Abstract
The book C. S. Lewis at Poets’ Corner is perhaps the most unusual book this reviewer has ever read. It is not, for instance, simply a book on Lewis’s life or some aspect of his work. Nor is it simply a collection of essays on various subjects related to the life and work of C. S. Lewis. Rather, it is a direct reproduction of five events surrounding Lewis’s induction to Poets’ Corner in 2013. Poets’ Corner is the southern transept of Westminster Abbey, where many famous British and Irish poets are buried and commemorated. Lewis joined their ranks as one commemorated on 22 November 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
While this book’s uniqueness was something of a delight, it does make it a difficult book to review and to recommend. The ardent student of Lewis will not find anything particularly new in this volume. No new insights were unveiled at these various gatherings concerning Lewis’s theology, philosophy, literature, or literary scholarship. Similarly, this book is not a good introduction for the Lewisian neophyte. Rather, what this book really is is a love letter to C. S. Lewis himself. This is not to say that the essays contained are not worthy of being read, or that they are incapable of providing deeper insights. That is, of course, ridiculous. With names such as Michael Ward, Alister McGrath, Malcolm Guite, Rowan Williams, William Lane Craig and William Hooper featured in these pages – in their own words, no less – one is certain to gain deeper, if not new, insights into C. S. Lewis.
Perhaps the most unique thing about this already unusual book is the inclusion of the whole liturgy used during the service. The hymns and sheet music are also provided. The first is by John Bunyan, often called ‘To Be a Pilgrim’ or ‘He Who Would Valiant Be’. This was an intriguing choice since Lewis himself mimicked Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress in his spiritual allegory Pilgrim’s Regress. Surely this was intentional, though no rationale is provided. The second hymn was ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’ by St Francis of Assisi. This choice, too, was intriguing. St Francis is well known for his love of animal creation, of course, and Lewis’s beloved children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia features an ennobled animal creation. However, the song reminds us not only of animal creation, but of wind, clouds, water, fire, death and the planets. One sees not only Lewis’s dryads and naiads, but also his eldila and oyarses. The cosmic is clearly invoked and it is hard to think of a hymn that ought to remind us of Lewis’s work. The third, and final, hymn makes the cosmic and angelic invocations even clearer, for it is ‘O Praise Ye the Lord’ by Henry W. Baker. Thus, in the hymns we see three of Lewis’s major literary works referenced.
In the end, I must recommend this book to the lover of Lewis for it serves the important role of immortalizing in print that significant moment of commemorating C. S. Lewis in Poets’ Corner.