Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis. Lewis, C.S. The Collected Poems of C.S. Lewis. Ed. Walter Hooper. London: Fount Publications [HarperCollins Publishers], 1994. 263 pp. ISBN 0-00-627833-7. Reviewed by Nancy-Lou Patterson. [This review originally appeared as “Athens, Troy, Jerusalem” in Mythlore 20.4 (#78) (1995): 60.] The latest product of the Editor’s ceaseless industry, this volume includes the entire contents of Lewis’s Poems (1964), Spirits in Bondage (1919), and A Miscelleny of additional poems (copyrighted 1986 and 1994) of which (as was the case with the first edition of the works in the 1964 volume), many have been published before but not collected, and some appear in print for the first time. And will, of course, be welcome to readers of Lewis, whether they have already managed to acquire Poems or Spirits in Bondage or not. In addition to the poems, there are not only Hooper’s original introduction to Poems (1964) but a new Introduction by him, discussing the contents of all three sections including the Miscellany, and—deliciously sharp-tongued—an “Introductory Letter” (1963) by Lewis himself, which was, Hooper says, to have accompanied “a volume to be called Young King Cole, and Other Pieces” (xvi). Readers may recall that Lewis also wrote four long poems, of which only the first was published in his lifetime: Dymer (1926), Launcelot , the Nameless Isle , and The Queen of Drum . The four were published with a Preface by the editor Walter Hooper, as Narrative Poems (1969), and this has been published again as a companion volume without apparent revisions under the same title, in the same format and date as The Collected Poems of C.S, Lewis , that is, in 1994. Whether we will eventually see more poems by Lewis previously published but not yet collected, or not yet published, only Walter Hooper knows, but I suspect that if there are any out there we will! Now, to the Poems (1994). Lewis scholars, including Joe R. Christopher, have discussed Lewis’s poetry to very useful effect, and I won’t presume to improve upon their efforts. He was a good poet, if not a great one, and he knew it. In his witty (if fundamentally defensive) “Introductory Letter,” Lewis writes, “It is of course just possible that some one critic who reads this … may be concerned not at all with me as a person or a type and degree of my failure or success” (xxi). A daunting challenge, and one I haven’t the hubris to undertake, except to say that all the poems, including those in the Miscellany, are competent. Many are memorable (ditto), And some are wonderful, But few, at least for me, reach the level of Lewis’s greatest prose, where in line after line, wonder flashes through mind and body, coursing along the veins like lightening. I will quote, in spite of this, some lines that have afforded this stab of wonder to me. From the Poems , I would select (among others, of course), “A Confession,” which concludes: …peacocks, honey, the Great Wall, Aldeberan, Silver weirs, new-cut grass, wave on the beach, hard gem, The shape of horse and woman; Athens, Troy Jerusalem. (15) From Spirits in Bondage , I would chose these lines from “Death in Battle”: a Country of Dreams! Beyond the tide of the ocean, hidden and sunk away, Out of the sound of battles, near to the end of day, Full of dim woods and streams, (223) And from the Miscellany , the astonishing “Findlay Avenue” (circa 1950), which expresses, more personally than in anything Lewis ever wrote elsewhere, that odd combination of sensitivity toward, and separation from, women, despite his close, almost life-long contact with them, that Lewis only finally overcame in his late marriage which was, though he did not know it when he wrote this poem, soon to befall him: What do they do? Their families have all gone hence, Grow up. The whole long avenue exhales the sense. Of absent husbands, housework done, uncounted hours … Almost an eerie rashness to possess a wife. And house that go with living with their different life. For ever inaccessible to us, all day; (251-52) Hooper sensitively closes this volume with the next and last poem, the Epitaph Lewis composed for, and caused to be carved upon, the tombstone of Helen Joy Davidman Lewis. This edition, despite its rash of typos, serves a very useful function, in making Lewis’s poetry available to readers in the 1990s, and it certainly recommended. The Making of C. S. Lewis: From Atheist to Apologist. At the end of World War I, young C. S. Lewis was a devout atheist about to begin his studies at Oxford. In the three decades that followed, he would establish himself as one of the most influential writers and scholars of modern times, undergoing