C.S. Lewis at Poets’ Corner
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works that ought to be better known is the essay with the
title “Bluspels and Flalansferes: A Semantic Nightmare,”
which has actually been quoted from several times today, in
the definitions of Imagination as the organ of meaning and
Reason as the natural organ of truth.
It’s a terribly titled essay. If Lewis had called it “The
Importance of Metaphor in All Our Knowing,” everybody
would have flocked to this essay. It’s a very deep and seminal
case that he makes and it should be better known.
panel discussion
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As regards my own favourite work, I think I would
probably cite his last novel, Till We Have Faces. Lewis himself regarded it as easily his best work. I understand that
Rowan Williams thinks most highly of that title, among all
of Lewis’s works, and I share his opinion. It’s an amazingly
deep, rich, mysterious novel, which is hard to conceptualise,
hard to understand except while you are reading it because
it is truly mythic, I think. In order to understand it you have
to read it . . . and re-read it. [ Laughter]. And then re-re-read it. [ Laughter]
We’re approaching our last few minutes so I think at
this juncture I shall ask Professor Don King to come and
close proceedings for us by reading the poem: “The Apolo-
gist’s Evening Prayer,” after which we can draw the whole
event to an end.
KING:
As one who’s been reading Lewis’s poetry for forty years I
would add: some of you might want to begin reading Lewis’s
poetry!
“The Apologist’s Evening Prayer” wasn’t published un-
til 1964, but it appears in a letter in 1942, and I think it picks up on the question that Jerry Root asked a few moments
ago.
“The Apologist’s Evening Prayer”
From all my lame defeats and oh! much more
From all the victories that I seemed to score;
From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf
At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh;
From all my proofs of Thy divinity,
Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me.
Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead
Of Thee, their thin-worn image of Thy head.
From all my thoughts, even from my thoughts of Thee,
O thou, fair Silence, fall, and set me free.
Lord of the narrow gate and the needle’s eye,
Take from me all my trumpery lest I die.”
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part one—symposium
WARD:
Thank you, Don. For those who may not know, Don King
is the editor of a new critical edition of the collected poems
of C.S. Lewis, published by Kent State University Press, and
the author of a study of Lewis’s poetry, entitled simply C.S.
Lewis, Poet, also from Kent State. It seemed appropriate, on the eve of the unveiling of Lewis’s memorial in Poets’
Corner, and at the end of this discussion of his apologetic
legacy, to conclude with one of his own poems, in which
he meditates so self-critically on the experience of being a
Christian apologist. So, thank you again, Don. And, please,
everyone, as we close, thank the panel. [ Applause]
HALL:
Ladies and gentlemen, as the panel leaves, on behalf of the
Dean and Chapter, I’d like to express our thanks to Michael
Ward in particular, who has been a key agent of this whole
project. Vernon has driven it as far as we’re concerned, but
since Michael has asked us to thank the panel, may I ask you
in turn to thank Michael? [ Applause]
I’m thrilled to be looking forward to dedicating the
Memorial to C. S. Lewis tomorrow in Poets’ Corner, but this
has been a wonderful curtain-raiser and a wonderful inspi-
ration for many of us who don’t know Lewis as well as we
might and are now determined to get to know him better.
As one who read The Screwtape Letters and other titles
when I was a teenager, and was very inspired by them and
very much encouraged by them, it’s wonderful to have been
brought back to C. S. Lewis in this way. I’m myself grateful
for today and looking forward to tomorrow. [ Applause]
part two
Memorial Service
Westminster Abbey
A SERVICE TO DEDICATE
A MEMORIAL
TO
C. S. LEWIS
WRITER, SCHOLAR, APOLOGIST
Friday 22nd November 2013
Noon
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“In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I
see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in
worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I tran-
scend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.”
C. S. Lewis
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Clive Staples “Jack” Lewis
1898–1963
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THE C. S. LEWIS MEMORIAL STONE
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.
Of the countless fine phrases that Lewis spoke and wrote, this one has been chosen as the inscription on his memorial in Poets’ Corner. It links together many areas of his life and work.
