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Narrative Poems
Lewis often said that his favorite form of literary expression was the narrative poem, although he appears to have written just four, all of which are collected here. They exhibit the romantic aspects of his temperament and reveal his deep love for medieval and Renaissance poetry. Edited and with a Preface by Walter Hooper.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
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About the author
C.S. Lewis
1,014 books47.6k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]
Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
December 12, 2016
Predictably, I liked his Launcelot fragment most (from the Grail quest). The Queen of Drum, written before 1938, was notable for the takeover of a medieval kingdom by a fascist (called 'Führer' and 'Duce'), which put me in mind of TH White's Arthurian-with-added-WWII. Come to that, Lewis has scattered a few epic similes from the WWI front, in his fantasy settings. The Nameless Isle was medieval-styled in alliterative verse, however was like an exercise. Dymer, 80 of these pages, was a bit abstract-philosophical for me, but still nicely written. I'd agree with the collector of these poems that the Queen of Drum is his most obvious success, deft and felt.
I wish he had practiced more narrative poetry, in fashion or not.
I wish he had practiced more narrative poetry, in fashion or not.
December 12, 2023
Will have to revisit. I found much of this a struggle.
February 5, 2023
I'm a bit of a brute when it comes to poetry. I like poetry, but I'm usually a poor reader of it. Narrative poems, however, I've had a greater appreciation for, and these I really enjoyed. Dymer I loved for its dream-like and abstract qualities. This is perhaps the sort of story I'd like to write, if I had time or skill. It's dark and cynical -- dating back to Lewis' pre-conversion days. The Queen of Drum is a riveting story full of mystery. My favorite, I think, was The Nameless Isle. I'm a sucker for alliteration. I didn't much care for Launcelot, but that could be because I'm not familiar enough with the source material.
December 9, 2020
king of some of the best prose, not king of the best plotlines. suffice to say, i was a tad bored.
but very grateful for my friend gifting this for christmas last year! we all know i have a thing for lewis and tolkien and it was such a thoughtful gift.
also i plan on using a lot of the imagery/prose in it as inspiration for my writing! so that's a success :)
-book hugger
but very grateful for my friend gifting this for christmas last year! we all know i have a thing for lewis and tolkien and it was such a thoughtful gift.
also i plan on using a lot of the imagery/prose in it as inspiration for my writing! so that's a success :)
-book hugger
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March 6, 2021With poetry, it's pretty easy to not pick up on things, and when you're reading long poems in which the plot builds on itself (i.e. narrative poems) not picking up on things can cause issues for the overall experience. I had a lot of that going on with this one.
I think I got the most out of "Dymer", the first poem in the collection. It was interesting to see Lewis already referring to our present worldy experience as "the shadow-lands of earth" at a stage in which he still regarded belief in a higher reality to be mere deception. I didn't quite follow all the twists and turns of the main character's philosophical development, but I was struck by the overarching clash between his desire for fulfilment ("For earth must hold / One rich thing sealed as Dymer's from of old") and an insurmountable sense of meaninglessness ("Earth is a sinking ship, a house whose wall / Is tottering while you sweep; the roof will fall").
I think I got the most out of "Dymer", the first poem in the collection. It was interesting to see Lewis already referring to our present worldy experience as "the shadow-lands of earth" at a stage in which he still regarded belief in a higher reality to be mere deception. I didn't quite follow all the twists and turns of the main character's philosophical development, but I was struck by the overarching clash between his desire for fulfilment ("For earth must hold / One rich thing sealed as Dymer's from of old") and an insurmountable sense of meaninglessness ("Earth is a sinking ship, a house whose wall / Is tottering while you sweep; the roof will fall").
May 8, 2025
C.S. Lewis’ Narrative Poems comprises four different poems: one of which was published during his lifetime, Dymer, while the other three, Launcelot, The Nameless Isle, and The Queen of Drum were not. The one that stood out to me was The Nameless Isle because it seemed very similar to The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe where there is a charming but evil queen who claims rulership of the magical land the main character arrives at, and the actual ruler who is wise and knows what the evil queen is trying to do.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars because, even though it’s C.S. Lewis, it took me a bit to understand what he was trying to say, if he was saying anything at all. I was surprised at the increase in religious references throughout the book, though. There were references to Isaiah in Dymer, the Exodus story in The Nameless Isle, and mentions a church a lot in The Queen of Drum. I would not recommend this book to children because some scenes could be called “suggestive,” but I would recommend this book to those who like C.S. Lewis or narrative poems.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars because, even though it’s C.S. Lewis, it took me a bit to understand what he was trying to say, if he was saying anything at all. I was surprised at the increase in religious references throughout the book, though. There were references to Isaiah in Dymer, the Exodus story in The Nameless Isle, and mentions a church a lot in The Queen of Drum. I would not recommend this book to children because some scenes could be called “suggestive,” but I would recommend this book to those who like C.S. Lewis or narrative poems.
