Although C. S. Lewis is best known for his prose and for his clear,
lucid literary criticism, Christian apologetics, and imaginative
Ransom and Narnia stories, he considered himself a poet for the
first two and a half decades of his life. Owen Barfield recalls
that anyone who met Lewis as a young man in the early 1920s at
Oxford University quickly learned he was one "whose ruling passion
was to become a great poet. At that time if you thought of Lewis
you automatically thought of poetry." The Collected Poems of C. S.
Lewis offers readers, for the first time, a one-volume collection
of Lewis's poetry, including many poems that have never appeared in
print. With the poems arranged in chronological order, this volume
allows readers the opportunity to compare the poetry Lewis was
writing while he was also writing his fiction and nonfiction prose.
Beginning with his earliest lyric poems from 1907, The Collected
Poems of C. S. Lewis follows Lewis's efforts to write long,
narrative poems, which were particularly influenced by Norse
mythology. His outburst of lyric poetry as a young man in the
trenches during World War I culminates in his first published work,
Spirits in Bondage (1919), followed by his most ambitious narrative
poem, Dymer (1926). Both volumes afford unique insights into Lewis
the atheist. After his conversion to Christianity in 1930, Lewis
wrote a collection of sixteen religious lyrics that he included in
The Pilgrim's Regress (1933); as a group, these are considered
among his best poems. Until his death in 1963, Lewis continued
writing and publishing poetry, often appearing in journals and
magazines under his pseudonym N. W., shorthand for the Anglo-Saxon
nat whilk, "[I know] not whom." As a whole, these latter poems are
either occasional verses, burlesques, and erudite satires or they
are contemplative poems musing upon the human condition and its
pain, joy, suffering, pride, love, doubt, and faith. The Collected
Poems of C. S. Lewis demonstrates a dedicated, determined, and
passionate poet at work and illustrates the degree and depth to
which poetry shaped Lewis's literary, intellectual,
 emotional, and spiritual life.
General
Imprint: |
Kent State University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
2015 |
First published: |
September 2014 |
Editors: |
Don W. King
|
Dimensions: |
244 x 165 x 38mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
485 |
Edition: |
Critical edition |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-60635-202-1 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-60635-202-4 |
Barcode: |
9781606352021 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!