Splendour in the Dark : C. S. Lewis's Dymer in His Life and Work

"... Root has done us all an immense service, by rescuing this neglected poem from obscurity and presenting us with an excellent, scholarly edition. ... Everyone who loves Lewis will not only enjoy this book but also find that Root's commentary on Dymer enhances their reading of Lewis's other works as well." – Malcolm Guite, Girton College, Cambridge

Several years before he converted to Christianity, C. S. Lewis published a narrative poem, Dymer, underthe pseudonym Clive Hamilton. Later, of course, Lewis became well known for his beloved imaginative stories, such as The Chronicles of Narnia and Till We Have Faces, as well as his ability to defend and articulate the faith in works such as Mere Christianity.

But what about his literary work before his conversion?

In this Hansen Series volume, Jerry Root contends that Lewis's early poem Dymer can not only shed light on the development ofLewis's literary skills but also offer a glimpse of what was to come in his intellectual and spiritual growth―a "splendour in the dark," to borrow one of Lewis's own lines from the poem. Under Root's careful analysis, Dymer becomes a way to understand both Lewis's change of mind as well as the way in which each of us is led on a journey of faith.

This volume also includes the complete text of Dymer with annotations from David C. Downing, co-director of the Marion E. WadeCenter.

About the Series

The Hansen Series celebrates the literary and spiritual contributions of seven British authors whose works have captivated readers across generations: Owen Barfield, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. These seven authors were all deeply involved in the friendships and intellectual exchanges that shaped the Inklings, a mid-twentieth-century group of Christian writers andthinkers in Oxford, England. This series invites readers to deepen their engagement with these timeless voices and their enduring influence on literature, faith, and the life of the imagination.

Jerry Root (PhD, Open University) is professor of evangelism and director of the Evangelism Initiative at Wheaton College. He is the author of C.S. Lewis and a Problem of Evil: An Investigation of a Pervasive Theme, the coauthor of The Surprising Imagination of C.S. Lewis and The Sacrament of Evangelism, and the coeditor of The Quotable Lewis and The Soul of C.S. Lewis.

David C. Downing is the Ralph W. Schlosser Professor of English at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He has written numerous articles on C. S. Lewis, and his Planets in Peril: A Critical Study of C. S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy (University of Massachusetts Press) is named one of the five best books yet published on Lewis by the "C. S. Lewis and the Inklings Homepage." His book on C. S. Lewis's journey to faith, The Most Reluctant Convert, was named one of Booklist's Best Religion Books of 2002. It was also a 2003 ECPA Gold Medallion Finalist.