March 8, 2019
On the whole, these poems are most of interest for tracking Lewis's philosophical and religious development over time. There are also some interesting choices in the style/meter, including a passage or two inching up on sprung rhythm, which kept voices and events fresh and distinguishable.
The last poem, "The Queen of Drum," was by far my favorite. It poses questions and concerns that I find to be as relevant today as they would've been in the early 1930s when it was likely written. There are no definitive answers; you must make up your own mind just as the titular Queen.
The last poem, "The Queen of Drum," was by far my favorite. It poses questions and concerns that I find to be as relevant today as they would've been in the early 1930s when it was likely written. There are no definitive answers; you must make up your own mind just as the titular Queen.
June 5, 2020
There are 4 long poems. Lancelot frankly was not good. The Nameless Isle was OK. Dymer was a good pre-christian poem and a good read. The best was clearly, the Queen of the Drum. Supposedly written by 1938, it is an attack on Fascism and a satire of current Europe. Honestly, long narrative poems are not my cup of tea. Hence, the rating.
June 23, 2011
Lewis actually wrote a narrative poem backed on Wagner's Ring Cycle when he was 15? *shakes head* Marry me, Clive Staples.
Sadly, ultimately the narrative poetry by Lewis, while good, was nowhere near as good as his prose. It's somewhat reassuring that not even Lewis can do everything well, I suppose.
Sadly, ultimately the narrative poetry by Lewis, while good, was nowhere near as good as his prose. It's somewhat reassuring that not even Lewis can do everything well, I suppose.
August 14, 2019
I will confess that narrative poetry is not precisely my cup of tea. I've enjoyed it in fits and starts since high school (with most of those fits occurring in college, when I had to read it for classes).
Lewis's four poems were, overall, quite lovely. The language wasn't so obscure and antiquated that they were a struggle to read, but they certainly benefited from a slow, deliberate reading. A quick read will earn you the basic plot, a slower read the unfolding of the beauty of his poetry. I wasn't able to give all of them the slow reading they deserve, but hope to return to the book sometime after the Year of CS Lewis is finished.
These poems certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, but they're worth a try for fans of Lewis or of narrative poetry.
Lewis's four poems were, overall, quite lovely. The language wasn't so obscure and antiquated that they were a struggle to read, but they certainly benefited from a slow, deliberate reading. A quick read will earn you the basic plot, a slower read the unfolding of the beauty of his poetry. I wasn't able to give all of them the slow reading they deserve, but hope to return to the book sometime after the Year of CS Lewis is finished.
These poems certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, but they're worth a try for fans of Lewis or of narrative poetry.
June 24, 2025
"Then up he climbed and rode again, and from his breath/The dust was cleared, and from his mind the thought of death/And in the country of ruin and rags he came so far/That over the grey moorland, like a shining star/He sees a valley, emerald with grass, and gleam/Of water, under branches, from a winding stream/A respite in the wilderness, a pleasant place/Struck with the sun.../And Launcelot throws his mail'd hood back, and liquid love/Wells in his heart" - Launcelot by C.S. Lewis
Unfortunately, this is one of the poems that Lewis never finished. A true shame because the world he painted made me long to stay forever. He may not have thought himself a poet, but, even with all his poetic flaws, he did have a way with words.
Unfortunately, this is one of the poems that Lewis never finished. A true shame because the world he painted made me long to stay forever. He may not have thought himself a poet, but, even with all his poetic flaws, he did have a way with words.
October 10, 2021
These obscure works in verse by C.S. Lewis are surprisingly rewarding, with the exception of "Dymer", which is a tangled muddle of confusion.
The other three long poems are all worth reading, and "The Queen of Drum" particularly is as good as anything else Lewis ever wrote, featuring all the magic and humor of the Narnia stories while being something quite different in tone, style, and execution.
