Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of LyricsSo piteously the lonely soul of man Shudders before this universal plan, So grievous is the burden and the pain, So heavy weighs the long, material chain From cause to cause, too merciless for hate, The nightmare march of unrelenting fate, -from "Dungeon Grates" C. S. Lewis is a profound and perhaps the most respected Christian apologist because his belief was so hard-won. This collection of verse, written immediately after he returned from the battlefields of World War I in 1919, offers penetrating insight into the psyche of a young man struggling with traumatic wartime experiences and the crisis of faith they engendered. By turns angry, bitter, and melancholy, these poems constitute a provocative document of Lewis's journey from atheism through agnosticism and on to conviction. Irish writer CLIVE STAPLES ("JACK") LEWIS (1898-1963) was born in Belfast. A volunteer in the British Army during World War I, he served in the trenches of France, and returned to study and teach at Oxford University; he later accepted a post at Cambridge University, retiring only months before his death. His best-known works are The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956), Mere Christianity (1952), and his autobiography, Surprised by Joy (1955). |
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amid beast beauty beneath birth bitter breezes bright castle cold COSIMO CLASSICS curse dawn dead dear death deep Despoina divine dreams dreary drowsy Druid Dryads DUNGEON GRATES dust earth from Orkney Eastern Philosophy endless eternal eyes fair fall fear feet fiery flowers forest green Grendel grey head hear heart HESPERUS hidden hope hour isle L'APPRENTI SORCIER labour land lawn leap Lest we forget light little hour live loveliness LULLABY meadows mighty Milky mist moon mountains never night NOON o'er OCEAN STRAND Orkney unto Ind pain pale pass Sacred Texts Sang SATAN SPEAKS SATYR seen shadow silent Singing slay sleep slumber soft solar day solemn song sorrow soul spirit SPOOKS stars strange stream suddenly sweet thee things Thou art thought toil tower tree Triton valleys walk Wandering waste weary wind wood WORLD'S DESIRE www.cosimobooks.com YEAR'S DAY
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Page 1 - In my coracle of verses I will sing of lands unknown, Flying from the scarlet city where a Lord that knows no pity Mocks the broken people praying round his iron throne, — Sing about the Hidden Country fresh and full of quiet green. Sailing over seas uncharted to a port that none has seen.2 The reader is thus invited to escape from the commonplace. The "Lord that knows no pity...