Reviews

Narrative Poems by C.S. Lewis

morgan_c_rose's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Dymer was a wild ride, and The Queen of Drum was mysterious and tragic. Launcelot was forgettable, but The Nameless Isle was adventurous enough to pull me along. The language was precise and technically great, but I think some of the metaphors aged poorly. (He makes an analogy to breasts in each of these poems, some of them multiple times.) Dymer was my favorite, and it’s the only one I see myself wanting to read again.

sofer_mahir's review against another edition

4.0

I'm a bit of a brute when it comes to poetry. I like poetry, but I'm usually a poor reader of it. Narrative poems, however, I've had a greater appreciation for, and these I really enjoyed. Dymer I loved for its dream-like and abstract qualities. This is perhaps the sort of story I'd like to write, if I had time or skill. It's dark and cynical -- dating back to Lewis' pre-conversion days. The Queen of Drum is a riveting story full of mystery. My favorite, I think, was The Nameless Isle. I'm a sucker for alliteration. I didn't much care for Launcelot, but that could be because I'm not familiar enough with the source material.

iceangel9's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Lewis's four classic narrative poems: "Dymer," "Launcelot," "The Nameless Isle," "The Queen of Drum." These poems are beautiful and well worth the time needed to work through them. Fans of Lewis should not miss his foray into poetry. A Reader's Corner Highly Recommended Read.  

quoththegirl's review against another edition

2.0

Lewis actually wrote a narrative poem backed on Wagner's Ring Cycle when he was 15? *shakes head* Marry me, Clive Staples.

Sadly, ultimately the narrative poetry by Lewis, while good, was nowhere near as good as his prose. It's somewhat reassuring that not even Lewis can do everything well, I suppose.

seirid's review

adventurous challenging funny hopeful relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

chelseavk's review

challenging slow-paced

2.5

jeffhall's review against another edition

4.0

These obscure works in verse by C.S. Lewis are surprisingly rewarding, with the exception of "Dymer", which is a tangled muddle of confusion.

The other three long poems are all worth reading, and "The Queen of Drum" particularly is as good as anything else Lewis ever wrote, featuring all the magic and humor of the Narnia stories while being something quite different in tone, style, and execution.

This is a book I'll certainly be re-reading in the near future, something that seems to be true of the other works by Lewis that I've read to date: he's one of those writers that is always worth re-visiting, and three of his four narrative poems live up to that high standard.

livingpalm1's review

3.0

At Christmas, my sister gave me an earlier edition of this book she'd found at a thrift store. I may need to purchase the new version just for that fabulous cover art. I hadn't read much Lewis' poetry before, and am not surprised that I really like it.

forevermorepages's review

3.0

king of some of the best prose, not king of the best plotlines. suffice to say, i was a tad bored.

but very grateful for my friend gifting this for christmas last year! we all know i have a thing for lewis and tolkien and it was such a thoughtful gift.

also i plan on using a lot of the imagery/prose in it as inspiration for my writing! so that's a success :)

-book hugger

theunreadshelf's review

3.0

Lewis is one of my favorite authors, but this book of poetry was a little difficult to get through. Most of the poems are on Greek mythology or classic literature, and if one doesn't have a good knowledge of those topics, one might be completely lost (like I was!). I skimmed several, but towards the end are his more personal poems, ones that stopped me flipping pages and kept me thinking for long after I finished them. If you're a big Lewis fan, too, you'll enjoy seeing a different side of his writing.