This is a book I'll certainly be re-reading in the near future, something that seems to be true of the other works by Lewis that I've read to date: he's one of those writers that is always worth re-visiting, and three of his four narrative poems live up to that high standard.
The other three long poems are all worth reading, and "The Queen of Drum" particularly is as good as anything else Lewis ever wrote, featuring all the magic and humor of the Narnia stories while being something quite different in tone, style, and execution.
This is a book I'll certainly be re-reading in the near future, something that seems to be true of the other works by Lewis that I've read to date: he's one of those writers that is always worth re-visiting, and three of his four narrative poems live up to that high standard.
December 27, 2020
I read this book for Dymer, the only included work that was published before CS Lewis passed. It was part of a larger undertaking of reading his letters and other pre Christian work.
Having read the letters, I had good context for how important Dymer was to Lewis in 1926. So I appreciated the element.
I am not well read enough poetically to speak well to the caliber of Dymer, but I found it to be insightful and interesting in my study of CS Lewis more than the piece on its own.
Having read the letters, I had good context for how important Dymer was to Lewis in 1926. So I appreciated the element.
I am not well read enough poetically to speak well to the caliber of Dymer, but I found it to be insightful and interesting in my study of CS Lewis more than the piece on its own.
March 20, 2024
Drawing on his passion for Renaissance literature, C.S. Lewis brings to life four poems of grandiose myth and imagery, tales of man coming against the powers of faeries and gods and exploring how humanity grapples with freedom, faith and death. Lewis will captivate readers with these beautiful stories of intriguing theme and prose, their smooth rhythms and enchanting language sure to keep one mesmerized. How close can one come to the supernatural before one loses themselves?
February 4, 2025
Queen of the Drum!!!
While I did not care an iota for the rest of the book, the longish poem The Queen of the Drum is first rate, and almost pictured alternatively a Queen Guinevere escaping an usurping Mordred. I disagree with the criticism leveled at the poem about the archbishop’s martyrdom taking away from the poem. I think it contrasts beautifully with the Queen’s awakening into the land of fay.
While I did not care an iota for the rest of the book, the longish poem The Queen of the Drum is first rate, and almost pictured alternatively a Queen Guinevere escaping an usurping Mordred. I disagree with the criticism leveled at the poem about the archbishop’s martyrdom taking away from the poem. I think it contrasts beautifully with the Queen’s awakening into the land of fay.
July 9, 2023
It is long, but it has some merit of narration. It can be hard to follow the flow if the poetry as the narration goes on. I was not sure of places where the same narration was actually continuing. This is definitely for those who have a scholarly interest in the writing and craftsmanship of Lewis.
December 2, 2024
It was interesting to see one of my favorite Christian authors writing poetry. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of the narrative poem structure. Still, an interesting read about how societies adapt to change.
Recommended for Lewis fans and anyone who enjoys poetic verse.
Find it. Buy it. Read it!
Recommended for Lewis fans and anyone who enjoys poetic verse.
Find it. Buy it. Read it!
October 20, 2021
The creativity and mastery of language of C.S. Lewis are here, but little of the wisdom from above that characterizes his later writings. The stories the poems tell are easy to follow, and do deal with moral issues seriously. All but the last poem date to his pre-Christian years.
March 22, 2023
Lewis's four classic narrative poems: "Dymer," "Launcelot," "The Nameless Isle," "The Queen of Drum." These poems are beautiful and well worth the time needed to work through them. Fans of Lewis should not miss his foray into poetry. A Reader's Corner Highly Recommended Read.
August 26, 2025
This book is nothing crazy. Some good poetry in here but the narrative poems in the middle get hard to follow if you put the book down for a while. I enjoyed reading this but I’d rather poems be more philosophical than narrative so just mainly preference. However, C.S. Lewis is always good.
July 16, 2019
Brilliant!
November 8, 2019
Enjoyable, but I prefer his prose.
March 20, 2022
2.5 stars
April 12, 2022
I love other work by CS Lewis but I did not enjoy this volume of poetry. I really wanted to like it. But alas it was not to be.
June 13, 2022
Sheer beauty
March 23, 2023
This little collection of Lewis' poetry was very odd, but I enjoyed the poems, especially the delightfully bizarre "Dymer."
February 26, 2024
3 and ½ stars. Not what I expected, but still decent. Most interesting part for me was the intro with the backstories and history.
