of her sessions with Freud (unpubl. ms.).
1955 April 2. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; has received a wire from Bryher in Rome who will arrive on Tuesday for a few days, probably will stay over Easter; gives Heydt an old letter of Pound's and one from Ethel Leader, Joan Waluga's mother, to have the handwriting analyzed, warning him that she does not want the letters sold or "lost and refers to her phobia about old letters suddenly appearing in printed volumes; has a reverie about her Mata-Hari complex and refers to the spy game which she and Schmideberg played (unpubl. ms.).
1955 April 4. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; refers to the impending arrival of one of Heydt's friends from Vienna, the "widow" with her neurotic daughter; has spent her after-breakfast "meditation' working on a phrase from Jean Chabosseau, "le Quaternaire"-- this meditation leads to recollections of the Bull, a hotel in Cambridge here she and Bryher stayed one year and where she experienced one of her "visitors" in the little outer hall-- this "visitor" she now links with the boy on the train on the September 1941 return from Cornwall to London [LHS note: possibly the one written of in the poem "R.A.F."]--and links this with an image from the tarot deck which in turn links onto "this perhaps entirely imaginative `game' of poor Schmideberg and myself, during his last year ..."; has been absorbed by or into G. Wilson Knight's THE MUTUAL FLAME following his analysis of Shaakespeare's sonnets and has begun to add her own links--leadin once gain to the "vistor" at the Bull--all of these "vistor" experiences have been assimilated [LHS's word--H.D. uses "outlined"] into "The Mystery" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 April 5. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; is going to Kloten to meet Bryher'Swiss air plane from Rome; is visited by Father Brunner; worries about photograph of Freud which Pearson reports that they cannot use for TRIBUTE TO FREUD as the bottom is damaged (H.D. comments that Yo Fi's paw were stuck to the glass of the frame and she had soaked them off and sent them to Pearson air-mail the previous day; comments that Heydt was excited at dinner and ordered the taxi, she presumes to meet the "widow" (unpubl. ms.). Meets Bryher at Kloten at 1:40; in the car enroute to Kusnacht they discuss Joan Waluga--Heydt has said that Joan is in a very critical state (suicidal); Heydt comes in after dinner and the three of them continue to discuss Joan; since Heydt is going to Capri for about two weeks, H.D. is to keep things balanced, if she can ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 70).
1955 April 6. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; compares Joan, Erich, and herself to an Elusinian circle (Demeter, Persephone, and Dionysus); comments that she wants to translate two Greek plays--the other two oracle plays from [?] the Paris edition ("Les Belles Lettres") which she has, translated by Henri Gregoire--"Helen" and "Iphingenia in Taurus" and discusses them, commenting at thend "And Helen? She is lost, to be found again. So I lived my Helen sequence and must live. And if I have gifts of understanding of the latter-day psycho-analytic mysteries, I seem fated to transfer or transfuse them in this strange relationship with this young German psycho-analyst, Erich Heydt (unpubl. ms.). In the afternoon has a cup of coffee with Bryher before having her hair done.In the evening she argues (or "fights") with Erich Heydt during which she apparently says that she hero-worships him with reservations as do others. At night, dreams of Ezra Pound which she seldom does--"a young but mature Ezra" ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 72-73)
1955 April 7. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; reflects on her dream of Pound and draws parallels between him and Heydt; discusses Heydt as one of the seven initiators of which Pound was the first--still regards Dowding as the largest "?toile"; comments on her fight with Heydt--"It is the sort of fight that I `belong to' in the D.H. Lawrence saga, in that I re-created him and Frieda (or Rico and Elsa) in Madrigal" and the drama that is evolving around her at Kusnacht with Heydt and his women as well as Madame Herf and others; comments that Bryher "is companionable and understanding" and reflects on memories of Schmideberg; comments to Bryher that she is irritated with Heydt's habit of having intimate telephone-talks when she has been invited in to tea and makes an association with past experiences: "I can watch other Maenards, the Bella and Morgan of my Madrigal. I can feel the old insufficiency and frustration but I never flared out at Richard or at the earlier Ezra with his relay or chorus" (unpubl. ms.).
1955 April 8. H.D. at Kusnacht (Am Strand); writes on "Compassionate Friendship"; xxx
1955 June 14 (?)/July. H.D in Lugano [at the Hotel Bristol?].
1955 June 19. Adrienne Monnier dies, deliberately taking an overdose of sleeping pill--she suffered from Meni?re's Syndrome (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 133-134).
