''Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics'' (1919) was

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

's first published work (originally published under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton, which is Lewis' first name followed by his mother's maiden name). Lewis was twenty years old and had just returned from military service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His tutor,

William T. Kirkpatrick William Thompson Kirkpatrick (10 January 1848 - 22 March 1921) was an Irish teacher and grammar school headmaster. He is best known for having been the tutor of the two Lewis brothers from Belfast, Warren Hamilton Lewis, Warnie Lewis and C.S. Lew ...

, encouraged him in publishing the book, although it was unusual at Lewis's age, as writers were expected to wait longer before sharing their work with the world. The book is composed of three different sections of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

. The poems take on several styles and rhythms throughout the book, but share common themes. This work stands out among Lewis's writings not only because of the focus on poetry rather than prose, but because the author had not yet made his conversion to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

; therefore the themes and worldviews offered in ''Spirits in Bondage'' differ greatly from those for which Lewis is most well known. The book received no reviews and its reception was a slight disappointment for Lewis. The title is derived from Milton's ''Paradise Lost'' (1.658).

''Spirits in Bondage'' is composed of three sections of poetry: ''The Prison House'', ''Hesitation'', and ''The Escape''. The complete contents of the book are as follows: *Part I: The Prison House :I. Satan Speaks :II. French Nocturne :III. The Satyr :IV. Victory :V. Irish Nocturne :VI. Spooks :VII. Apology :VIII. Ode For New Year's Day :IX. Night :X. To Sleep :XI. In Prison :XII. De Profundis :XIII. Satan Speaks :XIV. The Witch :XV. Dungeon Grates :XVI. The Philosopher :XVII. The Ocean Strand :XVIII. Noon :XIX. Milton Read Again :XX. Sonnet :XXI. The Autumn Morning *Part II: Hesitation :XXII. L'Apprenti Sorcier :XXIII. Alexandrines :XXIV. In Praise Of Solid People *Part III: The Escape :XXV. Song Of The Pilgrims :XXVI. Song :XXVII. The Ass :XXVIII. Ballade Mystique :XXIX. Night :XXX. Oxford :XXXI. Hymn (For Boys' Voices) :XXXII. "Our Daily Bread" :XXXIII. How He Saw Angus The God :XXXIV. The Roads :XXXV. Hesperus :XXXVI. The Star Bath :XXXVII. Tu Ne Quæsieris :XXXVIII. Lullaby :XXXIX. World's Desire :XL. Death In Battle

Themes

''Spirits in Bondage'' differs from more widely read Lewis works in that he does not yet write from a Christian worldview. The poems are meant to be read in order (thus, ''A Cycle of Lyrics'') so that the themes can develop and present themselves to the reader properly. Although not an atheist, Lewis takes the stance of an agnostic with a pessimistic outlook on

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

and

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

. A central theme to his poetry, which led him to choose the title ''Spirits in Bondage'', is his early belief that God had instilled deep desires in Man that could not be attained, and that Man would think he were reaching his goal only to be ultimately bitterly disappointed. Lewis also takes an attitude toward

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

not typical of his later works. In ''Spirits in Bondage'' nature is cruel and hard, deceptive and not to be trusted, although Lewis does admire her in several of the poems. Also notable are Lewis's references to both

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

and the war atmosphere in which he had lived. Kirkpatrick noted that Lewis, his most brilliant student, had read more classics than any other boy he knew. In a few scattered poems Lewis draws a picture of the war front for the audience; indeed, "Death in Battle" was published in the ''Reveille'' periodical.

Sources

* Lewis, C.S. ''Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics''. London: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1984.

External links

* * * {{C. S. Lewis 1919 poetry books Poetry by C. S. Lewis British poetry collections Works published under a pseudonym Heinemann (publisher) books

Contents

Themes

Sources

External links