The Inklings

by Humphrey Carpenter

  page 156

  ‘Lor’ bless you …’, CSL to Derek Brewer, 16 November 1959 (courtesy of Derek Brewer), ‘the salvation …’, Rehabilitations, p. 196. ‘Love and poetry …’, Shadows of Ecstasy, chapter 7. ‘immortal energy’, ibid., chapter 5.

  page 157

  ‘They all had a tendency …’, Adam Fox interviewed by Stephen Schofield, recorded in 1975 (courtesy of Stephen Schofield). ‘half fascinated …’, Narrative Poems, p. 5. ‘spiritual lust’, SBJ chapter 4.

  page 158

  ‘bilge’, WHL diary, 25 September 1947. ‘I don’t believe …’, CSL to Katherine Farrer, 9 February 1954. ‘steam of consciousness’, The Dark Tower, p. 11. ‘our best moderns’, CSL to Leo Baker, undated (Hilary term 1921). ‘Some of the most …’, CSL to Arthur C. Clarke, 26 January 1954. ‘has done serious damage …’, Poetic Diction, Connecticut, Wesleyan University Press (1973), p. 36.

  page 159

  ‘Better be modern than minor’, War in Heaven, chapter 8.

  page 160

  ‘This was a circle …’, John Wain, Sprightly Running: Part of an Autobiography, Macmillan (London) (1963), p. 181. ‘The whole picture …’, letter to Encounter, January 1963, p. 81. ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful …’, CSL to Katherine Farrer, 4 December 1953. ‘was not “influence” …’, JRRT to Dick Plotz, 12 September 1965. ‘To be sure …’, Letters, p. 288.

  page 161

  ‘We stood foursquare …’, SBJ chapter 2.

  page 162

  ‘There exist two different systems …’, ‘The Inner Ring’, Screwtape Proposes a Toast, p. 29. ‘I have a holy terror …’, Letters, p. 48.

  page 163

  ‘There were no rules …’, ibid., p. 13. ‘Jack and I …’, WHL diary, 22 August 1946. ‘Well attended Inkling …’, ibid., 26 February 1948.

  page 164

  ‘A friend dead …’, LP vii, p. 174. ‘I speak of my own …’, CSL to Barfield, undated letter in ‘The Great War’, ‘either men or women …’, LP vii, 169–70. ‘female to male’, The Problem of Pain, chapter 3. ‘the husband is the head …’, The Four Loves, chapter 5. ‘If there must be a head …’, ‘Christian Marriage’, Mere Christianity. ‘Do you really want …’, Letters, p. 184. ‘not really meant …’, quoted in CW to MW, 25 October 1939.

  page 165

  ‘The men have learned …’, The Four Loves, chapter 4.

  page 166

  ‘just the sort of mind …’, WHL biography of CSL, fol. 102. ‘I can’t bear …’, Letters, p. 237. ‘How a man can feel …’, ‘Philia’, Four Talks on Love by C. S. Lewis, Episcopal Radio–TV Foundation, Atlanta, Georgia. (The original version of The Four Loves.)

  page 167

  ‘The deepest of worldly emotions …’, The Allegory of Love, p. 9. ‘were themselves lover-like …’, ibid., p. 10. ‘Long before history began …’, The Four Loves, chapter 4.

  page 168

  ‘There are many things …’, JRRT to Michael Tolkien, 12 March 1941.

  page 169

  ‘How quickly an intelligent woman …’, ibid., 6 March 1941.

  page 170

  ‘a subject which does not …’, WHL diary, 21 August 1934. ‘With all my army experience …’, ibid., 25 July 1946. ‘the tide of masculine friendship …’, All Hallows’ Eve, chapter 5.

  page 171

  ‘Milton’s principles …’, Reason and Beauty in the Poetic Mind, pp. 97–8. ‘He gave one a warmth …’, letter to the author, 12 December 1977. ‘the Lewis seance’, JRRT to CRT, 23 April 1944.

  page 172

  ‘The war and Oxford …’, CW to MW, 4 December 1939. ‘It is a dull book …’, ibid., 17 October 1940. ‘I am particularly taken …’, ibid., 15 May 1940.