1955 June 21. Bryher rings H.D., who has recently arrived in Lugano, to tell her of Adrienne Monnier's suicide.
1955 June 22. H.D. in Lugano; writes to Sylvia Beach; writes of Adrienne Monnier and sympathizes with Beach's loss; says "My thoughts are with you both. Bryher said, poor Adrienne was so ill + one must only be thankful that she is at peace. Please, please accept my heart's devotion-a double devotion--for I can never think of you apart" (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 134).
1955 August 3. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; comments that Erich Heydt is at Kusnacht and that he has recently been ringing (telephoning) her almost every evening at Lugano. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1955 August 12 (?) - 1955 September(end). H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner.
1955 September 12. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson; plans to go to Lugano towards the end of the month as Perdita leaves New York about the 27th and H.D. and Bryher plan to be in Lugano to greet her; [apparently H.D. returned to Kusnacht from Lugano about the second week of August for dental bridge work]; comments that while she was in Lugano, you came over from St. Moritz for a half day--I think primarily because of problems with the Frankfurt edition of Avon and a Dr. S. (possibly Elisabeth Schnack. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.1955 September(end) - 1956 May(end). H.D. in Lugano at the Hotel Bristol; revises proofs for TRIBUTE TO FREUD.
1955 October 4. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; hopes to stay at least into November; refers to getting some sort of a "fistula" [?] and what an angel Erich Heydt was, coming to see her. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1955 November 25. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; Bryher is in Neww York, will join H.D. for Christmas; Perdita and John Schaffner were there the past Summer for a few weeks; Perdita is expecting her third baby in June--is hoping for an Elizabeth Bryher; "I have been happy and busy with a long, long, long Helen sequence. I have done 161 poems in sequence in 3 books, with notes in addition. Well over 200 pages in typescript. I have spent 3 years on it, that is working in intense periods of 2-3 months, each year"; tells of making the recording the previous Winter--says Norman Holmes Pearson got her to do them--says "they have been run off at Yale and they want the rights, but Norman is holding on to them, as for disks to go with the books- when and however it may come out" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 658).
1955 November 26. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1955 December 9. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; says that she decided to stay there and that Bryher is due for Christmas; maybe she will not go back to Zurich until middle or end of January. LHS note: She seems not to want to go back to Kusnacht when she does go back to Zurich--I get the sense that something unpleasant happened at Am Strand--possibly in relation to Belinda and Joan Waluga]. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1955 December 16. H.D. at the Hotel Bristol, Lugano; writes to Silvia Dobson; has decided to stay in Lugano well into January; Bryher is joining her there; refers to HELEN IN EGYPT--"if it comes out, I will indicate a few special `Greek' poems for you, though it is all Greek-Troy, superimposed on my own war experience" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 659).
1955 December 24. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; says she is wild to move out of Am Strand and mentions the Sonnenberg as a possibility. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956. "Majic Mirror" written; a novel consisting of material reworked from "Compassionate Friendship" (Thorn Thicket, p. 5l).
1956. TRIBUTE TO FREUD published in New York by Pantheon.
1956 January 17. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; mentions staying there until February. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 January 28. Norman Holmes Pearson writes to H.D., commenting "One puzzles over Erich so, and ?MDUL?his?MDNM? future. A kind of casualty, I fear, indirectly from the war." This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 January 31. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; mentions staying there at least another month; in response to Pearson she says "Yes, I puzzle over Erich too- wish I could talk it all over. But Br saw him when she went to Z to see Mr. Beney- he now has a flat of his own, very nice, Br says, and is more independent." This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 February 2. Robert McAlmon dies in Desert Hot Springs.
1956 March 7. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; will be there at least through Easter; mentions that the whole Brunner crowd came down with bad grippe; also mentions Erich Heydt's new flat which is not far from the station and that you have been feverish there but have been looked after and have telephoned to Lugano that you are alright; no longer as anxious to move to the Sonnenberg; says she has not seen Heydt for six months and that you were to have come to Lugano when you caught the grippe and couldn't go; mentions her Kusnacht novel ["Majic Mirror"] and the difficulty of finding a name for Erich Heydt--asks Pearson to help and says she has written to Heydt for help but that he has not found her one. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.?
