Hey, everbody! Welcome back to Tumnus’ Book Shelf, where we review any and all books about CS Lewis and the land of Narnia. For today’s review we will be looking at CS Lewis’ Narrative Poems.
Title: Narrative Poems
Author: CS Lewis
Publisher: Harvest Books (December 23, 2002)
ISBN-10: 0156027984
ISBN-13: 978-0156027984
Summary:
This aptly named book collects CS Lewis’ four narrative poems. These highly imaginative poems that tell of such adventures as a mariner sailing to an unnamed land, to an ode to Sir Lancelot written by Lady Guinevere after the fall of Camelot, or a war the comes to the people of Drum.
Review:
Not many people remember CS Lewis for his poetry apart from the occasional prophesy or spell featured in the Narnian Tales. However, during his life time Lewis wrote several poems, four of which were epic narrative poems. This collection, called “narrative Poems’ features those four poems.
Only one of them saw print during his life time, that of Dymer, and in a preface to that poem, Lewis said that it received great reviews but no authors. This was something that led the other three poems to never seeing print until after his death, as well as the emergence of poets like TS Eliot (whose work can be a mystery to even English majors). It is a shame too, as the poems are for the most really well written.
There is hardly enough time and space to go on a great deal about “the key” elements of poetry like pentameter, diction, form, and style. All that matters is that the poems are very good and contain some really vibrant imagery. You can “see” the queen of the Nameless Isle, and you can see Lady Guinevere all in your minds eye. Granted for the most some may come to these poems and say like Susan in the Narnia movie, ‘you know that doesn’t exactly rhyme,” but that’s fine, poetry, especially epic poetry, doesn’t have to rhyme.
Many of thee poems were started before Lewis converted to Christianity. This does not in any way affect the quality or content of the poems. Lewis was a very good writer even before he became a Christian. While he certainly went back and revised Dymer, he didn’t do so with the other three poems, and you really cannot tell the difference. His love of mythology and high adventure was still present.
At best this is a book more grown up fans of Lewis will enjoy over younger readers. It is certainly worth the read and will make a wonderful addition to any one’s poetry collection.
4 out of 5 shields