  page 173

  ‘The Teeth Bill …’, ibid., 1 September 1944. ‘I had hoped …’, ibid., 1 July 1940. ‘We have never lost …’, ibid., 21 August 1944. ‘I have a kind …’, ibid., 9 July 1940.

  page 174

  ‘One unexpected feature …’, CSL to WHL, 18 September 1939. ‘That a return to God …’, quoted in V. H. H. Green, Religion at Oxford and Cambridge, SCM Press (1964), p. 353. ‘struck by an idea …’, Letters, p. 188. ‘In 1943 …’, letter to CSL from Edward T. Dell, 1 February 1949 (Bodleian), ‘to thank you …’, letter to CSL from Vera Matthews, 10 May 1949 (Bodleian). ‘If one begins …’, Undeceptions, p. 70. ‘the sharp-tongued …’, The Screwtape Letters, letter 3.

  page 175

  ‘I do believe …’, Undeceptions, p. 33. ‘I have always gone …’, Letters, p. 301. ‘I have been suspected …’, Reflections on the Psalms, chapter 11. ‘a dogmatic Christian …’, Christian Reflections, p. 44. ‘A great deal of my utility …’, CSL to Edward T. Dell, 29 April 1963.

  page 176

  ‘Though I had never …’, Screwtape Proposes a Toast, introduction to ‘Screwtape Proposes a Toast’. ‘The devil, even if he …’, He Came Down From Heaven, chapter 2. ‘My dearest Scorpuscle …’, Time & Tide, xxiii no. 12, 21 March 1942, pp. 245–6. ‘Hwæt! we Inclinga’ and the clerihews by Tolkien throughout this chapter: MS (Estate of J. R. R. Tolkien).

  page 177

  ‘Almost the only wire …’, JRRT to CRT, 1 March 1944. ‘The Lord of the Strings’, recalled by Christopher Tolkien. ‘I reached the Mitre …’, JRRT to CRT, 18 November 1944.

  page 178

  ‘Did you see …’, CW to MW, 18 September 1940. ‘Things are a little …’, ibid., 31 December 1940. ‘I said to myself …’, CW to AR 26 September 1940. ‘Do me the high favour …’, CW to RH, 29 April 1942. ‘a little conscious …’, CW to AR, 5 January 1942. ‘It is a little …’, ibid., 23 December 1941.

  page 179

  ‘Venus is weak …’, ibid., 25 March 1942. ‘written with You about …’, CW to MW, 5 December 1944. ‘hideous confession …’, CW to RH, 12 February 1942. ‘is being a Pest …’, CW to AR, 30 September 1942. ‘is, I think, youthfully …’, CSL to Greeves, 30 January 1944. ‘brilliantly happy marriage’, chapter 3 of ‘Williams and the Arthuriad’ in Arthurian Torso. ‘It is fresh fire …’, CW to MW, 11 November 1943.

  page 180

  ‘Separation is bad for her …’, CW to RH, 29 April 1942. ‘My great difficulty …’, ibid. ‘More than one ever dreamed …’, CW to TS, 20 December 1944. ‘I have seen his impress …’, Letters, p. 197.

  page 181

  ‘partly anticipated …’, A Preface to Paradise Lost, p. v. ‘While the moderns …’, ibid., p. 57. ‘Apparently the door …’, ibid., p. v. ‘I will go so far …’, CW to RH, 29 April 1942. ‘I should never have written …’, ibid., 29 March 1941. ‘The main point is Milton …’, ibid., 21 December 1942. ‘The restoration …’, ibid., 29 March 1941. ‘Meanwhile Mr Eliot …’, CW to AR, 13 July 1943. ‘the only point …’, A Preface to Paradise Lost, p. 86.

  page 182

  ‘To you or to me …’, ibid., p. 118. ‘Partly as a development …’, JRRT to CRT, 29 January 1945. ‘As a philologist …’, ibid., 31 July 1944.