The sentence comes from an address entitled “Is Theology Poetry?” The answer Lewis gives to his own question is that although Christian theology is not merely poetry it is still poetic and therefore must be received with an imaginative, as well as a rational, embrace.
Millions of readers who have moved about the worlds of Narnia, Perelandra, and Glome know the ripe fruits of his imaginative engagement with theological themes and the power of his poetic prose.
The address was one of many he gave to the Socratic Club, the forum for debate between Christians and non-Christians, of which he was President.
Thus the inscription points to his role as an apologist who publicly—and not without professional cost—defended the faith, “following the argument,” as Socrates said, “wherever it should lead.” Lewis was a rationalist as well as a romantic.
The sentence is straightforwardly confessional, marking the centrality of his faith at a personal level. “I never knew a man more thoroughly converted,”
remembers Walter Hooper, to whom thanks are especially due at this anniversary time for doing so much over the last half century to keep Lewis’s memory green.
The Sun is there, aptly enough, for “the heavens are telling the glory of God,”
in the words of the psalm that Lewis regarded as the psalter’s greatest lyric.
“Everything else” is there too, because his vision was all-embracing. Angels, poached eggs, mice and their tails, Golders Green, birdsong, buses, Balder, the great nebula in Andromeda: all are there and all may be redeemed for us in Christ—as long as the Cross comes before the Crown.
That Lewis spoke these words at a debating society in Oxford reminds us also of his long association with that university and of his distinguished academic career. If Oxford could have been picked up and deposited in his 58
native County Down, he said, it would have realised his idea of heaven. He lived in Oxford all his adult life—even while happily employed as a professor at Cambridge—and died there three years after his beloved wife, Joy, at his home, The Kilns, on this day in 1963.
The 22nd November is the feast of St. Cecilia, p
atron saint of music and musicians. Lewis’s great comedic character, Screwtape, despises music as a direct insult to the realism, dignity, and austerity of Hell. Lewis himself believed its joy to be the serious business of Heaven. He had, in the words of Donne, “tuned his instrument” at Heaven’s door and knew with greater intensity than most the longing to cross the threshold and join the heavenly harmony. Fifty years ago, the door on which he had been knocking all his life opened at last.
“Nothing makes a man so noticeable as vanishing!” Lewis once observed, but he had not envisioned how true this would be in his own case. In conversation with Walter Hooper, he predicted that sales of his works would decline steeply after his death. Hooper countered, “No, they won’t. And you know why? Your books are too good, and people are not that stupid.” It was one of the rare occasions when Lewis’s foresight failed him. Hence, it may be safely assumed that he would find today’s service completely surprising, but also, it may be hoped, not wholly displeasing.
Come, let us worship God, wonderful in his saints!
Dr. Michael Ward,
Senior Research Fellow,
Blackfriars Hall,
Oxford.
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Members of the congregation are kindly requested to refrain from using private cameras, video, or sound recording equipment. Please ensure that mobile phones, pagers, and other electronic devices are switched off.
The church is served by a hearing loop. Users should turn their hearing aid to the setting marked T.
The service is conducted by The Very Reverend Dr. John Hall, Dean of Westminster.
The service is sung by the Westminster Abbey Special Service Choir, conducted by James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers.
The organ is played by Martin Ford, Assistant Organist.
Music before the service:
Peter Holder, Organ Scholar, plays:
Rhapsody I Op 17
Herbert Howells (1892–1983)
Sonata in F minor Op 65 no 1
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47)
The Lord Mayor of Westminster Locum Tenens is received at the Great West Door by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. Presentations are made. All stand, and then sit.
Hymns covered by Christian Copyright Licensing (Europe) Ltd are reproduced under CCL
no 1040271.
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ORDER OF SERVICE
All stand as the Collegiate Procession moves to places in Quire and the Sacrarium.
The Choir sings
THE INTROIT1
VENI, Sancte Spiritus, et emitte caelitus lucis tuae radium. Veni, pater pauperum, veni, dator munerum, veni, lumen cordium.
Amen.
Come, Holy Spirit, and send the heavenly radiance of your light. Come, Father of the poor; come, giver of gifts; come, light of all hearts. Amen.