1956 March 17. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; asks about time limit for having photographs taken for TRIBUTE TO FREUD and mentions that Erich Heydt wants her to go to a special place in Zurich [LHS note: this probably refers to the Obrecht photographs]; says that Heydt was in Lugano to visit her yesterday and says that the name for the Heydt character in "Majic Mirror" has been found--Eric Heller! "He will be Eric Heller- a simple enough name but he says not really common-place and he likes the idea of the Heller, light - and relationship with the Hellen - and he did help with those recordings, etc." This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 March 20. Pearson responds to H.D.; will omit photographs from TRIBUTE TO FREUD but does want her to go to your man in Zurich for publicity photographs; says "I'm delighted that Eric could come, and with the name, `Heller'. It is excellent and perceptive. He does have that quality. What a hard winter he has had of it. What are his long-range plans now?" This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 March 28. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; comments "I feel rather guilty staying on here but really with weather conditions and heavy grippe in Zurich, it does seem better to stay"; goes on to say "Erich takes his spring-holiday, a whole month this year, April 18th. I may wait just till he gets off as confusion of his last days there may be a bit trying." This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 April 10. Sylvia Beach writes to Francoise Hartmann that Bryher was unhappy with her translation of "White Rose and the Red" and felt that it would have to be completely revised before it was ready for publication (H.D. "Letters across the Abyss," p. 130).
1956 April 20. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; now speaks of going back at beginning of May; Father Brunner is in hospital--son very secretive; Erich Heydt was due to leave for Sicily but because of the illness was asked to wait; says that Heydt came down to Lugano yesterday and that the two of them walked and talked all day; refers to trying to show Heydt how to distinguish between gardenias and camillas; H.D. and Heydt discussed problems Pearson was having getting permission to publish Freud's letters to H.D. in TRIBUTE TO FREUD. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
Between April 20 and 24, 1956, Father Brunner dies. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 April 26. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; mentions trying Die Sonne first, then moving to the Sonnenberg. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 May 15. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; speaks of going back to Zurich May 23 or 24; Bryher checked out Die Sonne and found it to be charming and old-world but filled to the brim with students and, as a result, noisy; the Waldhaus is another possibility, if not Sonnenberg which is her first choice--~~~Bryher has been there and found it perfect but very hard to get to; Erich Heydt is in Sicily and will be there until the end of May, she believes. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 May 21. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Lugano; has apparently decided to go back to Kusnacht and go into Verena, if it can be arranged. This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 May(end) - 1956 September. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena).
1956 May 31. H.D. writes to Norman Holmes Pearson from Villa Verena, Kusnacht This entry is incomplete and needs to be filled in.
1956 June 20. Elizabeth Bryher Schaffner born.
1956 September 8. H.D. leaves on Swissair for New York with Bryher and Doris Long (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 664).
1956 September - 1956 October. H.D. in New York at the Beekman Tower Hotel.
1956 September. H.D. in New Haven for the 70th birthday exhibition in Yale's Sterling Memorial Library.
1956 September 22. H.D. in New York at the Beekman Tower Hotel; writes to Silvia Dobson; tells of going to New Haven to see the H.D. Exhibition; enjoys Perdita and the three enchanting children; TRIBUTE TO FREUD has been published as well as Bryher's BEOWULF (both have had very good reviews; "If only I had more time & strength. N.Y. is sheer Arabian Nights, Bagdad, ... a hint of Chartres, more than a hint of campannili [?] and minarets! I can't cope with it, but find it fascinating. I really loved New Haven trips, we went to Mystic Seaport"; expects to Zurich in about 10 days, after Elizabeth Bryher's christening on the 29th; tells Silvia of forthcoming SELECTED POEMS OF H.D. (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 663-664).
1956 September 25. H.D., Bryher and Norman Holmes Pearson in Bethlehem.
1956 October - 1956 November. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena).
1956 October 20. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks her for sending Mary Renault's THE LAST OF THE WINE; has not yet settled down fron her New York trip; describes Elizabeth Bryher as being like a Dresden doll--"I was quite excatic about her, with pretty bronze hair and lovely hands and feet. The middle boy is tough and funny, the old one is rather philosophical"; Bryher is back at Kenwin (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 663-665).
1956 October 26. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks her again for sending Mary Renault's THE LAST OF THE WINE which she has enjoyed--"it has given me so much, as I was struggling last Winter with notes of the period for some Euripides I was asked to do- but can't undertake now. This clears up the scene for me as none of the historical references did"; asks for astrological chart for Joan Leader Waluga, born in India or Pakistan, July 8 l926 between 12 and 2 P.M., who married a Pole who got lost in Argentina--has been there about a year and a half--can't make up her mind what to do (go back to England or stay in analysis at Kusnacht)--parents divorced and remarried each other (this affected Joan) (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 666).
1956 November - 1957 February/March. H.D. in Zurich at the Hirslanden Klinik.
1957 - 1959. Unpublished "Hirslanden Notebooks" written.