  page 183

  ‘what was myth …’, Perelandra, chapter 8. ‘If you look …’, ‘We Have Cause To Be Uneasy’, Mere Christianity.

  page 184

  ‘a complete failure’ and ‘God used an ass ….’, Green & Hooper, p. 205. ‘What very odd tasks …’, Letters, p. 193. ‘I had to go …’, Green & Hooper, p. 209. ‘Christianity is a fighting religion’: ‘The Rival Conceptions of God’, Mere Christianity. ‘This moment is …’, ‘The practical Conclusion’, ibid. ‘I do not think the BBC …’, CW to RH, 31 July 1942. ‘had been, it appeared …’, CW to AR, 30 September 1942.

  page 185

  ‘Lewis is as energetic …’, JRRT to CRT, 1 March 1944. ‘I strongly object …’, Letters, p. 262. ‘The fun is often …’, CSL to Greeves, 30 January 1944.

  page 186

  ‘the universal Aunt’, WHL diary, 1 November 1949. ‘he knows everyone …’, CSL to Mr Hutter, 30 March 1962.

  page 187

  ‘Listening to those …’, ‘Is there an Oxford �
�School” of Writing?’, The Twentieth Century, clvii, June 1955, p. 562. ‘that Lord David …’, CW to MW, 1 December 1944. ‘His lectures …’, Sprightly Running, p. 149.

  page 188

  ‘I had an extraordinarily …’, CW to MW, 5 March 1940. ‘to be read …’, quoted in CW to MW, 6 September 1943. ‘allured’, ibid., 15 October 1943. ‘scandalous’ and ‘a condemnation …’, ibid., 15 November 1944. ‘And it’s obvious …’, CW to RH, 20 February 1943. ‘the only graduand …’, CW to MW, 30 March 1943.

  page 189

  ‘when she arrived …’, conversation with the author, 7 March 1977. ‘not because …’, EPCW, p. 1. ‘I got in …’, CW to MW, 10 February 1944. ‘She has, under the compulsion …’, CW to MW, 24 August 1944. ‘She was the first …’, letter to Encounter, January 1963, p. 81. ‘She never met …’, ibid. ‘has edified us …’, CSL to Edward T. Dell, 25 October 1949. ‘good on the whole’, CSL to Greeves, 23 December 1941. ‘didn’t like it …’, ibid. ‘I could not stand …’, JRRT to CRT, 25 May 1944.

  page 190

  Tolkien’s remarks about Eddison: JRRT to Daphne Cloke, ‘the most noble and ioyous …’, CSL to E. R. Eddison, 16 November 1942. ‘Certeyn it is …’, E. R. Eddison to CSL, 21 February 1943 (Bodleian).

  page 191

  ‘of undiminished power …’, JRRT to CRT, 10 June 1944. ‘On Tuesday …’, ibid., 6 October 1944.

  page 192

  ‘I am a democrat …’, draft of letter by JRRT to an unknown recipient, 1956. ‘I loathed and loathe …’, letter to Encounter, January 1963, p. 81. ‘had taken a fair deal …’, JRRT to CRT, 6 October 1944. ‘Mr Lewis …’, Green & Hooper, pp. 223–4.

  page 193

  ‘I really launched him’: unpublished journal of Mary Trevelyan (in possession of the author). ‘a kind of ghostly skeleton’, CW to MW, 15 June 1943. ‘a hovering sense …’, ibid., 9 February 1940. ‘I doubt if …’, CW to TS, 30 July 1940. ‘Three quarters …’, CW to MW, 3 September 1943. ‘I am not much happier …’, ibid., 6 September 1943. ‘It was true …’, All Hallows’ Eve, chapter 1.

  page 194

  ‘I heard two chapters …’, JRRT to CRT, 10 November 1943. ‘I was in fact …’, JRRT to Anne Barrett, 7 August 1964. ‘A style suitable …’, CW to MW, 13 December 1943. ‘I have pushed …’, ibid., 12 January ‘All turned up …’, JRRT to CRT, 10 April 1944.