George Fenton (b 1950)
from the Sequence for Pentecost
Stephen Langton (c 1150–1228).
All remain standing. The Very Reverend Dr. John Hall, Dean of Westminster, gives:
THE BIDDING
FIFTY years after the death of C. S. Lewis, we assemble to give thanks for his life and work. We celebrate his work as a scholar, as one of the most significant Christian apologists of the twentieth century, and as the author of stories that have inspired the imagination and faith of countless readers and film-goers.
Here are buried or memorialised over three thousand men and women of our country and of the Commonwealth and of the English-speaking world.
Today the name of C. S. Lewis will join that distinguished roll when we dedicate a permanent memorial to him near the graves and memorials of poets and other writers in the South Transept.
As we celebrate C. S. Lewis, so we shall pray that scholars, writers, and apologists may be inspired by his example, and that his work will continue to exercise an influence for good on young and old alike.
1. Composed by George Fenton for the opening credits of the movie Shadowlands (1994). Available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=50rh6mHT0AY.
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All sing
THE HYMN
HE who would valiant be,
‘gainst all disaster,
let him in constancy
follow the master.
There’s no discouragement
shall make him once relent
his first avowed intent
to be a pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round
with dismal stories,
do but themselves confound,
his strength the more is.
No foes shall stay his might,
though he with giants fight,
he will make good his right
to be a pilgrim.
Since, Lord, thou dost defend
us with thy spirit;
we know we at the end
shall life inherit.
Then, fancies, flee away!
I’ll fear not what men say,
I’ll labour night and day
to be a pilgrim.
Monk’s Gate 372 NEH
John Bunyan (1628–88)
adapted from a traditional English melody
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
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All sit. An excerpt is played
from BEYOND PERSONALITY: THE NEW MEN
Voice of C. S. Lewis
in the sole surviving recording
of his broadcasts for BBC Radio
(that became Mere Christianity 2)
AT the beginning of these talks I said there were Personalities in God.
Well, I go further now. There are no real personalities anywhere else.
I mean, no full, complete personalities. It’s only when you allow yourself to be drawn into His life that you turn into a true person. But, on the other hand, it’s just no good at all going to Christ for the sake of developing a fuller personality. As long as that’s what you’re bothering about, you haven’t begun. Because the very first step towards getting a real self is to forget about the self. It will come only if you’re looking for something else. That holds, you know, even for earthly matters. Even in literature or art, no man who cares about originality will ever be original. It’s the man who’s only thinking about doing a good job or telling the truth who becomes really original, and doesn’t notice it. Even in social life you never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking what sort of impression you make.
That principle runs all through life from the top to the bottom. Give up yourself and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it.
Submit to death, submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Look for Christ and you will get Him, and with Him everything else thrown in. Look for yourself and you will get only hatred, loneliness, despair, and ruin.
Dr. Francis Warner, C. S. Lewis’s last pupil, reads
ISAIAH :–,
THE wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, 2. Available online: https://youtu.be/m3jYLGcDUFE. Lewis amended the text of this address before he published it as part of Beyond Personality: The Christian Idea of God (1944). He amended it again before incorporating it into Mere Christianity (1954).
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and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs o
f water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
All remain seated. The Choir sings
PSALM
THE heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth his handy-work.
One day telleth another: and one night certifieth another.
There is neither speech nor language: but their voices are heard among them.
Their sound is gone out into all lands: and their words into the ends of the world.
In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun: which cometh forth as a bride-groom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course.
It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it again: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The law of the Lord is an undefiled law, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right, and rejoice the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean and endureth for ever: the judgements of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb.
Moreover, by them is thy servant taught: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can tell how oft he offendeth: O cleanse thou me from my secret faults.
Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me: so shall I be undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.
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Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart: be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord: my strength, and my redeemer.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.
Amen.
Edward Hopkins (1818–1901)
Professor Helen Cooper, Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English,
University of Cambridge (Chair held by C. S. Lewis 1954–63), reads
CORINTHIANS : –END
WE preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’s sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’s sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.