William Empson: Among the Mandarins

734 Pages·2009·12.47 MB·English

by  John Haffenden

WILLIAM EMPSON was the foremost English literary critic of his
generation and a poet of fascinating intensity and virtuosity. If his career
as a poet was sadly shortlived the poems themselves sent out shockwaves
fromtheirepicentrethatinfluencedagenerationandstillregisterasnewto
readerstoday.Empsonwasindeedamanofhugeenergyandcuriosity.A
genuine eccentric, he remained imperturbable in the face of all the
extraordinary circumstances in which he found himself. The discovery of
contraceptivesinhispossessionbyabedmakerledtohisbeingrobbedofa
promised Fellowship and his expulsion from Cambridge University. Yet
Seven Types of Ambiguity, drafted while he was still an undergraduate,
promptly brought him worldwide fame.
Empson invented modern literary criticism in English. He acted too as a
culturalfifth-columnist,challengingreceiveddoctrineinlifeandliterature.
‘It is a very good thing for a poet ... to be saying something which is
consideredveryshockingatthetime,’hemaintained.‘Tobecomemorally
independent of one’s formative society ... is the grandest theme of all
literature, because it is the only means of moral progress.’
Hispubliclifetookhimthroughmanyofthemajorpoliticaleventsofthe
modernworld—theriseofimperialisminJapan,theSino-Japanesewarin
China, wartime propaganda for the BBC, and the Chinese civil war and
Communist takeover of Peking in 1949. His friends and critical sparring
partners included I. A. Richards, Kathleen Raine, J. B. S. Haldane,
Humphrey Jennings, George Orwell, Robert Lowell, Dylan Thomas,
Stephen Spender, Helen Gardner, and T. S. Eliot.
‘It is of great importance now that writers should try to keep a certain
world-mindedness,’heinsisted.‘Withouttheliteraturesyoucannothavea
sense of history, and history is like the balancing-pole of the tightrope-
walker ... ;andnowadaysweverymuchneed thelongerbalancing-pole
of not national but world history.’ His passionate world-mindedness, and
his humanism, combativeness, and wit, are fully in evidence in this, the
first of two volumes exploring his remarkable life and work.
John Haffenden is Professor of English Literature at the University of
Sheffield. His published books include the two-volume definitive biog-
raphy of Empson, as well as The Life of John Berryman; W. H. Auden: The
Critical Heritage; Viewpoints: Poets in Conversation; and Novelists in Interview. He
haseditedBerryman’sShakespeareandseveralcollectionsofworksbyWilliam
Empson including Complete Poems and Selected Letters. He is a Fellow of the
British Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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W I L L I A M
E M P S O N
AMONG THE
MANDARINS
JOHN HAFFENDEN
1
3
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ihave incurred many debts while researching this biography, in Great
Britain, the USA, China, and Japan. The task began, in some sort, as
early as 1982, when I plucked up the courage to ask Sir William Empson
whether he proposed to write his memoirs. ‘Possibly, possibly,’ he
responded. ‘Er, do you really think you will?’ I pressed on (I had spent
many weeks nerving myself to this moment). ‘Oh, probably not,’ he
granted. ‘Then would you mind if I begin to gather materials towards a
biography...?’(LaterIwoulddiscoveralettertohisfriendandpublisher
Ian Parsons, written long before I asked my impertinent question—on
16 January 1973—in which he anticipated, though with little enthusiasm,
the far-oV time when his life’s work might be polished oV and he could
beginonanautobiography:‘WhenIampastanythingelsemaybeIwillbe
abletodictatemymemoirs.’)Idon’trecallwhetheritwasthatdayorona
later occasion that he Wnally gave me his permission, which essentially
consisted of a handwritten note requesting librarians and others to make
availabletomeanylettersorotherpapersintheircontrol.Idoremember
asking him further, ‘Perhaps you’d like to read my biography of John
Berryman?’‘Oh,I’vereaditalready,’hepromptlycameout.‘Ireaditwith
great interest and admiration...The only trouble is, these Americans
seem to have kept all their letters and diaries. I haven’t.’ The last was
saidwithapalpablenoteofglee.SometimeafterhisdeathIwastoldhe’d
onceexpressedtheviewthathisbiographywasnow‘insafehands’,which
Ithinkhastobetakenasoneofhismoreaccomplishedandperhapsmost
mischievous ambiguities.
