War and Poetry

A Reading from Spirits in Bondage

How does war shape the words of a poet? Spirits in Bondage, C.S. Lewis’s first published work, offers a profound exploration of this question. Written in the wake of his service as a soldier in France during World War I, this collection of poetry highlights the clashes in his life at the time—friendship and war, good and evil. Published under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton while Lewis was still a student at Oxford, it reveals the inner workings of Lewis as a young man at a pivotal moment in his life. As Memorial Day approaches, Spirits in Bondage provides a unique way to reflect on the individuals this holiday honors.

Enjoy the following poem from Spirits in Bondage—

Spooks ¹

Last night I dreamed that I was come again 
Unto the house where my beloved dwells 
After long years of wandering and pain. 

And I stood out beneath the drenching rain 
And all the street was bare, and black with night, 
But in my true love's house was warmth and light. 

Yet I could not draw near nor enter in, 
And long I wondered if some secret sin
Or old, unhappy anger held me fast; 

Till suddenly it came into my head 
That I was killed long since and lying dead--
Only a homeless wraith that way had passed. 

So thus I found my true love's house again 
And stood unseen amid the winter night
And the lamp burned within, a rosy light, 
And the wet street was shining in the rain. 

1. Spirits in Bondage © 1919 CS Lewis Pte Ltd.