EBOOK
Splendour in the Dark
C. S. Lewis's Dymer in His Life and Work
Jerry RootSeries: Hansen Lectureship5
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About
Several years before he converted to Christianity, C. S. Lewis published a narrative poem, Dymer, under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton. Later, of course, Lewis became well known for his beloved imaginative stories, such as The Chronicles of Narnia and Till We Have Faces, as well as his ability to defend and articulate the faith in works such as Mere Christianity.
But what about his literary work before his conversion?
In this fourth volume in the Hansen Lectureship Series, Jerry Root contends that Lewis's early poem Dymer can not only shed light on the development of Lewis's literary skills but also offer a glimpse of what was to come in his intellectual and spiritual growth-a "splendor in the dark," to borrow one of Lewis's own lines from the poem. Under Root's careful analysis, Dymer becomes a way to understand both Lewis's change of mind as well as the way in which each of us is led on a journey of faith.
This volume also includes the complete text of Dymer with annotations from David C. Downing, co-director of the Marion E. Wade Center.
The Hansen Lectureship series offers accessible and insightful reflections by Wheaton College faculty members upon the transformative work of the Wade Center authors.
But what about his literary work before his conversion?
In this fourth volume in the Hansen Lectureship Series, Jerry Root contends that Lewis's early poem Dymer can not only shed light on the development of Lewis's literary skills but also offer a glimpse of what was to come in his intellectual and spiritual growth-a "splendor in the dark," to borrow one of Lewis's own lines from the poem. Under Root's careful analysis, Dymer becomes a way to understand both Lewis's change of mind as well as the way in which each of us is led on a journey of faith.
This volume also includes the complete text of Dymer with annotations from David C. Downing, co-director of the Marion E. Wade Center.
The Hansen Lectureship series offers accessible and insightful reflections by Wheaton College faculty members upon the transformative work of the Wade Center authors.
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Reviews
"Lewis is one of those authors whose breadth can obscure his depth. The mountainous influence of Mere Christianity or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe can overshadow those subterranean works on which his popular writing stands. No early work by Lewis is so foundational as his preconversion poem, Dymer. In excavating the ways in which Lewis's more monumental works rise from and build upon Dymer, Root has taken readers further down and further into that depth."
Corey Latta, author of C. S. Lewis and the Art of Writing
"Finally, a book that gives Dymer the attention it merits. Just so does Jerry Root-with a mind plentifully furnished in the life and work of the master-convincingly examine story and verse as a touchstone of Lewis's developing genius. Of course, getting the whole poem with David Downing's superb annotations (along with extended commentary by others, as though in conversation) represents enormous value added. Highly recommended."
James Como, author of C. S. Lewis: A Very Short Introduction
Extended Details
- SeriesHansen Lectureship