One other exchange of which I have a vivid memory is when I temer-
ariously(Iwasbraverinthosedays)askedhimwhether—giventhatIhad
undertakentoresearchhislifeevenwhilehewasstillalive—hewantedany
ground rules: whether I should draw short of investigating his private life
(I did not then realize that even the Empsons’ private life tended to be
vi Acknowledgements
conducted in a rather public fashion). He was not much given to eye
contact—he could often look hooded or abstracted, or roll his eyes over
the ceiling while he considered a matter; or else he would appear to be
directinghisvoiceintothefurofthegingercat,calledjust‘Cat’,thatsaton
his lap—but on this occasion he looked me suddenly straight in the eye.
‘Ground rules? Certainly not! Just get on with it.’
Ithankhimforhisfaith;sotooHetta,LadyEmpson,forsustainingthat
unconditionaltrustovertheyears,andthroughmanyamusingandsome-
timesunnervingvisitstoherhomeatStudioHouseinHampstead.Likeso
many biographers, I resolved at an early stage to try to avoid putting
myselfintotoogreatadebttomysubjectandhisfamily,incasetheidealof
disinterested scholarship should somehow be compromised in conse-
quence. However, after quite a while—at a period when I was visiting
Hampstead about once a month to spend a day or so going over some of
the papers that Empson did happily leave stockpiled in his den—one
evening proved to be so lavish with alcohol that I was almost incapable
of making my way elsewhere for the night. I was bidden to sleep in
William’s bed. Later, while swimming on his bed and skimming through
someofhisnotebooks,Isuddenlyspottedonthedeskatall,buV-coloured
carton. Indulging the biographer’s besetting nosiness, and somehow as-
suming in my grossly fuddled state that this mysterious package must
contain something special like a bottle of malt whisky, I proceeded to
pull up the tab, only to discover, with something approaching a galvanic
shock, a label bearing the name ‘william empson’. Worse still, at that
precisemoment,thedoorXewopenandHettaEmpson’sarmXashedout
toseizethevesselfromme.‘Whateverelseyoudo,you’renotsleepingwith
William!’she pronounced like a Wildean dowager. It turned out that she
had forgotten for many weeks to collect his ashes from the crematorium:
onlyonthatdayhadshefulWlledthatduty;andonlyinthesmallhoursdid
shethinkthatImightnotwishtospendthenightwithmysubjectinquite
such a state.
I am grateful to the Empson family for their long patience, their
friendliness, and their tremendous hospitality, and for continuing to en-
trustmewiththistaskafterthedeathofHettaEmpson:primarily,Moga-
dor Empson and Jacob Empson, and their wives; Simon Duval Smith,
Saul Empson, Benjamin Empson, James Empson, the late Charles Emp-
son, the late Sir Charles Empson, and the late Lady (Monica) Empson.
I am indebted to the British Academy for a Research Readership in
1989–91, and for a later grant-in-aid; and no less to the Arts Council of
GreatBritain,theSocietyofAuthors,andtheResearchFundofSheYeld
Acknowledgements vii
University for awards towards the costs of my research over the years.
I simply could not have progressed with the job without such help.
Many libraries and other organizations and institutions have been
equally generous in aVording me accommodation, or in providing re-
search facilities of one sort or another. I am eager Wrst of all to thank the
HoughtonLibrary,HarvardUniversity(custodiansince1986oftheEmp-
son Papers), and in particular Leslie Morris (Curator of Manuscripts),
RodneyG.Dennis(formerCurator),andElizabethA.Falsey(whounder-
tooktheawesomejobofpreparinganinventoryofthepapers).Iamdeeply
grateful too to the authorities of Peking University, Peking, who kindly
hosted my initial visit in 1984; the British Embassy, Peking (Alan Maley,
First Secretary, Cultural Section, British Embassy, and Martin Davidson;
David Marler, Cultural Counsellor, British Council Representative in
China); the British Council, London (Angela Udall, Leigh Gibson, Spe-
cialist Tours Department; Martin Carney; Adrian Johnson, Cultural
Counsellor and British Council Representative, Peking); the British
Embassy Cultural Department, the British Council, Tokyo (Katsumi
Higashida);BBCWrittenArchivesCentre,Caversham,Reading(Jacque-
line Kavanagh, Written Archives OYcer; Gwyniver Jones, Assistant-in-
Charge, Enquiries; John Jordan, Enquiry Assistant); Beinecke Library,
Yale University; British Film Institute; Department of Manuscripts, The
British Library; Butler Library, Columbia University (Bernard Crystal,
Librarian for Rare Books and Manuscripts; Kenneth A. Lohf, former
Librarian); Chalmers Memorial Library, Kenyon College (Thomas B.