  page 195

  ‘Dante doesn’t attract …’, quoted by Clyde S. Kilby, op. cit., p. 30. ‘is putting the screw …’, JRRT to CRT, 30 March 1944. ‘I have begun …’, ibid., 3 April 1944. ‘I saw CSL …’, ibid., 14 May 1944. ‘Taliessin gathered …’, ‘The Prayers of the Pope’, The Region of the Summer Stars.

  page 196

  ‘This selling …’, CW to MW, 23 November 1944. ‘There are no more …’, ibid. ‘This, after so many …’, CW to AR, 13 July 1943. ‘Would you think …’, CW to MW, 24 April 1945.

  page 197

  ‘said he had heard …’, ibid., 14 October 1944. ‘pseudo-culture’, ibid., 15 January 1944. ‘How different …’, ibid., 21 February 1945. ‘I have no place-attachment …’, ibid., 14 July 1944. ‘I cannot quite describe …’, CW to TS, 23 March 1943 and 20 December 1944. ‘For cash …’, CW to AR, 21 September 1943. ‘He had not changed …’, Hadfield, p. 199. ‘It was a bright morning …’, JRRT to CRT, 7 November 1944. ‘Picture to yourself …’, introduction to ‘The Figure of Arthur’ in Arthurian Torso.

  page 198

  ‘I have no opinions …’, That Hideous Strength, original Bodley Head edition, p. 202. ‘incurable romantic’, ibid., p. 135. ‘It is one of Barfield’s …’, ibid., p. 321. ‘Something we may call Britain …’, ibid., p. 459. ‘something brought to Western Europe …’, ibid., p. 246. ‘a hearing error’, JRRT to Dick Plotz, 12 September 1965. ‘good in itself’, undated draft of letter by JRRT, 1964.

  page 199

  ‘I actually went out …’, JRRT to CRT, 23 September 1944. ‘The Inklings have …’, ibid. ‘I am to have …’, CW to MW, 2 May 1945. ‘How did you feel …’, CSL to Dom Bede Griffiths, 10 May 1945. ‘It was the middle …’, Sprightly Running, p. 152. ‘At 12.50 this morning …’, WHL diary, 15 May 1945.

  page 203

  ‘but I remember …’, EPCW, p. xiv. ‘There is something horrible …’, WHL diary, 15 May 1945. ‘In the (far too brief) years …’, JRRT to Michal Williams, 15 May 1945 (Wade Collection), ‘great pain but …’, CSL to Barfield, 18 May 1945. ‘My friendship is not ended …’, CSL to Michal Williams, 22 May 1945. ‘She was dead …’, draft of first version of All Hallows’ Eve (Wade Collection). ‘I don’t remember …’, WHL diary, 15 December 1945.

  page 205

  ‘I don’t think I should …’, JRRT to CRT, 30 September 1944. ‘to consider …’, ibid., 9 October 1945. ‘Chris gave us …’, WHL diary, 6 February 1947. ‘Tollers gave us …’, ibid., 23 October 1947. ‘A good Inklings …’, ibid., 27 January 1949.

  page 206

  ‘I admired Lewis …’, Sprightly Running, p. 180. ‘A writer’s task …’, ibid., p. 182. ‘I do not believe …’, Fern-Seed and Elephants, p. 19. ‘the freeborn mind’, Undeceptions, p. 262. ‘As a Christian …’ and ‘young people …’, Undeceptions, p. 160.

  page 207

  ‘Jack’s ignorance …’, WHL diary, 27 September 1950. ‘The modern world …’, CSL to Greeves, 5 January 1947. ‘Caucus has replaced …’, Fern-Seed and Elephants, p. 12. ‘He must have irritated …’, Times Literary Supplement, 12 July 1974, pp. 747–8.

  page 208

  ‘Who’s in there? …’, Sprightly Running, p. 152. ‘There goes C. S. Lewis …’, Edmund Crispin, Swan Song, chapter 8.

  page 209

  ‘An exquisitely lovely …’, WHL diary, 26 March 1946. ‘We sat down eight …’, ibid., 11 March 1948. ‘Proceedings opened …’, ibid.

