Aunt Helen
Aunt Helen
Original Text
T. S. Eliot, Prufrock and Other Observations (London: The Egoist, 1917): 33. E546 P784 1917 Fisher Rare Book Library. Donald Gallup, T. S. Eliot: A Bibliography (London: Faber and Faber, 1969): A1.
1Miss Helen Slingsby was my maiden aunt,
2And lived in a small house near a fashionable square
3Cared for by servants to the number of four.
4Now when she died there was silence in heaven
5And silence at her end of the street.
6The shutters were drawn and the undertaker wiped his feet --
7He was aware that this sort of thing had occurred before.
8The dogs were handsomely provided for,
9But shortly afterwards the parrot died too.
11And the footman sat upon the dining-table
12Holding the second housemaid on his knees --
13Who had always been so careful while her mistress lived.
Notes
10] Dresden clock: a town in Saxony that manufactures clocks with white porcelain ornaments or figurines. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1915
Publication Notes
Published in Poetry (October 1915)
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
Rhyme
Special Copyright
© T.S. Eliot and Faber and Faber Ltd 1974