Narrative Poems

“You stranger, long before your glance can light
Upon these words, time will have washed away
The moment when I first took pen to write . . .”

An essayist, novelist, and poet, C.S. Lewis combines all of his talents in Narrative Poems. Even when composing his prose works, such as his autobiography Surprised by Joy, Lewis wrote his first drafts in verse, so highly did he think of the narrative poem. Collected here are the four completed poems by Lewis: “Dymer,” “Launcelot,” “The Nameless Isle,” and “The Queen of Drum.” Though only “Dymer” was published in his lifetime, these poems display Lewis’s deep love for medieval and Renaissance poetry and themes, the influence of which can be seen throughout his fiction.

"If the mode of the fantastic, of elves, hags, castles, and 'damosels clothed in bright pale airy clothes' is . . . for you, then come on in."—The Christian Science Monitor