  page 210

  ‘To all my set …’, Letters, p. 215. ‘It was no use …’, Sprightly Running, p. 184. ‘Only one really good …’, JRRT to CRT, August 1947. ‘we managed two …’, WHL diary, 19 August 1947.

  page 211

  ‘Hugo and I …’, ibid., 19 March 1946.

  page 212

  ‘bellows uninterruptedly …’, ibid., 20 October 1949. ‘This evening …’, ibid., 8 August 1946. ‘When I arrived …’, ibid., 4 March 1948. ‘A well attended Inkling …’, ibid., 24 April 1947.

  page 213

  ‘We took you from the trenches …’, P. J. Kavanagh, The Perfect Stranger, Chatto & Windus (1966), p. 105. ‘a burly man …’, Letters, p. 145. ‘He could sometimes …’ and other quotations from Stephen Medcalf: obituary of Dyson in Postmaster (journal of Merton College, Oxford), v, no. 3, January 1976. ‘Bring out the buckets …’ and ‘Write an essay …’, ibid.

  page 214

  ‘I think I’ve never …’ and ‘That I was sorry …’, interview with Roger Green, BBC Radio Oxford, May 1971. ‘If you think … ,’, recalled by J. A. W. Bennett. ‘The sword …’, ibid. ‘Lewis actually drew …’, ibid.

  page 215

  ‘It was in practice …’, Sprightly Running, p. 140. ‘the Society’s secretary …’, ibid., p. 141. ‘engaged in a flashy debate …’, A. J. Ayer, Part of My Life, Collins (1977), p. 297.

  page 216

  ‘on the scale …’, Light on C. S. Lewis (ed. Jocelyn Gibb), p. 31. ‘He was keen-witted …’, UM.

  page 217

  ‘None of us …’, MS memoir of Lewis by Derek Brewer. ‘A great Roman Catholic …’, Selected Literary Essays, p. 116. ‘Christianity is a fighting religion’: see reference to p. 184 above. ‘I don’t want retreat …’, They Asked for a Paper, p. 118.

  page 218

  ‘We shall probably fail …’, Fern-Seed and Elephants, p. 93. ‘The enemy’, CSL to Dom Bede Griffiths, 22 April 1954. ‘manly’, ‘The Invasion’ in Mere Christianity. ‘common things …’, The Personal Heresy, p. 96. ‘adult by inspiration …’, CW to RH, 31 July 1942. ‘rather like a child …’, Selected Literary Essays, p. 92. ‘besto
w all my childishness …’, ibid. ‘It demands of us …’, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature, pp. 132-3. ‘Beyond all doubt …’, ibid., p. 146.

  page 219

  ‘of immense length’, Letters, p. 266. ‘my mother’, Green & Hooper, p. 228. ‘The Alligator of Love’, CSL to Barfield, 28 June 1936. ‘a corking good writer’, CSL to Sheldon Vanauken, 14 December 1950. ‘a tip-top yarn’, Letters, p. 147. ‘an absolute corker’, CSL to Joy Gresham, 22 December 1963. ‘An unliterary man …’, Of Other Worlds, p. 17. David Cecil on Lewis’s literary tastes: letter to the author, January 1978.

  page 220

  ‘child’s sense of glory and nightmare’, MS note accompanying letters from CSL to Ruth Pitter (Bodleian), ‘a nasty little boy …’, Perelandra, chapter 9. ‘like a very nasty child’, ibid., chapter 10.

  page 221

  ‘evidence of arrest …’, F. R. Leavis, The Common Pursuit, London (1952), p. 253. ‘We think we are listening …’, Light On C. S. Lewis (ed. Jocelyn Gibb), p. 37.

  page 222

  ‘Prejudice must be regarded …’, The Image of the City, p. 157. ‘Hell is always inaccurate’, ibid., p. 30. ‘The imaginative man …’, Letters, p. 260.

  page 223

  ‘What might Christ …’, CSL to Mrs Heck, 29 December 1958. ‘disliked it intensely’ and ‘I hear you’ve been …’, Green & Hooper, p. 241.