Chris Ackerley

“Delite in Swynes Draf”: Husks and Lees, Sugarbeet Pulp and Roses in Samuel Beckett's “Draff”

This essay argues that “Draff,” the final story of , by taking its title from the of Thomas a Kempis, relates the latters metaphor of the fallen angels delighting in empty husks of grain to the wider literary tradition and also to Becketts own writings, all mashed with apparent coarse disregard for tonal unity. This constitutes both a critique of that literary tradition and a new way of handling in art the traumatic impact of the recent deaths of Peggy Sinclair and Becketts own father. The seeming casualness of style works by indirection to achieve a new aesthetic that is both satisfying swill and an unexpected reconciliation of sorrow.