1957. SELECTED POEMS OF H.D. published in New York by Grove Press.
1957 March - 1960 May 13(?). H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena).
1957 April 15 - May l3. "Vale Ave" written in five weeks with no interruptions {Lord Dowding linked with "Vale Ave" = Lucifer; H.D. = Lilith} (Thorn Thicket, p. 12, 15, 14, 18, 19).
1957 June 9 - 1958 Winter (early). Sagesse written; composition interrupted during Erich Heydt's absence; section XI written after Erich Heydt returns to Kusnacht {Erich Heydt is Germain; Freud is Senciner} (Thorn Thicket, p. 2-3, 19).
1957 August 3. Before departing for the United States, Erich Heydt sends H.D. gardenias (Thorn Thicket, p. 4).
1957 August 4. Section VII of "Sagesse" written (Thorn Thicket, p. 4).
1957 August. Erich Heydt goes to the United States.
1957 October. Erich Heydt returns from the United States (Thorn Thicket, p. 12).
1957 October 17. H.D. returns to writing of "Sagesse" with section VIII (Thorn Thicket, p. 4).
1958. H.D. receives Harriet Monroe Memorial Prize for $100.00 for three poems printed in December 1957 issue of POETRY: "In Time of Gold," "Nails for Petals," and "Sometimes and After" (amount of award from Pearson. Misc. files [unpubl.]).
1958 March 7 - July 13. "END TO TORMENT" written (Thorn Thicket, p. 51).
1958 April 2. H.D. at Kusnacht; writes to Dorothy Pound; is awaiting Pearson's report of his visit to St. Elizabeth's; apparently has a photograph of the house where Dorothy is living but doesn't recognize it [apparently H.D. has the mistaken impression that Dorothy is living in the Wyncote home of the Pounds--photograph may be one taken by Erich Heydt]; refers to Erich Heydt with whom she has talked much of the Pounds; he met them in 1953 when he was a visiting specialist at St. Elizabeth's (?); is reading MOTIVE & METHOD, sent by Pearson, and DICTUNG UND PROSA, per Eva Hesse; refers to Peter Demetz article which Heydt brought her which apparently describes Dorothy sitting in a car in the rain (H.D. to D.P., [unpubl. letter], Lilly Library).
*1958. Pound plans to visit H.D. at Kusnacht. Meeting forbidden (?) by Bryher (Guest, p. 248 and p. 314). [LHS to verify in Guest].
1958 Summer. First ten sections of "Sagesse" published in the EVERGREEN REVIEW, no. 5 (Thorn Thicket, p. 4).
1958 July 7. Erich Heydt sends gardenias to H.D. (Thorn Thicket, p. 4).
1958 August 9. Erich Heydt goes away for his summer holiday; brings H.D. MODERATO CANTABILE (Thorn Thicket, p. 4).
1958 August l6. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Sylvia Beach: refers to a yearning to travel; mentions having been sent the various publications relative to the two exhibitions honoring Shakespeare and Company (published in SYLVIA BEACH, 1887-1962. [Paris?] : Mercure de France, 1963: p. [158]).
1958 August l8. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks Silvia for an enchanting Greek travel book; Bryher has gone to Greenland on a Danish boat--she should be back in Copenhagen about August 22 and at Kusnacht around August 25; Norman Holmes Pearson, "my Yale guide and inspiration," will be there at the end of the month (in Zurich for about 5 days) (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 670-672).
1958 September 9. Erich Heydt returns from holiday (Thorn Thicket, p. 4).
1958 September 12. H.D. takes oath of allegiance to regain United States citizenship.
1958 September 16. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Silvia Dobson; Bryher has been there during the September 2-10 period and Norman Holmes Pearson for a week going over old MSS; "then on the 12th, I went in to the Consulate here, & renewed my American status. I had been urged to do this for some time- anyhow, it meant getting all sorts of documents in order & going over the past. I dreaded it, but feel better now"; Bryher's GATE TO THE SEA is getting good reviews (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 673-674).
1958 November 3. Erich Heydt tells H.D. of his engagement to Dori Gutscher (Thorn Thicket, p. l, 5, 32).
1958 December 16. Erich and Dori Heydt married (Thorn Thicket, p. 5).
1958 December 19. H.D. and Bryher call upon Erich and Dori Heydt (Thorn Thicket, p. 5).
1959 January 3 - April 5. "Winter Love" written (Thorn Thicket, p. 50).
1959 January 4. H.D.in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Silvia Dobson; thanks Silvia for a bag which she has sent her for Christmas {in her notes Silvia describes bag as being of Portuguese peasant work, made at Loule}; Bryher is there with Elsie Volkart who is sick in Zurich; is reading Kazantzakis' THE ODYSSEY: A MODERN SEQUEL--sent by John Schaffner (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 675, 679-680).
1959 April 7. H.D. receives the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award for Poetry (Thorn Thicket, p. 38).
1959 May. Section XIV of the "Segesse" series published in POETRY with title "Regents of the Night" {given by Norman Holmes Pearson} (Thorn Thicket, p. 17).
1959 August 7-6. Erich and Dori Heydt leave on trip to the United States (Thorn Thicket, p. 5,6).
1959 September 9. H.D.in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Silvia Dobson (possibly dictated to and typed by Bryher); thanks her for an "archiac square" which Silvia had had designed for her birthday; tells of "Madrigal" being accepted for publication; Bryher is there for her birthday (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 681-682).
1959 September 29(?). H.D. and Bryher meet Catha Aldington.
1959 October 8. H.D. writes to Harold Doolittle; refers to the manuscript of THE GIFT; comments "I will have to re-work some of it, if I ever get aaround to it. Chapter V, THE SECRET is rather long and obscure" (Wolle. A MORAVIAN HERITAGE, p. 55).
1959 October 11. Annie ("Birdie") Jenkins Peiter dies (Wolle. A MORAVIAN HERITAGE, p. 28).
1959 December 16. H.D. sees Erich Heydt (Thorn Thicket, p. 8).
1959 December 18. H.D. sees Erich Heydt (Thorn Thicket, p. 8).
1960. BID ME TO LIVE published by Grove Press in New York.
1960. "Thorn Thicket" written.
1960(?). H.D. receives Longview Award of $300 for "Regents of the Night" {Poem XIV of the "Sagesse" series} (Thorn Thicket, p. 17).
1960. H.D. receives citation for Distinguished Service, Bryn Mawr College.
1960 January l3 - l4(?). H.D. reading proofs of BID ME TO LIVE (Thorn Thicket, p. 15).
1960 February 5. H.D. and Erich Heydt have a "row" (Thorn Thicket, p. 39).
1960 February 14. Bryher at Kusnacht for a few days.
1960 February 17. H.D. sees Erich Heydt for the first time since February 5--he had the grippe (Thorn Thicket, p. 40).
1960 February 26. H.D. goes to the 'bosquet' with Erich Heydt (Thorn Thicket, p. 40).
1960 February 29. Timothy Schaffner born.
1960 March 8. Judith Schmidt of Grove Press writes to H.D. that BID ME TO LIVE was now available and that a copy has been sent via air mail.
1960 March 13. H.D.in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Silvia Dobson; announces the birth of Timothy Schaffner; BID ME TO LIVE to be published on April 27; mentions proposed trip to America (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 683-684).
1960 March 17. Pearson sends H.D. a telegram advising her that "NEWSWEEK magazine wishes friendly interview to accompany their book review of MADRIGAL stop they will fly man immediately from Paris to Kusnacht If this telegram is quoted in a document then LHS should check to see how it was spelled?[sic] but will telephone you beforehand from Paris for appointment stop I said you would see him stop love Norman."
1960 March 18. H.D. receives the first copy of BID ME TO LIVE (Thorn Thicket, p. 41).
1960 March 22. H.D. receives special edition of BID ME TO LIVE (Thorn Thicket, p. 41).
1960 March 24. Richard Aldington due at Kusnacht (Thorn Thicket, p. 42).
1960 March 25. H.D. and Bryher plan to lunch with Richard Aldington and his Australian friends, the Duttons (Thorn Thicket, p. 42).
1960 April 4(?). H.D. meets Lionel Durand (Thorn Thicket, p. 42).
1960 May 2. Lionel Durand's article on BID ME TO LIVE appears in NEWSWEEK (Thorn Thicket, p. 46).
1960 May 12. H.D. flies, with Blanche Brunner, Swiss-Air, Kloten, Zurich, to Idlewilde, New York (Thorn Thicket, p. 44).
1960 May 13 - 1960 June 26. H.D. in New York at the Hotel Stanhope.]
1960 May 24. Lionel Durand writes to H.D. (Thorn Thicket, p. 47).
1960 May 25. H.D. becomes first woman to receive the Award of Merit Medal for Poetry, American Academy of Arts and Letters (includes $1000).
1960 June. H.D. approached by Elizabeth Kray of the Poetry Center (New York) to give a reading--suggestion made that Pearson would introduce her--suggested for Fall 1960; H.D. also approached by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (Washington D.C.) (Pearson. Misc. files [unpubl.]).