January 25, 2023
Back last century, I bought a copy of this book, read a page or two and promptly put it aside with the thought, "Stick to something other than poetry, Mr Lewis." So the book stayed on my shelves for several years, unread, while I read and re-read The Chronicles of Narnia and other works, both fantasy and theological.
Then, one day, in attempting to unravel the reasons for the unpleasant directions of life, I happened to be talking to my sister about some nightmares of my childhood. We discovered that we'd shared much the same horrible themes and, in an unwise moment, I promised her I'd uncover what her dream of a tsunami as high as heaven meant. Now, these were the days before Google and, as I recall, my favourite search engine was called Northern Light. It had the wonderful facility of sorting your queries into categories: mythology, literature, geography, history and so on. Made it so much easier to check for likely answers. I threw all the symbolism from one dream into a search and came up with lots of answers, including some poems by an author I'd never heard of: Clive Hamilton. I threw all the symbolism from another nightmare into a search and came up with a whole new set of answers, but once again there were some poems by Clive Hamilton. When this happened the third time, I decided to look for more information on Clive Hamilton. It did not seem entirely coincidental that we shared the same surname. "Clive Hamilton" turned out to be a pseudonym of CS Lewis.
Hmmm... I thought. And I went to check my bookshelves. This time I stuck it out beyond the first few pages. Dymer was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. There are four identities in it that I would now characterise as "threshold guardians" and I instantly recognised them all (even before I knew what a "threshold guardian" was.) Not only that, but I recognised the name "Bran" and also the description of the dark shape he likened to "Ephesian Artemis". (That must be an instinctive thing because I had done the same.) The one thing Lewis revealed in this poem that I hadn't realised in all my childhood nightmares was that Bran follows after you to undo the good that you do. That was a massive and rewarding revelation.
All the foregoing remarks are by way of saying that I think Lewis is attempting to describe spiritual realities (I was tempted to say "verities" but that gives the impression that they might be true without being real) that are shared by people who have the same name and heritage - but are certainly not exclusive to any Hamiltons who happen to trace their family background to Ulster in Northern Ireland.
This edition includes the preface to the 1950 edition and, in it, Lewis remarks that in Canto VII of Dymer he was cutting down his own former groves and high places and biting the hand that fed him. This, he belatedly realised, was not repentance but simply spitting on the images that his own understanding had elevated into idols.
Canto VII is about magic and a magician. It clearly took a long time for Lewis to come to realise he hadn't repented of the occult attraction of his youth. Rejection is not repentance. Rejection is thrusting something away from yourself, it is not turning away from it and removing yourself from its sphere of influence. He speaks of coming to the conviction that magic or spiritism was the worst of all illusions and also witnessing the descent of a person he loved into screaming mania and death under the influence of spiritualism. This led to the antipathy he tried to put into this Canto. (p5)
Having said all that, however, rejection can be a steppingstone on the path to repentance.
The Persian poets draw a distinction between poetry which they have 'found' and the poetry which they have 'brought': if you like, between the given and the invented, though they wisely refuse to identify this with the distinction between good and bad. (p3)
The dark mother (p31) who is able to appear in every doorway and who is likened to Ephesian Artemis (p28) is also called a "watcher in the door" (p29) - harking back to the buried figures called "watchers" placed under doorways to protect homes in ancient Mesopotamia and the Middle East. The fear of dying on the threshold is expressed. (p30) The dark mother "besets the dream-way and the soul's escape." (p58)
Bran was a hunchback with red hair. (p40)
Dymer is revealed to have begotten the walker-in-the-night. (p84)
The last threshold guardian is depicted as an angel. (p88) Lewis, fortunately, points out that this is not meant in any Christian sense. Because this was another nightmare-identity I immediately recognised from the description and was horrified it had been given angelic status.
Artemis is mentioned - this time as a helper - in The Queen of Drum (p154).
Then, one day, in attempting to unravel the reasons for the unpleasant directions of life, I happened to be talking to my sister about some nightmares of my childhood. We discovered that we'd shared much the same horrible themes and, in an unwise moment, I promised her I'd uncover what her dream of a tsunami as high as heaven meant. Now, these were the days before Google and, as I recall, my favourite search engine was called Northern Light. It had the wonderful facility of sorting your queries into categories: mythology, literature, geography, history and so on. Made it so much easier to check for likely answers. I threw all the symbolism from one dream into a search and came up with lots of answers, including some poems by an author I'd never heard of: Clive Hamilton. I threw all the symbolism from another nightmare into a search and came up with a whole new set of answers, but once again there were some poems by Clive Hamilton. When this happened the third time, I decided to look for more information on Clive Hamilton. It did not seem entirely coincidental that we shared the same surname. "Clive Hamilton" turned out to be a pseudonym of CS Lewis.