Greenslade, College Archivist); Chatto & Windus; School Library, Eton
College(M.C.Meredith);DistrictProbateRegistry,York;Embassyofthe
People’s Republic of China (Ji Chaozhu, Ambassador; Chen Huaizhi,
Cultural Department); Exeter University Library (Alistair Patterson);
GooleLibrary;HaileyburyCollege;HarryRansomHumanitiesResearch
Center, University of Texas at Austin (Ellen S. Dunlap, Research Librar-
ian;CathyHenderson,ResearchAssociate);HumbersideCountyRecord
OYce, Beverley; King’s College, Cambridge (Dr Michael Halls, former
archivist); the Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Magdalen College,
Oxford; Magdalene College, Cambridge; Mills Memorial Library,
McMaster University (Carl Spadoni, Research Collections Librarian);
theNationalArchives,Washington,DC(KathieNicastro);Library/Infor-
mation Service, National Sound Archive, British Library (Lee Taylor);
Newnham College Library, Cambridge; Registrar of the Roll, Newnham
College; North Yorkshire County Library, York; Princeton University
Library (Jean F. Preston, Curator of Manuscripts); the Public Record
viii Acknowledgements
OYce, London; Reading University Library (Michael Bott); Rockefeller
ArchiveCentre,Tarrytown,NewYork;StJohn’sCollege,Oxford;School
ofOrientialandAfricanStudies,London;theSocietyofAuthors;theSouth
ChinaMorningPost;TrinityCollege,Cambridge;theLibrary,Universityof
Victoria, Canada (Chris Petter, University Archivist and Head of Special
Collections); Victoria & Albert Museum Archives; Wilson Library, Uni-
versityofMinnesota;WinchesterCollege(DrRogerCustance,Archivist);
WrenLibrary,TrinityCollege,Cambridge(DrDavidMcKitterick);York-
shire County Archives, Beverley; and Yunnan Normal University, Kun-
ming (which generously invited me to attend the celebrations in October
1988markingtheWftiethanniversaryoftheSouthwestAssociatedUniver-
sity).
IndividualswhohavemostkindlyaVordedmeinformation,adviceand
assistance in various capacities include Professor Peter Alexander, A.
Alvarez, Sir Michael and Lady Atiyah, Dr Charles Aylmer, Professor
Bao Zhi-yi, Jonathan Barker, Sebastian Barker, Robert J. Bertholf (Cur-
ator,ThePoetry/RareBooksCollection,StateUniversityofNewYorkat
BuValo), Andrew Best, the late Professor Bian Zhi Lin, the late Professor
Max Black, Dr Sidney Bolt, the late Ronald Bottrall, Mrs Margaret
Bottrall, Gordon Bowker, the late Professor Muriel Bradbrook, Baroness
Brigstocke, Mrs J. J. Brodrick, Sally Brown, the late Arthur Calder-
Marshall, James Campbell, Professor John Carey, Professor Owen
Chadwick,ChangChu-Tse(whogenerouslyundertooktobemycicerone
inthecityofKunminginthespringof1984),ProfessorChaoChao-hsiung,
Diana Chardin, Igor ChroustchoV, Chien Chung-shu, Ci Ji-wei, Patrick
Clapham, Dr Colin Clark, Dr John Constable, the late Alistair Cooke,
ArthurCooper,LauraPietersCordy,CliveW.Cornell(W.HeVer&Sons
Ltd), Sir Hugh Cortazzi, Jenny Cowan, Mrs C. Cruickshank (Archivist,
Faber & Faber), Peter Currie, Dr Gordon Daniels, the late Hugh Sykes
Davies, Professor Frank Day, the late Lord Devlin, Professor Martin
Dodsworth,L. K. DuV, the late Elsie Duncan-Jones, Professor Katherine
Duncan-Jones, Professor Svetlana Rimsky-Korsakov Dyer, H. J. Easter-