1960 June 26. H.D. and Blanche Brunner depart from New York to return to Zurich; Perdita, John Schaffner, Valentine and Norman Holmes Pearson see them off at Idlewilde (Thorn Thicket, p. 44).
1960 June 27 - 1961 January. H.D. in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner.
1960 June 27. Erich Heydt visits H.D. (Thorn Thicket, p. 44).
1960 July 5. Erich Heydt visits H.D.; H.D. and Heydt have confrontation (Thorn Thicket, p. 47-49).
1960 July 10. Bryher at Kusnacht (Thorn Thicket, p. 49).
1960 August 2. H.D. driven out to the "bosquet" and discovers that it is being demolished (Thorn Thicket, p. 52).
1960 August 11. H/D. has another discussion with Erich Heydt (Thorn Thicket, p. 52).
1960 August 17 - 1961 February. "Hermetic Definition" written (Thorn Thicket, p. 53).
1960 December 27. H.D.in Kusnacht at the Klinik Brunner (Villa Verena); writes to Silvia Dobson;
1961. HELEN IN EGYPT published in New York by Grove Press.
1961 January(/). H.D. receives news of Lionel Durand's death.
1961 April 27 - l961 July. H.D. in Zurich at the Hotel Sonnenberg.
1961 May 1. Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson; explains that the owner of Villa Verena, Kusnacht, had sold the property and everyone had to move--thought they had until August to resettle but a couple of days later it was learned that they had to be out by the end od April; describes Hotel Sonnenberg as being on the hills and not at lake level; H.D. was moved there last Thursday [April 27]; says that the food is much better but that H.D. only has a room and a bath with a bit of flat balcony; says that other occupants had a very difficult time with relocating: "Most of them were old ladies of eighty and over and we had one attempted suicide because they were so distressed at having to move from their rooms where they had been, some of them almost twenty years" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 689).
1961 May 17. Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson; is staying with H.D. for three days to see how she is getting on; will return to Kenwin on the 19th; (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 690).
1961 May l8. H.D. at the Hotel Sonnenberg, 98 Aurorastrasse, Zurich; writes to Silvia Dobson (dictated to Bryher but signed by H.D.); has been there approximately three weeks; the Hotel is located on the side of a beautiful hill looking down into Zurichh; refers to the idea of going to Charleston, South Carolina the following winter (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 688).
1961 June 6. H.D. has stroke; "at first she was completely paralyzed on the right side but by evening the use of her hand and leg came back to her but it has affected her speech" {Bryher wrote this to Norah Dobson, August 4, l961} (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 693).
1961 June 14. ~ Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson; tells Silvia of H.D.'s heart attack: "Fortunately I had just come to Zurich when she had a bad heart attack and had to be moved to to the Roten Kreuz Spital, Zurich, a week ago. She had already consulted a heart specialist a couple of days previously and he rushed round and prevented serious damage. He insists that she remains in the hospital, writes nothing and rests for at least another three weeks, it may be the altitude at the Sonnenberg is too high, but he wants to send her for the summer to a place where there is a resident doctor ... The specialist said that organically her heart is sound, it was over doing it with packing and the great shock of having to move so suddenly from Kusnacht."; Perdita was sent for and has been there a week but is leaving the next day; RUAN to be published in England in July (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 691).
1961 August 4. ~ Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson; has been to Zurich and stayed a week with H.D.: "Physically she is better than she has been for years and she even walks more easily. On the other hand, the speech has not yet made much progress and we have had some difficulties because the hospital will not keep her any longer, saying she is not a hospital case any more, and it is very difficult to find a nursing home that takes these stroke cases. However her very good doctor has found one and she will be moved there shortly with her own nurse. They will then begin with physiootherapy, and her doctor is quite convinced that within six months to a a year she will be quite herself again. Meantime it is very difficult as although we know she understands most of what we say, she can only reply in one or two words and she has not yet enough strength to write anything on a pad. Curiously enough, she can manage her crutches (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 692). Bryher also writes to Norah Dobson; "Physically she is very much better, the strange thing is she seems to walk more easily but they say that is the effect of the anticoagulant drugs. The trouble is, until she can get the muscles working near the throat and lips she cannot say more than a few words" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 693).
1961 September 15. Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson; "When I was last here Hilda was so much better that she was going out twice a day in the park in a wheel chair. Then both her doctors went on holiday and she got gastric flu. When I arrived five days ago, I did not think she could last the night, it had been five days since she had kept down any food. I made a fuss and they began giving her injections and she is a tiny bit better but dreadfully weak. Her own doctor returns next week and I pray and hope that they may be able to get her strength up so that she may be flown to a very nice home that has been found near New Haven, where her friends the Pearsons could visit her and it is not too far away from Perdita, but I don't know whether she will recover enough for the joutney though by jet it is only seven hours. I simply dont trust them here unless I am all the time on the spot to control and that means I cant do my own work. Her mind is as active as ever, but she cannot read, write, nor speak yet"; Bryher also tells Silvia that if possible she has to go back to Kenwin the following day but "her own doctor whom I can trust is back on Monday" and she will be back in a few days (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 696-697).
1961 September 10. Bryher reads to H.D. (in a subconscious state) Eric Walter White's poem TRIBUTE TO H.D. (ON HER 75TH BIRTHDAY) which is subsequently privately printed at the Baynard Press.
1961 September 25. Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson from Kenwin; is going to Zurich on the weekend; "The situation at present with her [H.D.] is this - she lost tremendous ground with the attack of gastric flu. She is only now beginning to pull round again, I think however that we may be able to get her transferred within the next few months to an extremely nice home that they have found near New Haven where her friends the Pearsons can get to her regularly. It is a place where they only take elderly people or a few cases of people who have had strokes, like she has had. The situation in Europe is so difficult that I shall be much more relieved in mind if she is with her friends. It will be so difficult to move her in a hurry" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 698).
1961 September 27. H.D. dies in the Klinik Hirslanden in Zurich.
1961 October l. Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson from Kenwin; "The doctor rang me up last Wednesday night to tell me that Hilda had died in her sleep that evening at seven o'clock. He had seen her at five, she had the usual heart injection and as usual, dozed off after it. The nurse noticed her breathing, called the hospital physician but while he was looking at her, she died without recovering consciousness. She will be cremated tomorrow at Zurich. THen the ashes will be flown to Bethlehem, Pa. and then Perdita, her brothers, and other relatives can all be present when they are buried in the family grave. Although I shall miss her terribly, I do feel it is merciful. She was losing strength all the time and her mind got sharper and clearer and she minded the frustrations so dreadfully and towards the end could hardly take any food" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 699).
1961 October 2. H.D. supposedly cremated in Zurich (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 699).
NOTE: Rev. Jamie Parsley writes: "According to information I culled from the Nisky Hill Cemetery records, H.D. WAS cremated on October 2, 1961 in 'the crematorium of the city of Zurich.'" --Ed., June 26, 2005
1961 October 11. Bryher writes to Silvia Dobson from Kenwin; agrees that H.D.'s death was merciful-- "We had wanted to move her for two reasons, the one political because should anything happen over Berlin we are front line here and know it, (the Swiss call the western politicians cowardly swine and say that it all stems from their refusal to act when the German troops crossed the Rhine in the thirties) and from the fact that had Hilda remained as she was in August, the hospital could not have have kept her, wanting the room for urgent cases and we should have had to move her into a Swiss home with only one person talking English, very bad for her attempts to regain her speech. The whole thing was forced on us but we had not told Hilda that we might have to move her. Her doctor has now written to me that he knew after mid August that it was only a question of weeks" (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 700).
1961 October 14. Richard Aldington writes to Harry T. Moore: "Catha arrived and we drove to Zurich, where H.D.'s friend put us up at the very comfortabke Hotel Glockenhof--which has Bibles in the bedrooms, the first time I ever saw that outside the US. At the last minute the two specialists only allowed C. to visit H.D. --I suspect she didn't want her former husband to see her in that state. Catha reported `Hilda looks very sick.' There was nothing we could do, so we returned (by car) to Sury ... On the morning of the 27th Sept. H.D. received and looked over an advance copy of her `Helen' poem, sent by Pearson and was pleased and interested. She died that night and was cremated on the 2nd Oct. (anniversary of her wedding!) [LHS comment: Aldington was mistaken here--they were married October 18] in Zurich. The ashes will be flown home, and will be placed beside her parents in Bethlehem, Pa. She had been just fifty years in Europe (quoted in Harry T, Moore's memoir of Aldington published in RICHARD ALDINGTON: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT (Carbondale : Southern Ilinois Press, 1965), p. 102).
[1961 October 28. Note: The Rev. Jamie Parsley writes: "On October 28, 1961, her ashes were buried in the C.L. Doolittle Lot #53, Section D in Nisky Hill Cemetery." --Ed., June 26, 2005]
1961 Fall. "H.D. by Marianne Moore" published in the BRYN MAWR ALUMNAE BULLETIN.
1961 November 11. Alice B. Toklas writes to John Schaffner; has heard from Sylvia Beach of H.D.'s death; comments: "It is impossible to believe in Bryher without H.D."; recalls that H.D. and Bryher came to the rue de Fleurus years ago and also that Bryher had her, Gertrude Stein and Thornton Wilder to lunch at Burier la Tour (Toklas, STAYING ON ALONE, p. 406).
