Edith Sitwell as letter writer: Reading the letters to Siegfried Sassoon

Papers on Language and Literature, Winter 1995 by Rand, Thomas

Edith Sitwell's letters are marked by her high spirited wit and energy. She had a particularly keen eye for humorous stories and a knack for seeing the amusing side of disagreeable events. As her one time literary agent, David Higham, observed, "the mere anticipation of the story she would found on an experience ... made it more than tolerable" (102). One of the sometimes disagreeable results of her public prominence was the stream of letters she received from a huge collection of fans, aspiring writers, and various cranks, pests, and bores. Her letters to Sassoon are full of stories of the perils of public life, not least of which was answering her mail. She could be especially amusing when she wrote at the expense of her enemies, as in the following story she related to Siegfried Sassoon in a letter written May 18, 1929:

I have unfortunately hurt the feelings of the Jaeger Company(5), and have had from them a letter remonstrating with me most seriously, for comparing the works of Mr. D. H. Lawrence with theirs, in my lecture at Manchester:

The Jaeger Company

Dear madame, we have received a cutting from a paper this morning which refers to a lecture on modern poetry given by you in Manchester recently. It states: 'Miss Sitwell described some modern poets as follows: "Mr. D. H. Lawrence. Leader of the 'Jaeger School,' his efforts are only hairy and unmuscular."

It would appear from this that the reference to his efforts as being 'hairy and unmuscular' are connected with his being a leader of the 'Jaeger School' and I suggest, whether this is so or not, that the use of our name, with obvious lack of knowledge of the facts, is unfair. If you had paid a recent visit to one of our retail places and made a statement after a careful and full examination of all we sell, it might be a little more difficult to comment, but I think I am right in saying that no such examination has been made.

Will you kindly visit 352-54 Oxford Street, and send a report, for publication if suitable, of your genuine opinion.

Yours faithfully The Jaeger Co. Ltd. A. F. Tomalin Director

Aghast at having inadvertently hurt their feelings, I replied.

Dear Sir, Thank you for your kind letter remonstrating with me for comparing Mr. Jaeger's works with those of Mr. D. H. Lawrence. I can well understand that you would feel deeply hurt and vexed if you were not in full possession of the true facts of the case.--My dear Sir, no disrespect to Mr. Jaeger was meant, since I spend the inclement winters to which our climate exposes us, clasped in the warm embrace of those garments for which Mr. Jaeger is responsible. Mr. Jaeger's works are unshrinkable by time; Mr. Lawrence's, in my opinion, are not, therefore I offer my most sincere regret at having, (led away by the soft, hot, and woolly quality of both articles,) compared them. I am sending this correspondence to the Manchester papers, so that justice may be done.

(And I did).(6)

But even so, the Jaeger Company is not quite soothed. "The matter" (they tell me) "has been erased from our records owing to my courteous expression of regret." But, they must point out, though they are soft and woolly, they are never hot, for (unlike Mr. Lawrence, although they did not mention his name at that moment) they are cool in summer owing to their "slow conductivity."