ling,ProfessorRichardEberhart,MrsValerieEliot,thelateD.J.Enright,
Feng Cun-li, the late Professor Feng You-lan, the late Professor
C.P.Fitzgerald,DrChrisFletcher,ProfessorValerieFlint,DrShirleyFoster,
D.C.R.Francombe,MrsPaddyFraser,MrsRintaroFukuhara,Professor
David Fuller, John Fuller, Milla Gapanovich, Helen Gardner (Society
of Authors), Margaret Gardiner, Professor Stephen Garrett, Kathleen
Gibberd, the late Roma Gill, Reginald Goodchild, Adrian Goodman,
Professor W. Terrence Gordon, T. W. Graham, Professor Gayle Greene,
Acknowledgements ix
DrEricGriYths,RuthGunstone,DrMichaelHalls,thelateIanHamilton,
JasonHarding,ClaireHarman,SelinaHastings,thelateProfessorChris-
topher Hawkes, Professor David Hawkes, the late Sir William Hayter,
GeoVrey Hazelden, Professor He Zhao-wu, Christopher Heywood,
Andrew and Geraldine Hillier, Charles Hobday, Professor Philip Hobs-
baum, Anthony Hobson, Theodore Hofmann, Dr Eric Homberger, the
late Michael Hope, the late Professor Graham Hough, Hsu¨ Yuan-chung,
ProfessorHuangMing-yie,ProfessorHuangZhong-hua,AllegraHuston,
Professor Kazuo Irie, Professor Yukio Irie, Professor John Israel, Kevin
Jackson, Mark Jacobs, Lord Jay, Elizabeth Jenkins, Dr Nicholas Jenkins,
Mary-LouJennings,JiChaozhu,ProfessorJinDi,ProfessorJinFa-xin,the
late Professor Jin Yue Lin, James Joll, the late John Henry (David) Jones,
Professor Kai Yuzuru, Professor Ryuichi Kajiki, Kang Hong-qiu, Paul
Keegan, Anne Kelly, Professor Richard J. Kelly, Professor Sir Frank
Kermode,GraceMargerieKey,thelateDavidKidd,Rev.H.P.Kingdon,
Robert Lazarus, the late Sir Desmond Lee, the late Lady Lee, Dr E. S.
Leedham-Green, the late Professor Peter Levi, the late Professor Li Fu-
ning, Professor Li Zhiwei, H. Lintott, the late Lord Listowel, Professor
JamesJ.Y.Liu,MrsLiuRuoduan,LiuYuanZi,DrRichardLuckett,Jim
McCue,AnneMcDermid,thelateDrEricMackerness,thelateProfessor
Ian MacKillop, Lachlan Mackinnon, Mrs Miriam MacIver, Alan and
Robin Maclean, the late Professor Charles Madge, Dr D. H. Marrian,
thelateJeremyMaule,ProfessorGiorgioMelchiori,M.C.Meredith,Mrs
Sybil Meredith, M. F. Micklethwait, Seitoku Minagawa (Division of
Administrative AVairs, University of Tsukuba), Mineo Moriya (The Rising
Generation),SirJeremyMorse,MarjorieMosby,ProfessorAndrewMotion,
ProfessorShigehisaNarita,StellaMaryNewton,YoshioNakano,Professor
Christopher Norris, Professor Kazuo Ogawa, Sumie Okada, Timothy
O’Sullivan, A. E. B. Owen, Dr Barbara Ozieblo, Maggie Fitzgerald, the
lateIanParsons,LucyPascocello(RightsandPermissionsManager,Har-
court Brace & Company), Mrs Peng Jing-fu, Peng Wen-lan, Dr Seamus
Perry, David M. Petherbridge (General Manager, Ardsley Moat House,
Barnsley),DrDavidPirie,DrKatePrice,EdwinPritchard,QiSheng-qiao,
QienXuexi,QuanHui-sien,thelateSirPeterQuennell,DrE.A.Radice,
Craig Raine, the late Dr Kathleen Raine, Peter Robinson, the late
Theodore Redpath, the late Dorothea Richards, Professor Christopher
Ricks, Susan Rieger, Professor Andrew Roberts, Professor Neil Roberts,
LisaA.Rodensky,DerekRoper,SachiyoRound,thelateDrA.L.Rowse,
Professor John Paul Russo, Ray Ryan, the late Dr George Rylands,
JamesSabben-Clare,LeoSalingar,JohnSaxby,ProfessorEitaroSayama,