T. S. Eliot and Russell are both very familiar to Chinese readers, they are poets and philosophers, both have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and their works have a large number of readers and critics in China. However, most readers in China may not know anything about the relationship between the two, and this article will let readers know more about it by interpreting a short poem by Eliot.
Eliot entered Harvard University in 1906 for an undergraduate, received a bachelor's degree in 1909, entered the philosophy department of Harvard University for a master's degree in the same year, received a master's degree the following year and continued to study for a doctorate, in 1913, became a teaching assistant in philosophy, taught undergraduates, traveled to Europe in 1914, and due to the Great War, he failed to return to Harvard University to defend his doctoral dissertation, and as a result, he did not receive a doctorate.
At that time, Harvard's philosophy department was the best philosophical center in the world, and the professors were all the best choices, including William James· George ·Santayana, Josiah· Reuss being the three giants. In the spring of 1914, Russell was invited to give the Lowell lectures in Boston and was briefly a professor of philosophy at Harvard, during which time Eliot became acquainted.
罗素在哈佛开设了一门象征逻辑课（symbolic logic），艾略特是其中的学生之一，给罗素留下了深刻的印象。 罗素后来曾经跟其情人奥托兰·莫雷尔（Lady Ottoline Morrell）说起艾略特：“一个叫艾略特的学生，总是衣冠楚楚、举止优雅。 （One, named Eliot, is very well dressed and polished.）”他在其《自传》中对此有较为详细的记述：
I teach a graduate class of 12 people and usually have tea with me once a week. One of them is T. S. Eliot, who later wrote a poem "Mr. Apollinix", talked about it, and I didn't know at the time that Eliot wrote poetry. I think he had already written "Portrait of a Lady" and "Prufrock's Love Song" by then, but he probably felt that he should not talk about it. He was extremely silent, and only once did he say something that moved me. I praised Heraclitus, who commented, "Yes, he always reminds me of Veron," and I think he said it so well that I wish he had said something else. (The Autobiography of Russell, Vol. 1, pp. 307-308, The Commercial Press, 2004)
Eliot's Viyon (also translated as Veron) was a famous 15th-century France lyric poet who wrote poetry collections such as "Little Last Words" and "Big Last Words". In Eliot's view, Viyon and Heraclitus had similar religious ideas, opposed idolatry and religious rituals, and were somewhat debauched in the world. The poem "Mr. Apollinix" by Eliot, mentioned by Russell, was written around 1917 or later. According to Mr. Huang Guobin, after reading this poem, Russell also admitted that Eliot was alluding to him. (Huang Guobin, "Eliot, the Poet of the Century", Nine Songs Publishing House, 2022 edition, p. 45)
United Kingdom famous writer and biographer ·Peter Ackroyd said in "Eliot" that Russell was the quintessential womanizer. He had an affair with his teacher, Alfred North Whitehead's wife (Russell's wife), and with his student Eliot's wife, Vivien, during his newlywed marriage (1915). Russell invited the newly married Elliot to move into his house, and Elliot accepted. Curiously, Russell had asked Elliot if it would be appropriate for him to live in the same apartment as Vivian in his absence, and Elliot quickly agreed. It's such a strange family combination. Russell had an illicit relationship with Vivian, but Russell did not seem to admit it, and Ackroyd said that Russell "did not appear so candid in his relationship with Vivian." ”（less than frank about his association with Vivien. Peter Ackroyd, T. S. Eliot: A Life, p. 66—67, Simon and Schuster, New York) Russell said in his Autobiography that everything he did was to help the young couple, and that he wanted to help them with their problems, "until I discovered that their troubles were what." they enjoyed.）。 After Vivian fell ill, Elliot gave him meticulous care and attention. But Eliot's "meticulous" care did not make Vivian's condition better. Russell offered to take Vivian on vacation to the seaside resort of Torquay to enjoy the fresh air at his expense, while Elliot continued his teaching career. Eliot was initially unopposed, but later found it naïve to let his wife go out with a notorious woman (so notorious a philanderer), so he joined Vivian a week later (Peter Ackroyd, T. S. Eliot: A Life, p. 68).
Through the analysis of the poem "Mr. Apollineth", Mr. Huang Guobin tells the reader that this poem undoubtedly alludes to the pervert Russell. For the sake of the author's narration and the reader's convenience, I have transcribed the original poem and the translated poem below.
Mr. Apollinax
When Mr. Apollinax visited the United States
His laughter tinkled among the teacups.
I thought of Fragilion, that shy figure among the birch-trees,
And of Priapus in the shrubbery
Gaping at the lady in the swing.
In the palace of Mrs. Phlaccus, at Professor Channing-Cheetah’s
He laughed like an irresponsible fetus.
His laughter was submarine and profound
Like the old man of the sea’s
Hidden under coral islands
Where worried bodies of drowned men drift down in the green silence,
Dropping from finger of surf.
I looked for the head of Mr. Apollinax rolling under a chair.
Or grinning over a screen
With seaweed in its hair.
I heard the beat of centaur’s hoofs over the hard turf
As his dry and passionate talk devoured the afternoon.
“He is a charming man”—“But after all what did he mean?” —
“His pointed ears…. He must be unbalanced,”—
“There was something he said that I might have challenged.”
Of dowager Mrs. Phlaccus, and Professor and Mrs. Cheetah
I remember a slice of lemon, and a bitten macaroon.
