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On 1 Jan 1943 TSE wrote to George Orwell that he was annoyed with himself “at having accepted another invitation, from somebody starting a society for boosting Virgil.” The invitation came from the Rev. Bruno Scott James (1906-84), founder of the Virgil Society, who called a mid-Jan organizational meeting that included TSE; historian Douglas Woodruff (1897-1978), editor of The Tablet; Robert Speaight; and Miss E. C. Gedge of Westfield College, University of London. TSE was assigned the task of writing an advertisement leaflet for distribution to potential members, with input from Woodruff. On 10 Apr, with no response from Woodruff after repeated reminders, TSE sent the following draft to James, writing: “Solely in response to your goading I send you the enclosed notes. . . . I did not know quite what note to strike, or at what length to strike it. I didn’t want to say anything about what the Society is going to do, because we don’t know; I wanted to attract the right people and not the wrong; and I did not want to allow room for any suspicion that the Society had any ulterior axe to grind, yet wished to indicate that it has a function. All this is very difficult, and what I have said may not be suitable at all.” On 21 Apr TSE wrote to James, “I am glad that you like my draft but I also find on my return a draft from Douglas Woodruff which is in some respects better than mine as it is more straightforward in suggesting points which were intentionally left implicit in mine. It might be better if I studied this and tried to incorporate the best features of both.” TSE then collaborated with Woodruff on a jointly authored text ( 6.814), which was published with a letter from the Society in the TLSof 18 Dec 1943 ( 6.812). The governing Council elected TSE the Society’s first president for 1943-44.

It is not unusual for announcements of the foundation of a new society to begin with the words “why another society?” and then proceed to answer their own question. But this announcement is addressed to those, whoever they may be, and whatever their other vocations and beliefs, who love the poetry of Virgil; and we do not believe that lovers of Virgil need any persuasion to join a society designed to foster the devotion to that poet. The common bond already exists, though the persons united by it are largely unknown to each other.

The Virgil Society is initiated under the auspices of the Classical Association; 1 but a society founded to honour a particular poet has not the same tasks as one concerned with the whole of a language, a literature and a civilisation. Scholarship, for instance, is not a necessary qualification: among our members there will be many who keep up their communication with the poet with the aid of a translation. Indeed, those who are born Virgilians, and who recognise themselves as such, even though they have never enjoyed the full experience of the great music of the Latin verse, are equally welcome.

To the rest of the world, this will be merely another society like many already in existence, which bring together the admirers of some one poet, ancient or modern. But to the true Virgilian – to whom these words are addressed – however much he loves other poetry, and even if he concedes a higher place, in one respect or another, to some other poet – the foundation of a Virgil Society will have a special significance. For the Virgilian, Virgil is not only one of the world’s greatest poets, but a symbol. His peculiar genius, and the circumstances of his time, place and language, make him the representative European poet as no other is. He also belongs to every European literature in its own tradition; he also belongs to each one of us with the particularity of a person and an event in our own private life. What he symbolises...

Published By:   Faber & Faber logo    Johns Hopkins University Press

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