a radical conversion to Christianity that would transform his life and his work. Scholar Harry Lee Poe unfolds these watershed years in Lewis’s life, offering readers a unique perspective on his conversion, his friendships with well-known Christians such as J. R. R. Tolkien and Dorothy L. Sayers, and his development from an opponent of Christianity to one of its most ardent defenders. Author: Harry Lee Poe (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the Charles Colson University Professor of Faith and Culture at Union University, where he has taught a course on C. S. Lewis for over fifteen years. He is the author of The Inklings of Oxford and C. S. Lewis Remembered , as well as numerous articles. Poe hosts regular Inklings Weekend retreats and is a speaker on Lewis at major libraries worldwide. Product Details. Format: Hardcover w/ Jacket Page Count: 400 Size: 5.5 in x 8.5 in Weight: 20.59 ounces ISBN-10: 1-4335-6783-0 ISBN-13: 978-1-4335- 6783-4 ISBN-UPC: 9781433567834 Case Quantity: 10 Published: June 01, 2021. Table of Contents. Chapter 1: Return to Oxford Chapter 2: From Philosophy to Literature Chapter 3: From Undergraduate to Fellow Chapter 4: From Idealist to Christian Chapter 5: From Poet to Scholar Chapter 6: From Scholar to Novelist Chapter 7: From Peace to War Chapter 8: From Academic Work to War Work Chapter 9: From Personal Testimony to Philosophy of Science Chapter 10: From War to Peace. Endorsements. “Detailed and fluent, this second volume of Poe’s trilogy is a triple helix of biography, literary criticism, and spiritual portraiture that will reward any reader, from the generally curious to the experienced Lewis scholar. Poe’s narrative vision of Lewis’s conversion and apologetic commitment, his arguments along the way, and the nuances of his spiritual insights are, respectively, engaging, challenging, and fascinating. Highly recommended.” James Como , author, C. S. Lewis: A Very Short Introduction. “There are few more-erudite scholars of Lewis alive today than Harry Lee Poe. This being so, this long-expected second volume of Poe’s three- part intellectual life of Lewis is most welcome. Taking Lewis’s intellectual journey from his atheist youth to his work as a middle-aged Christian apologist, Poe serves as the perfect guide to his subject’s emergence as one of the most powerful voices in the English-speaking world.” Joseph Pearce , author, Further Up & Further In: Understanding Narnia. “ The Making of C. S. Lewis , a work of careful and detailed scholarship, is distinguished by the close attention Harry Lee Poe pays to Lewis’s reading and, most importantly, to his poetry and his early literary scholarship. Poe's assessment of the importance of The Allegory of Love —not simply as a work of scholarship but as the test bed for Lewis’s emerging theology of the imagination—is most impressive. Poe delineates the important links between Lewis the literary critic and Lewis the Christian thinker. New Lewis readers and seasoned Lewis scholars have much to gain from this thought-provoking book.” Malcolm Guite , Life Fellow, Girton College, Cambridge; author, Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and After Prayer. “With the increasing popularity of C. S. Lewis, the time has come for a more complete biography. This second volume of Harry Lee Poe’s three- volume biography covers all the major events and many previously ignored minor events so that we learn far more about Lewis’s generosity, friendships, writings, life of service, and uproarious sense of humor. Besides all the major people in Lewis’s life, Poe pieces together the influence of all the major people in Lewis’s life, as well as Leo Baker, Janie Moore, A. C. Harwood, Owen Barfield, and numerous others. Anyone who wants to graduate to the full picture of the life of Lewis needs to read this book.” Joel D. Heck , Professor of Theology, Concordia University, Texas; author, From Atheism to Christianity: The Story of C. S. Lewis. “Harry Lee Poe has produced an in-depth sequel to his earlier book Becoming C. S. Lewis . This second volume offers detailed information about Lewis’s early adulthood and examines all the people, ideas, and experiences that influenced his pilgrimage from sharp-tongued atheist to golden- tongued apologist for Christian faith.” David C. Downing , Codirector, Marion E. Wade Center. “While not all pictures are worth a thousand words, The Making of C. S. Lewis paints an image that is clearly worth every bit of its 120,000 words. Taking the reader from just before Lewis’s first published book and stopping five years prior to his Narnia debut, Poe masterfully unfolds details that even those familiar with Lewis might not know.