Hmmm... I thought. And I went to check my bookshelves. This time I stuck it out beyond the first few pages. Dymer was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. There are four identities in it that I would now characterise as "threshold guardians" and I instantly recognised them all (even before I knew what a "threshold guardian" was.) Not only that, but I recognised the name "Bran" and also the description of the dark shape he likened to "Ephesian Artemis". (That must be an instinctive thing because I had done the same.) The one thing Lewis revealed in this poem that I hadn't realised in all my childhood nightmares was that Bran follows after you to undo the good that you do. That was a massive and rewarding revelation.
All the foregoing remarks are by way of saying that I think Lewis is attempting to describe spiritual realities (I was tempted to say "verities" but that gives the impression that they might be true without being real) that are shared by people who have the same name and heritage - but are certainly not exclusive to any Hamiltons who happen to trace their family background to Ulster in Northern Ireland.
This edition includes the preface to the 1950 edition and, in it, Lewis remarks that in Canto VII of Dymer he was cutting down his own former groves and high places and biting the hand that fed him. This, he belatedly realised, was not repentance but simply spitting on the images that his own understanding had elevated into idols.
Canto VII is about magic and a magician. It clearly took a long time for Lewis to come to realise he hadn't repented of the occult attraction of his youth. Rejection is not repentance. Rejection is thrusting something away from yourself, it is not turning away from it and removing yourself from its sphere of influence. He speaks of coming to the conviction that magic or spiritism was the worst of all illusions and also witnessing the descent of a person he loved into screaming mania and death under the influence of spiritualism. This led to the antipathy he tried to put into this Canto. (p5)
Having said all that, however, rejection can be a steppingstone on the path to repentance.
The Persian poets draw a distinction between poetry which they have 'found' and the poetry which they have 'brought': if you like, between the given and the invented, though they wisely refuse to identify this with the distinction between good and bad. (p3)
The dark mother (p31) who is able to appear in every doorway and who is likened to Ephesian Artemis (p28) is also called a "watcher in the door" (p29) - harking back to the buried figures called "watchers" placed under doorways to protect homes in ancient Mesopotamia and the Middle East. The fear of dying on the threshold is expressed. (p30) The dark mother "besets the dream-way and the soul's escape." (p58)
Bran was a hunchback with red hair. (p40)
Dymer is revealed to have begotten the walker-in-the-night. (p84)
The last threshold guardian is depicted as an angel. (p88) Lewis, fortunately, points out that this is not meant in any Christian sense. Because this was another nightmare-identity I immediately recognised from the description and was horrified it had been given angelic status.
Artemis is mentioned - this time as a helper - in The Queen of Drum (p154).
December 23, 2020
As a long time fan of Lewis, it was delightful to get to finally read his poetry. A great collection, spanning different periods of his life. I'm always a sucker for longer, narrative poems in general, but especially ones that deal with larger themes as Lewis does. Looking at some of the other reviews for this book, I can't help but disagree with much of what's in them, but I'll primarily mention the two longest poems. The Queen of Drum was very good (and please ignore all reviews that see WW or fascism as a primary theme; if you've read much of Lewis you know this simply isn't true. He cared to write about faery, myth, and God--not WW allegories) but I believe Dymer is his best. Dymer, though long by modern standards, flowed well and handled what are always tricky and subtle faery themes wonderfully. It was a full story on its own, which stands it apart from the others in the collection. Broad and heavy philosophical considerations in a floating faery theme, which sometimes gave me a Wonderland flavor. All around great book.
February 12, 2016
I was least impressed by "Dymer" (the only poem in this volume published in Lewis' lifetime), though it is valuable in terms of showing Lewis' spiritual development and self-exorcism of his "Christina dreams." "Launcelot" begins promisingly, but suffers a good deal from being incomplete. "The Nameless Isle" is fun for having some precursors of the ending of Perelandra and Narnia's White Witch. Easily the most entertaining poem is "The Queen of Drum," managing to be clever, theological/political, and sinister.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews