What do you think?
Rate this book
Poems
A repackaged edition of the revered author’s poetry—a collection of verse that exemplifies and celebrates his breadth of knowledge, his wide-ranging interests, both spiritual and earthly, and his never-ending search to find God and understand the mysteries of the world.
Known for his fiction and philosophical nonfiction, C. S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—was also an accomplished poet. In Poems, Lewis dives deep into a wide range of subjects—from God to nature to love to unicorns—revealing his extensive imagination and sense of wonder.
Known for his fiction and philosophical nonfiction, C. S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—was also an accomplished poet. In Poems, Lewis dives deep into a wide range of subjects—from God to nature to love to unicorns—revealing his extensive imagination and sense of wonder.
139 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1964
300 people are currently reading
2557 people want to read
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]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
February 14, 2017
Read again for the fourth time, and finished in February of 2017.
March 8, 2020
Today I finshed this incredible volume of poems by C.S.Lewis that is edited by Walter Hooper. It was a fascinating read. My favorite particular poem from the volume is called "Prayer." It conveys the terrible fear that prayer is wishful thinking, but ends with an affirmation that it is a mysterious dialogue with The Great Artist who loves humanity with an agape love, and that refuses some prayers and grants some prayers, beyond our finite human comprehension.
I respect and love people who don't believe in prayer or anything divine, but for myself, and people of many different worldviews, it is an amazing gift. I have prayed prayers of panic, anger, despair, petition, adoration,delight, joy, surrender, praise, and joy.
When I look back on my journey of faith and see how some prayers in my life have been answered, I just marvel at the fact that those answered prayers have actually happened in this life.
I respect and love people who don't believe in prayer or anything divine, but for myself, and people of many different worldviews, it is an amazing gift. I have prayed prayers of panic, anger, despair, petition, adoration,delight, joy, surrender, praise, and joy.
When I look back on my journey of faith and see how some prayers in my life have been answered, I just marvel at the fact that those answered prayers have actually happened in this life.
Read
September 15, 2023Echoing Kara - Poetry is not my strong point, but there were quite a few here that I enjoyed.
I understand that Lewis, himself, did not think he was a very good poet, but I suspect he was better than he thought he was.
I understand that Lewis, himself, did not think he was a very good poet, but I suspect he was better than he thought he was.
April 5, 2023
These were delightful! I feel I got to know Lewis in new and different ways through these poems.
August 10, 2017
I was flabbergasted and stunned, by the cheer might and astonishing power this poems contains!!!!
I feel like doors have been wide opened deep inside of me.....
I have been raptured in eerie moods and magically kidnapped in other worlds;
Poems by C. S. Lewis and edited by Walter Hooper is a book full of intense magic!!!!
Yes, magic indeed exists.....
I'm particularly fond that this volume includes "Spirits in Bondage" published 1919.
....the land where I shall never be
The love that I shall never see.....
Amazing, and full deserved five stars!!!!
Dean;)
I feel like doors have been wide opened deep inside of me.....
I have been raptured in eerie moods and magically kidnapped in other worlds;
Poems by C. S. Lewis and edited by Walter Hooper is a book full of intense magic!!!!
Yes, magic indeed exists.....
I'm particularly fond that this volume includes "Spirits in Bondage" published 1919.
....the land where I shall never be
The love that I shall never see.....
Amazing, and full deserved five stars!!!!
Dean;)
February 3, 2020
Lewis is one of my favorite authors, but this book of poetry was a little difficult to get through. Most of the poems are on Greek mythology or classic literature, and if one doesn't have a good knowledge of those topics, one might be completely lost (like I was!). I skimmed several, but towards the end are his more personal poems, ones that stopped me flipping pages and kept me thinking for long after I finished them. If you're a big Lewis fan, too, you'll enjoy seeing a different side of his writing.
May 17, 2017
I love the quote that introduces this book in the Goodreads description:
"This is the best—the glorious best—of Lewis. For here, with the gemlike beauty and hardness that poetry alone can achieve, are his ideas about the nature of things that lay behind his writings."—Christianity Today
I am not (typically) a big fan of poetry. Any poetry. I can't write it and I usually don't appreciate reading it.
But C.S. Lewis is different. I love his poetry. While some of these poems are totally over my head, every now and then I read one that clicked in my mind. "Pan's Purge", for example. I immediately wanted to memorize it. "Reason" is another good one. "The Country of the Blind."
Some of his poems are silly. Some are profound. Quite a few confound me with allusions to things I know nothing about. He writes about angels and nature, love and Dwarfs.
And I love it. I finally get why people appreciate poetry. It is bite size brilliance. Utterly profound but applicable and memorable.
Definitely a new favorite volume
"This is the best—the glorious best—of Lewis. For here, with the gemlike beauty and hardness that poetry alone can achieve, are his ideas about the nature of things that lay behind his writings."—Christianity Today
I am not (typically) a big fan of poetry. Any poetry. I can't write it and I usually don't appreciate reading it.
But C.S. Lewis is different. I love his poetry. While some of these poems are totally over my head, every now and then I read one that clicked in my mind. "Pan's Purge", for example. I immediately wanted to memorize it. "Reason" is another good one. "The Country of the Blind."
Some of his poems are silly. Some are profound. Quite a few confound me with allusions to things I know nothing about. He writes about angels and nature, love and Dwarfs.
And I love it. I finally get why people appreciate poetry. It is bite size brilliance. Utterly profound but applicable and memorable.
Definitely a new favorite volume
March 18, 2023
I'm not a lover of poetry in general and I don't profess to liking absolutely everything that CS Lewis penned. I am trying to expand my exposure to poetry though and wanted to experience Lewis is verse form. It took me awhile to work through this collection. It wasn't my favorite. Out of the entire book, I found three poems which I truly enjoyed.
Chalk this one down as my attempting to broaden my reading horizons and not avoid that which I do not automatically like. Poetry for me is WORK but it is not bad work and I'm not sorry I read these.
Chalk this one down as my attempting to broaden my reading horizons and not avoid that which I do not automatically like. Poetry for me is WORK but it is not bad work and I'm not sorry I read these.
October 17, 2019
Lewis always aspired to be a poet. This was really his first literary love, and although he is far more well-known for his prose works, his passion for poetry shaped the way in which he wrote everything he did.
In this collection of his poems you get a first hand taste of his labors to master the skill of poetry. At points he shines with skill, at others he doesn't scan as masterfully. Sometimes he selects a wonderful theme to gloss upon, and other themes should have simply been passed over. Poetry really is a lost joy in modern society. Sitting for a spell to look at something through the eyes of poetry is really a great blessing. It is worth the trouble and patience of reading a more archaic mode of communication. And of course, it is Lewis, so even when he's at his worst, he's still so good.
In this collection of his poems you get a first hand taste of his labors to master the skill of poetry. At points he shines with skill, at others he doesn't scan as masterfully. Sometimes he selects a wonderful theme to gloss upon, and other themes should have simply been passed over. Poetry really is a lost joy in modern society. Sitting for a spell to look at something through the eyes of poetry is really a great blessing. It is worth the trouble and patience of reading a more archaic mode of communication. And of course, it is Lewis, so even when he's at his worst, he's still so good.
April 23, 2022
THIS IS PURE BEAUTY. every single poem was so well written and spoke to depths of the human soul. the range of subjects and lewis' ability to weave classical allusions with the faith and what it means to be human is so masterful. all the ones focusing on the christian faith will be on my mind for a while and i might show a few to some of my teachers. im even more obsessed with lewis now.
January 3, 2018
These are the themes of Lewis's poems, compiled here by the ever-judicious Walter Hooper: Planets. Classical mythology. Desire for the numinous Island. Nature. Creature comforts. Cancerous modernism. Prayer.
Mythology and Desire
The first third of the compilation is overwhelmingly devoted to classical subjects, especially the planets and the gods they symbolize. Why such an emphasis? Because, to Lewis, "mythology was valuable not because monsters and fairies are literally true, but because they are 'words of a language which speaks the else unspeakable'" (Hooper's introduction).
Also oft-recurring is the motif of pursuing an Island, the principal theme in The Pilgrim's Regress, and Lewis's own favored metaphor for his personal pursuit of Joy. The Island was Lewis's vision of the Real, the ultimate home, the only fulfillment of human desire.
Such lines reinforce similar threads from That Hideous Strength (in references to Atlantis/Numinor), The Great Divorce (the realness of heaven), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the pursuit of Aslan's Country), and The Last Battle (in which the Shadowlands are bade farewell).
Anti-Modernism
Lewis mistrusted and abhorred the contemporary, and the middle part of this collection comprises a critique of the modern. Take for example these lines, saturated not-too-subtly with imagery from Grahame's The Wind in the Willows:
Or note the atypical scorn in his tone when he responds to others' gloomy claim that the world is headed back to Paganism. "If only," Lewis seems to say:
Lewis, increasingly convinced of the dangers of modernism he would summarize in The Abolition of Man, was pessimistic of the future of humanity. In particular, he lamented the modern man's stifled imagination and disregard for language.
Christian Devotion
But the best poems come from late in the collection, where the converted Lewis addresses themes of gentle theology, pride, and the love of God. In Solomon, Lewis addresses the futility of that king's wealth in reversing the Edenic curse:
More devotional, and of more beauty, is his Evensong, where Lewis responds to the objection that prayer is childish and fake, a delusional conversation with an imaginary friend. This poem is worth quoting in its totality:
Technical Skill
Lewis's formal expertise is evident throughout the collection. When he wishes to adhere to a strict rule (rhyming scheme and meter), he does so with apparent ease, never allowing the reader to stumble over awkward or contrived phrases. Observe the particularly tough scheme in "The Birth of Language":
In a four-line verse, it's already impressive when a poet manages to rhyme lines 1 and 3 in addition to 2 and 4. Here Lewis far surpasses that by achieving not one but two strict internal rhymes in both lines 1 and 3, finding delightful pairings such as crims and limbs. This is but one verse out of ten, and Lewis never once deviates from his rule.
Only once in the whole collection did I note a formal error. In the sixth stanza of "The Small Man Orders His Wedding," which follows the same scheme as the previous example, we have the following:
The error is in line 3, where fierce should really happen on the second syllable in order to rhythmically match pierce—a problem easily solved by altering Fiercer than to As fierce as.
Lewis is not at the level of his metaphysical idols (Marvell, Milton, et al), a fact that he admitted with sheepish cheer. But he was a real poet, skilled in both form and expression, able not just to rhyme but to speak through rhyme what could not otherwise be spoken. Conservative evangelicalism, particularly of the popular kind, has nothing to offer by way of comparison, even from Piper. The adulated "The Calvinist" is more Dr. Seuss than poetry, and serves only to show how diminished the potential of Christian poetic expression has become.
Mythology and Desire
The first third of the compilation is overwhelmingly devoted to classical subjects, especially the planets and the gods they symbolize. Why such an emphasis? Because, to Lewis, "mythology was valuable not because monsters and fairies are literally true, but because they are 'words of a language which speaks the else unspeakable'" (Hooper's introduction).
Also oft-recurring is the motif of pursuing an Island, the principal theme in The Pilgrim's Regress, and Lewis's own favored metaphor for his personal pursuit of Joy. The Island was Lewis's vision of the Real, the ultimate home, the only fulfillment of human desire.
In my coracle of verses I will sing of lands unknown,
—Sing about the Hidden Country fresh and full of quiet green,
Sailing over seas uncharted to a port that none has seen.
Such lines reinforce similar threads from That Hideous Strength (in references to Atlantis/Numinor), The Great Divorce (the realness of heaven), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the pursuit of Aslan's Country), and The Last Battle (in which the Shadowlands are bade farewell).
Anti-Modernism
Lewis mistrusted and abhorred the contemporary, and the middle part of this collection comprises a critique of the modern. Take for example these lines, saturated not-too-subtly with imagery from Grahame's The Wind in the Willows:
Do not blame us too much if we that are that hedgerow folk
Cannot swell the rejoicings at this new world you make...
A new scent troubles the air—to you, friendly perhaps—
But we with animal wisdom have understood that smell.
To all our kind its message is Guns, Ferrets, and Traps,
And a Ministry gassing the little holes in which we dwell.
Or note the atypical scorn in his tone when he responds to others' gloomy claim that the world is headed back to Paganism. "If only," Lewis seems to say:
Take as your model the tall women with yellow hair in plaits
Who walked back into burning houses to die with men,
Or him who as the death spear entered into his vitals
Made critical comments on its workmanship and aim.
Are these the Pagans you spoke of?
Know your betters and crouch, dogs.
Lewis, increasingly convinced of the dangers of modernism he would summarize in The Abolition of Man, was pessimistic of the future of humanity. In particular, he lamented the modern man's stifled imagination and disregard for language.
Now I see that, all along, I was assuming a posterity
Of gentle hearts: someone, however distant in the depths of time,
Who could pick up our signal, who could understand a story. There won't be.
Between the new Hominidae and us who are dying, already
There rises a barrier across which no voice can ever carry,
For devils are unmaking language.
Christian Devotion
But the best poems come from late in the collection, where the converted Lewis addresses themes of gentle theology, pride, and the love of God. In Solomon, Lewis addresses the futility of that king's wealth in reversing the Edenic curse:
By adamant will he was seeking the Adamite state,
The flame-like monarchy of Man. But he came late.
He was wrong. It was possible no longer. Among leaves
Bird-shaken, dew-scattering, it would have wakened Eve's
Maiden-cool laughter, could that lady have foretold
All his tragic apparatus—wives, magic, and gold.
More devotional, and of more beauty, is his Evensong, where Lewis responds to the objection that prayer is childish and fake, a delusional conversation with an imaginary friend. This poem is worth quoting in its totality:
Master, they say that when I seem
To be in speech with you,
Since you make no replies, it's all a dream
—One talker aping two.
They are half right, but not as they
Imagine; rather, I
Seek in myself the things I meant to say,
And lo! the wells are dry.
Then, seeing me empty, you forsake
The Listener's role, and through
My dead lips breathe and into utterance wake
The thoughts I never knew.
And thus you neither need reply
Nor can: thus, while we seem
Two talking, thou are One forever, and I
No dreamer, but thy dream.
Technical Skill
Lewis's formal expertise is evident throughout the collection. When he wishes to adhere to a strict rule (rhyming scheme and meter), he does so with apparent ease, never allowing the reader to stumble over awkward or contrived phrases. Observe the particularly tough scheme in "The Birth of Language":
Due west (the Sun's behest so runs)
They seek the wood where flames are trees;
In crimson shade their limbs are laid
Beside the pure quicksilver seas.
In a four-line verse, it's already impressive when a poet manages to rhyme lines 1 and 3 in addition to 2 and 4. Here Lewis far surpasses that by achieving not one but two strict internal rhymes in both lines 1 and 3, finding delightful pairings such as crims and limbs. This is but one verse out of ten, and Lewis never once deviates from his rule.
Only once in the whole collection did I note a formal error. In the sixth stanza of "The Small Man Orders His Wedding," which follows the same scheme as the previous example, we have the following:
What flame before our chamber door
Shines in on love's security?
Fiercer than day, its piercing ray
Pours round us unendurably.
The error is in line 3, where fierce should really happen on the second syllable in order to rhythmically match pierce—a problem easily solved by altering Fiercer than to As fierce as.
Lewis is not at the level of his metaphysical idols (Marvell, Milton, et al), a fact that he admitted with sheepish cheer. But he was a real poet, skilled in both form and expression, able not just to rhyme but to speak through rhyme what could not otherwise be spoken. Conservative evangelicalism, particularly of the popular kind, has nothing to offer by way of comparison, even from Piper. The adulated "The Calvinist" is more Dr. Seuss than poetry, and serves only to show how diminished the potential of Christian poetic expression has become.
January 29, 2021
Poetry is not my strong point, but there were several in here that I enjoyed.
April 30, 2022
Lewis's gift is prose...that said, he covers an impressive range of topics in his writing, whether prose or poetry!
August 11, 2022
Wonderful Evocative poems. So much insight and beauty is contained in this book. I’ll certainly be rereading it multiple times
February 19, 2024
LOVED THESE
February 3, 2020
I’d probably get more out of these at a slower pace and with some commentary, but I vastly prefer Lewis’s prose.
October 6, 2016
I don't often gravitate towards reading poetry. I picked up this particular book because I've read quite a few books by CS Lewis, saw this in a used bookstore, and decided to give it a whirl. I have mixed feelings about the book, partly due to the style and partly due to the format.
Walter Hooper curated this collection, dividing the poems up thematically into five sections: The Hidden Country, The Backward Glance, A Larger World, Further Up & Further In, and A Farewell to Shadow-Lands. Hooper includes an Appendix that indicates when certain poems were published and in which journal or book. While I appreciate the thematic arrangement, I wish that each poem had some context on the page itself; I know it's work (horror of horrors), but it would be helpful to know as I'm reading each poem, when it was printed or written, where it was published, etc. If the poems weren't published earlier, where were they found? Although many of the poems are enjoyable on their own, the lack of context and placement in time is unsettling to me.
The poems themselves have a wide range in terms of topic and style. Some are clearly inspired by mythology and have a high view of Greco-Roman aesthetics. Some of the poems were shocking (such as the phallic imagery in "Prelude to Space"). Some of the poems are hauntingly beautiful, like "Late Summer" that refers to "wasps and weeds and making jam." And some are just boring.
I'm sure there are some who will blindly love all the poems because of CS Lewis' reputation. There will also be some who will take issue with his use of meter and frequent enjambment. Take a measured approach. Remember these poems span decades (or at least, I think they do). And give yourself freedom to skip around if the poem you're on doesn't grab you.
Who should read this poem: poets, readers of poetry, CS Lewis fans
Walter Hooper curated this collection, dividing the poems up thematically into five sections: The Hidden Country, The Backward Glance, A Larger World, Further Up & Further In, and A Farewell to Shadow-Lands. Hooper includes an Appendix that indicates when certain poems were published and in which journal or book. While I appreciate the thematic arrangement, I wish that each poem had some context on the page itself; I know it's work (horror of horrors), but it would be helpful to know as I'm reading each poem, when it was printed or written, where it was published, etc. If the poems weren't published earlier, where were they found? Although many of the poems are enjoyable on their own, the lack of context and placement in time is unsettling to me.
The poems themselves have a wide range in terms of topic and style. Some are clearly inspired by mythology and have a high view of Greco-Roman aesthetics. Some of the poems were shocking (such as the phallic imagery in "Prelude to Space"). Some of the poems are hauntingly beautiful, like "Late Summer" that refers to "wasps and weeds and making jam." And some are just boring.
I'm sure there are some who will blindly love all the poems because of CS Lewis' reputation. There will also be some who will take issue with his use of meter and frequent enjambment. Take a measured approach. Remember these poems span decades (or at least, I think they do). And give yourself freedom to skip around if the poem you're on doesn't grab you.
Who should read this poem: poets, readers of poetry, CS Lewis fans
May 17, 2011
It was not until recently that I found Lewis had written poetry. Being not as well known for it, I did not expect it to be any kind of masterwork, and that was all one needs to remember to enjoy this. The poetry is still very good, but even more enjoyable. There are three things that really stand out to me:
1-Variety: Lewis writes his poetry on many different topics. From mythology to science and religion to philosophy. It was nice to find it well balanced enough that even though there are a couple topics I was not as thrilled with I loved the rest.
2-Humor: Something I rarely ever find is a poem that can actually make me laugh. Lewis has those poems here and there that catch you by surprise, making it impossible to hold in the laughter.
3-Personal: Much of the more personal poems Lewis goes into he keeps on very general terms. This makes it so that just about anyone could feel like it is something they would write. It really made his poetry touch me as strongly as some of my favorite poets.
You may not be so sure if you will enjoy his poetry, but you should try it. It is not a thick book, and there is enough variety that you will probably find something you can enjoy.
1-Variety: Lewis writes his poetry on many different topics. From mythology to science and religion to philosophy. It was nice to find it well balanced enough that even though there are a couple topics I was not as thrilled with I loved the rest.
2-Humor: Something I rarely ever find is a poem that can actually make me laugh. Lewis has those poems here and there that catch you by surprise, making it impossible to hold in the laughter.
3-Personal: Much of the more personal poems Lewis goes into he keeps on very general terms. This makes it so that just about anyone could feel like it is something they would write. It really made his poetry touch me as strongly as some of my favorite poets.
You may not be so sure if you will enjoy his poetry, but you should try it. It is not a thick book, and there is enough variety that you will probably find something you can enjoy.
June 12, 2012
I am reading this book but not in this edition though. It is a very old book without the ISBN number on the back or in the copyright page.
I just finish this book today at the doctor's office. It is Poems by C.S. Lewis. I am not used to read poems though. Some does makes sense and some does make me scratching my head. I found one of the best in his book.
The Nativity
Among the oxen (like an ox I'm slow)
I see a glory in the stable grow
Which, with the ox's dullness might at length
Give me an ox's strength.
Among the asses (stubborn I as they)
I see my Saviour where I looked for hay;
So may my beastlike folly learn at least
The patience of a beast.
Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed)
I watch the manger where my Lord is laid;
Oh that my baa-ing nature would win thence
Some woolly innocence!
I just finish this book today at the doctor's office. It is Poems by C.S. Lewis. I am not used to read poems though. Some does makes sense and some does make me scratching my head. I found one of the best in his book.
The Nativity
Among the oxen (like an ox I'm slow)
I see a glory in the stable grow
Which, with the ox's dullness might at length
Give me an ox's strength.
Among the asses (stubborn I as they)
I see my Saviour where I looked for hay;
So may my beastlike folly learn at least
The patience of a beast.
Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed)
I watch the manger where my Lord is laid;
Oh that my baa-ing nature would win thence
Some woolly innocence!
January 20, 2015
Do you like C.S. Lewis? Like have an unhealthy obsession with him? Like "I'm a recent seminary graduate clinging desperately to comfortable certainty" obsession? Then sure, read this, why not. No one will ever be able to convince you it's not genius.
Do you like poetry? Like, any poetic writing from Beowulf to Tracy K. Smith, Percy Bysse Shelley to Shel Silverstein? PUT THIS BOOK DOWN AND NEVER COME BACK. You're not doing yourself any favors.
Do you like poetry? Like, any poetic writing from Beowulf to Tracy K. Smith, Percy Bysse Shelley to Shel Silverstein? PUT THIS BOOK DOWN AND NEVER COME BACK. You're not doing yourself any favors.
September 26, 2012
While I'm one of the largest C.S. Lewis advocates you will ever meet, even I have to admit his poesy leaves something to be desired. He wasn't the greatest poet, but, you an tell he had fun writing it.
August 18, 2017
I came to this book skeptical and left pretty humbled. These are fantastic.
A few favorites:
- A confession
- The Adam Unparadised
- The Turn of the Tide
- Forbidden Pleasure
- Evensong
A few favorites:
- A confession
- The Adam Unparadised
- The Turn of the Tide
- Forbidden Pleasure
- Evensong
November 22, 2025
As much as it pains me to say this……Lewis’ poetry was, um, not great 😂😂
I do like this one though:
NARNIAN SUITE
1 March for Strings, Kettledrums, and Sixty-Three Dwarfs
With plucking pizzicato and the prattle of the kettledrum
We’re trotting into battle mid a clatter of accoutrement;
Our beards are big as periwigs and trickle with opopanax,
And trinketry and treasure twinkle out on every part of us—
(Scrape! Tap! The fiddle and the kettledrum).
The chuckle-headed humans think we’re only petty poppetry
And all our battle-tackle nothing more than pretty bric-a-brac;
But a little shrub has prickles, and they’ll soon be in a pickle
if A scud of dwarfish archery has crippled all their cavalry—
(Whizz! Twang! The quarrel and the javelin).
And when the tussle thickens we can writhe and wriggle under it;
Then dagger-point’ll tickle ’em, and grab and grip’ll grapple ’em,
And trap and trick’ll trouble ’em and tackle ’em and topple ’em
Till they’re huddled, all be-diddled, in the middle of our caperings—
(Dodge! Jump! The wriggle and the summersault).
When we’ve scattered ’em and peppered ’em with pebbles from our catapults
We’ll turn again in triumph and by crannies and by crevices
Go back to where the capitol and cradle of our people is,
Our forges and our furnaces, the caverns of the earth—
(Gold! Fire! The anvil and the smithying).
2 March for Drum, Trumpet, and Twenty-One Giants
With stumping stride in pomp and pride
We come to thump and floor ye;
We’ll bump your lumpish heads to-day
And tramp your ramparts into clay,
And as we stamp and romp and play
Our trump’ll blow before us— (crescendo)
Oh tramp it, tramp it, tramp it, trumpet,
trumpet blow before us!
We’ll grind and break and bind and take
And plunder ye and pound ye!
With trundled rocks and bludgeon blow, You dunderheads, we’ll dint ye so
You’ll blunder and run blind, as though
By thunder stunned, around us—
By thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder stunned around us!
Ho! tremble town and tumble down
And crumble shield and sabre!
Your kings will mumble and look pale,
Your horses stumble or turn tail,
Your skimble-scamble counsels fail,
So rumble drum belaboured— (diminuendo)
Oh rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble drum belaboured!
And this:
All things (e.g. a camel’s journey through A needle’s eye)
are possible, it’s true.
But picture how the camel feels,
squeezed out In one long bloody thread from tail to snout.
I do like this one though:
NARNIAN SUITE
1 March for Strings, Kettledrums, and Sixty-Three Dwarfs
With plucking pizzicato and the prattle of the kettledrum
We’re trotting into battle mid a clatter of accoutrement;
Our beards are big as periwigs and trickle with opopanax,
And trinketry and treasure twinkle out on every part of us—
(Scrape! Tap! The fiddle and the kettledrum).
The chuckle-headed humans think we’re only petty poppetry
And all our battle-tackle nothing more than pretty bric-a-brac;
But a little shrub has prickles, and they’ll soon be in a pickle
if A scud of dwarfish archery has crippled all their cavalry—
(Whizz! Twang! The quarrel and the javelin).
And when the tussle thickens we can writhe and wriggle under it;
Then dagger-point’ll tickle ’em, and grab and grip’ll grapple ’em,
And trap and trick’ll trouble ’em and tackle ’em and topple ’em
Till they’re huddled, all be-diddled, in the middle of our caperings—
(Dodge! Jump! The wriggle and the summersault).
When we’ve scattered ’em and peppered ’em with pebbles from our catapults
We’ll turn again in triumph and by crannies and by crevices
Go back to where the capitol and cradle of our people is,
Our forges and our furnaces, the caverns of the earth—
(Gold! Fire! The anvil and the smithying).
2 March for Drum, Trumpet, and Twenty-One Giants
With stumping stride in pomp and pride
We come to thump and floor ye;
We’ll bump your lumpish heads to-day
And tramp your ramparts into clay,
And as we stamp and romp and play
Our trump’ll blow before us— (crescendo)
Oh tramp it, tramp it, tramp it, trumpet,
trumpet blow before us!
We’ll grind and break and bind and take
And plunder ye and pound ye!
With trundled rocks and bludgeon blow, You dunderheads, we’ll dint ye so
You’ll blunder and run blind, as though
By thunder stunned, around us—
By thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder stunned around us!
Ho! tremble town and tumble down
And crumble shield and sabre!
Your kings will mumble and look pale,
Your horses stumble or turn tail,
Your skimble-scamble counsels fail,
So rumble drum belaboured— (diminuendo)
Oh rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble drum belaboured!
And this:
All things (e.g. a camel’s journey through A needle’s eye)
are possible, it’s true.
