The Complete Prose of T. S. Eliot: The Critical EditionVol. 6: The War Years, 1940-1946

Preface to The Testament of Immortality, ed. N.G. [Nagendranath Gangulee]

London: Faber & Faber, 1940. Pp. 280; Preface 9-10. ¹

To those who, like myself, take pleasure in anthologies, it is a satisfaction to observe that there can be no such thing as a final anthology on any subject. Every anthology represents a particular period of taste and a particular temperament. Furthermore, we are happy to remember that there are several possible kinds of anthology, and every anthology is to be judged and enjoyed in its own kind. There is first, of course, the collection which aims at including all the best specimens of prose or verse of their species; but which, nevertheless, if they are to win the affection of the anthology-lover, must be given a sort of unity which derives, not simply from the subject-matter, but also from the temperament and personal taste of the selector. There is, again, the anthology with a more particular purpose, consisting of passages compiled to illustrate and bring home to the public, a particular mood, passion or intellectual tendency in literary history. There is a third kind, more purely personal in inspiration, but which can, in happy instances, give pleasure to many who do not know the author. This kind has more of the nature of a commonplace-book; compiled in a leisurely way in the course of reading, for the future refreshment and solace of the compiler himself: and to this kind the present book belongs. There are other ways of classifying anthologies, which any reader can call to mind; but I only mention several varieties in order to elicit the special place of such an anthology as this Testament of Immortality.

The anonymous author of this book – for the compiler of a collection the unity of which is given by such personal feelings, may well deserve the title of “author” – put it together gradually with no other purpose than consolation for himself after the untimely death of a beloved son. ² After a time he showed the manuscript to friends, who felt, as I do, that the author’s feeling gives the collection a unity and strength such that it might well serve a similar purpose for others. ³ The facts that the reading is so various, that it includes, for any reader, many passages hitherto unknown, that besides many pieces which are known to all, and less known passages from authors known to all, there are others which here appear with a dignity 130which would probably have escaped us if we had come upon them in any other mood than that of our anthologist, combine to form a book which I believe should have, among anthologies, a place of its own. And the perceptive reader will be struck not least by the fusion of Eastern and Western culture in the anthologist’s mind and heart.

t. s. eliot