(From T. S. Eliot The Complete Poems and Plays 1909—1950 )
Mr. Apollineth
During Mr. Apollineth's visit to the United States
His laughter clanged between the teacups.
I think of Vlagillian, the shy figure among the birches;
Priaps in the bushes is remembered
Staring blankly at the woman on the swing with her mouth open.
In the royal palace of Mrs. Flacus, in the house of Professor Channing · Jetta,
He smiled like an irresponsible fetus.
His laughter is latent in the sea, unfathomable,
Like the laughter of the old man of the sea,
Hidden under a coral island.
There, the torn corpses of the drowned fell from the fingers of the waves,
Drift in the silence of the green.
I searched for Mr. Apollineth's head and rolled under a chair.
Or grinning at a screen,
Seaweed gets tangled in the hair.
When his dry and impassioned speech swallowed up the afternoon,
I heard the sound of strange hooves rolling on the hard grass.
"He's such a lovely man" - "But what does he mean exactly?" ”
"His pointy ears...... He was presumably mentally unstable. ”
"There was something about his speech that I should have refuted at the time."
Lady Flaccus and Professor and Mrs. Jetta,
All I remember is a small slice of lemon, a bite of macaroon.
(Translated by Huang Guobin, excerpt from Eliot, The Poet of the Century, pp. 45-48.) ）
The poem's first sentence begins by saying that Russell went to United States to give lectures, and then begins to describe "the characteristics of lustful ghosts, full of contempt between the lines" (Huang Guobin). Priapus is a character in Greece mythology, the god of sensuality and lust, and the so-called Priapsian works in the West are pornographic, obscene, and carnal works. His statue is of a bearded man dressed in a long coat with large genitals. He "stared at the woman on the swing with his mouth open", he looked obsessed, Russell was lustful, liked to abandon the beginning, and "Russell's Autobiography" wrote in many places how he had inappropriate relationships with married women. "At Professor Channing ·'s house" most likely hints at Professor Whithead, "He laughs like an irresponsible fetus", and "irresponsible" refers to Russell's bad character of seducing married women and abandoning them. Why does the poet use the image of "fetus"? Mr. Huang Guobin's analysis makes sense: Russell's head is particularly large, almost disproportionate to the body, and the most prominent feature of the fetus in the womb is the disproportionate head. The poet also used the "sea monster" as a metaphor for Russell, and used the "unfathomable" to ridicule Russell's mental tricks and the city. "His dry and impassioned speeches engulf the afternoon" is a satire of Russell's long and boring lectures and wasted the audience's precious time. The centaur in "I heard the hooves of centaurs rolling through the hard grass" is also a character from ancient Greece, a persecutor of goddesses and ravages of fishermen on the coast. Here the poet once again emphasizes that Russell is a monster, and his contempt for Russell is at its peak. This is followed by a dialogue in which the poet deliberately allows the reader or listener to evaluate Russell, adding a little "objectivity". "He's so cute" in a mocking tone to illustrate Russell's childishness and ridiculousness; "But what does he mean exactly?" I want to say that Russell's lectures or speeches are often vague and incomprehensible; "His pointy ears...... He was presumably mentally unstable. "I joke about Russell's appearance and think that he is not mentally normal;" There was a point in his speech that I should have refuted at the time. The audience couldn't stand Russell's nonsense and felt that they should challenge him on the spot and refute it. The last two lines may have mentioned the noblewomen and academic dignitaries who were listening to Russell's speech, but they did not add any color to Russell, and Russell's speech was not important at all.
Eliot later came to United Kingdom, where he met and married United Kingdom Vivian in 1915, and Russell did help the Elliots through many of the difficulties in their lives, and their relationship grew closer. According to Eliot's researchers, although the scientific analysis methods, logical methods and linguistic strategies contained in Russell's philosophy provided a good paradigm for Eliot's early critical thinking and laid a certain foundation for Eliot's formation of a meticulous and systematic style of literary criticism, Eliot's super perceptual thinking did not make him a loyal believer in Russell, and he has always maintained a cautious attitude towards Russell's philosophy. (Jiang Hongxin, "T. S. Eliot's Literary Thought Research", People's Literature Publishing House, p. 37, 2021 edition)
Elliot and Vivian's marriage was not happy, and part of the reason why he quickly entered the palace of marriage was to stay in United Kingdom and successfully join the United Kingdom. When Eliot became a United Kingdom citizen in 1917, he told his friends that there was nothing to be nostalgic for in United States. Eliot also mentions several times that the war hastened his marriage. Of course, Elliot and Vivian had a good relationship when they were newly married, and he wrote to a friend that "getting married was the best thing I've ever done." But soon after their marriage, Elliot discovered that the two had very different personalities: Vivian was bold, lively, sensitive, prone to mood swings and even nervous, while Elliot himself was timid, shy, and introverted, and suffered from a congenital inguinal hernia, which limited his athletic ability. What's more, the sex life of the two after marriage is not harmonious, and Vivian alludes to Eliot's sexual disorder, believing that he suffers from misogyny or homosexual tendencies, which is an important reason for Russell's involvement. Although Eliot was deeply ashamed of Russell's knowledge of his affair with Vivian, his relationship with Russell did not break down.
Finally, let's talk about Vivian's unfortunate end. Because of Eliot's asceticism in marriage, his feelings for Vivian appear cold, repulsive, and even disgusting. In 1932, Eliot resolutely separated from Vivian, which directly led to Vivian's mental madness and breakdown; In 1947, Vivian died in a hospital in solitude, ending a pitiful and tragic life.