Emily Hale

Letter archive Hale was a friend of the Princeton University English professor, Willard Thorp, and his wife Margaret Farrand Thorp. The letters included information about the evolving relationship between Hale and Eliot, and in some cases contradicted established published sources.

The number of letters, by year, are as follows:

Posthumous statement

In a surprise to scholars, Eliot's estate simultaneously issued a written statement by him to be opened on the release of Hale's letters. Eliot's statement said that he "never had any sexual relations with Emily Hale," and it appeared to reject the notion that Hale was his muse: "Emily Hale would have killed the poet in me; Vivienne nearly was the death of me, but she kept the poet alive".

However, some commentators immediately contrasted Eliot's statement with some of the early releases of his letters which state, "You have made me perfectly happy: that is, happier than I have ever been in my life", and they speculated that Eliot's harsh statement might have been written at the instigation of his second wife, Valerie Eliot. Others believe it may have been a reaction to his unhappiness with Hale's decision to archive his letters for future release. After an initial review of the letters, Eliot scholar Frances Dickey told The Washington Post that "he basically confesses his love for Emily Hale and tells her that she's the great love of his life", and "that he's been writing for her all of these years, and he even names the places in his poetry where he has paid tribute to her or honored her in some way". Eliot biographer Lyndall Gordon told PBS News that the contents of the letters far exceeded Dickey and Gordon's expectations. "Eliot was very emotional and very explicit about how much he loved her and how important she was to his work". Gordon also added, "Eliot lays it all bare. That's striking, in part, because for a long time, it was 'unfashionable' to think of Eliot as a confessional poet". He highlighted passages of works that Eliot told Hale she had inspired, including The Waste Land.