1962. THE HEART TO ARTEMIS; A WRITER'S MEMOIRS by Bryher published by Harcourt, Brace, & World.
1962. Perdita meets Ezra Pound (as described in "Merano 1962").
1962 October 6. Sylvia Beach is found dead, apparantly of a heart attack (THE VERY RICH HOURS OF ADRIENNE MONNIER, p. 65).
1963 February. Charles Melvin Doolittle dies (Wolle. A MORAVIAN HERITAGE, p. 38).
1965. "Death of Martin Presser" published in the QUARTERLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE.
1965 October. Ivy Compton-Burnett helps Hester Marsden-Smedley to arrange a memorial reading at the Poetry Society as a tribute to H.D.; Bryher attends, flying over from Switzerland (Sprigge, E. Life of Ivy Compton Burnett, p. 165)
1968. Harold Doolittle dies
1973. THE WALLS DO NOT FALL, TRIBUTE TO THE ANGELS, and THE FLOWERING OF THE ROD brought together under title TRILOGY, edited by Norman Holmes Pearson and published by New Directions.
1974. TRIBUTE TO FREUD reissued in Boston by David Godine with a forward by Norman Holmes Pearson and an introduction by Kenneth Fields.
1976. Selections from "The Mystery" published in Eric Walter White's IMAGES OF H.D. (London, Enitharmon Press).
1979. END TO TORMENT: A MEMOIR OF EZRA POUND edited by Norman Holmes Pearson with Michael King published by New Directions in New York.
1981. "Her" published by New Directions with title HERMIONE
.1982. THE GIFT published by New Directions in an edited version. Includes "Unless a Bomb Falls ..." by Perdita Schaffner.
1982. NOTES ON THOUGHT AND VISION & THE WISE SAPPHO published by City Lights Books in San Francisco.
1982. "Vale Ave" published in NEW DIRECTIONS IN POETRY AND PROSE.
1983. BID ME TO LIVE reissued by Black Swan Books (Redding Ridge, Ct.) with an afterword by Perdita Schaffner, "A Profound Animal."
1983. H.D. COLLECTED POEMS 1912-1944, edited by Louis L. Martz, published by New Directions.
*1983 January 28. Bryher dies [according to Silvia Dobson; LHS to check].
1986. NIGHTS reissued by New Directions with an introduction by Perdita Schaffner.
1986 September 10 - l986 November 16. H.D.: A LIFE OBSERVED [exhibition held in New Haven at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in honor of the 100th anniversary of H.D.'s birth].
*****************************************************************Misc info to be incorporated when possible
Lady Ellermann's birthday: January 3.
Richard Aldington's visit to Kusnacht (five meetings with H.D.) Summer l959 (Cf. Thorn thicket).
"Death of Martin Presser" written after THE GIFT (Thorn Thicket, p. 35).
Loophole to watch for: Guest apparently, according to Silvia Dobson (p. 226), says that Walter and Melitta Schmideberg followed H.D. to Kenwin in the Autumn or Winter of 1938; Silvia says that their first visit to Kenwin was in the Summer of 1939.
Silvia Dobson has placed a letter dated September 10 in l954, written from the Hotel de la Paix, Lausanne, which indicates that H.D. may have left Lugano briefly for dental check up ; has just received German translation of BY AVON RIVER (Dobson. Notes [unpubl.], p. 647).
Margaret Snively Pratt born January 6 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpul.]).
Muriel Snively born February l8 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpul.]).
Ethelyn Snively Crosby born March 1 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpul.]).
Doris Leslie born March 9 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpul.]).
Dr. S. Snively born June 10 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
Alfred Doolittle born June 14 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
Matilda Wells Palmer born August 14 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
De Forest Snively born August l8 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
Gretchen Wolle Baker born August 23 ,A Moravian Heritage can be checked for year] (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
Clara Macpherson (mother of Kenneth Macpherson) born September 14 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
John Macpherson (father of Kenneth Macpherson) born October 21 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
Sara Doolittle (Wife of Eric Doolittle) born November 12 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
Lillian Jenkins born November 21 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
Mundell Doolittle born December 5 (entry in Helen Wolle Doolittle's birthday book in H.D.'s handwriting. (Pearson. Biog. notes file [unpubl.]).
Walter Schmideberg's birthday: April 5 ("Compassionate Friendship", p. 73)