But picture how the camel feels,
squeezed out In one long bloody thread from tail to snout.
July 25, 2025
my favorite poem included:
NEARLY THEY STOOD
Nearly they stood who fall. Themselves, when they look back, See always in the track One torturing spot where all By a possible quick swerve Of will yet unenslaved- BY the infinitesimal twitching of a nerve- Might have been saved.
Nearly they fell who stand. These with cold after-fear Look back and note how near They grazed the Siren's land, Wondering to think that fate, By threads so spidery-fine, The choice of ways so small, the event sO great, Should thus entwine.
Therefore I sometimes fear Lest oldest fears prove true, Lest, when no bugle blew My mort, when skies looked clear, I may have stepped one hair's Breadth past the hair-breadth bourn Which, being once crossed forever unawares, Forbids return.
NEARLY THEY STOOD
Nearly they stood who fall. Themselves, when they look back, See always in the track One torturing spot where all By a possible quick swerve Of will yet unenslaved- BY the infinitesimal twitching of a nerve- Might have been saved.
Nearly they fell who stand. These with cold after-fear Look back and note how near They grazed the Siren's land, Wondering to think that fate, By threads so spidery-fine, The choice of ways so small, the event sO great, Should thus entwine.
Therefore I sometimes fear Lest oldest fears prove true, Lest, when no bugle blew My mort, when skies looked clear, I may have stepped one hair's Breadth past the hair-breadth bourn Which, being once crossed forever unawares, Forbids return.
March 11, 2025
I was so excited to find this tucked away in the back of the poetry section at Barnes and Noble last year. So much so, that I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of it before. Well, I understand now why I haven't heard of it before. While valuable for insight's sake, and not poorly written at all, Lewis' poems were wholly unexpected. I found some of them outlandish at times, and just kind of confusing and offbeat at others. Some of them felt similar to his philosophy heavy prose, but most of them felt random and haphazard. Final conclusion? Although he is an incredibly gifted author, Lewis' prose is better than his poetry.
September 24, 2025
You think that we who do not shout and shake
Our fists at God when youth or bravery die
Have colder blood or hearts less apt to ache
Than yours who rail. I know you do. Yet why?
You have what sorrow always long to find,
Someone to blame, some enemy in chief;
Anger’s the anaesthetic of the mind,
It does men good, it fumes away their grief.
We feel the stroke like you; so far our fate
Is equal. After that, for us begin
Half-hopeless labours, learning not to hate,
And then to want, and then (perhaps) to win
A high, unearthly comfort, angel’s food,
That seems at first mockery to flesh and blood.
- Sonnet, page 192
Our fists at God when youth or bravery die
Have colder blood or hearts less apt to ache
Than yours who rail. I know you do. Yet why?
You have what sorrow always long to find,
Someone to blame, some enemy in chief;
Anger’s the anaesthetic of the mind,
It does men good, it fumes away their grief.
We feel the stroke like you; so far our fate
Is equal. After that, for us begin
Half-hopeless labours, learning not to hate,
And then to want, and then (perhaps) to win
A high, unearthly comfort, angel’s food,
That seems at first mockery to flesh and blood.
- Sonnet, page 192
March 9, 2025
Great collection, a little repetitive because there were SO many of Lewis’ poems included, and he clearly had his preferred topics.
Some absolute stand outs, including “Prelude to Space: An Epithalamium.”
I appreciated the scope of this collection, but I think a more curated selection of his GREAT poems would be worthwhile to create.
Some absolute stand outs, including “Prelude to Space: An Epithalamium.”
I appreciated the scope of this collection, but I think a more curated selection of his GREAT poems would be worthwhile to create.
December 24, 2025
It’s really cool to see so much of Lewis’s thinking, beliefs, and messages come through in his poetry as in his other writing. Definitely classically trained. Feels like a progressive and fascinating Sunday School class. Gives you Paradise Lost vibes.
June 24, 2023
Unsurprisingly brilliant. These will become good friends.
July 24, 2023
A side of Lewis I was not aware of. Very surprising and challenging. Every Lewis fan should read this collection.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews