CS Lewis

C. S. Lewis “An Easter Hymn”

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From a June 10, 1958 letter to Francis Turner (at which time Turner was President of Magdalene College, Cambridge), in which Lewis wrote: “A challenge is a challenge, so here comes my (Easter) hymn. It aims at little more than to be mouth-filling. If the numbers are unpleasing, the sentiments, since they are scriptural, must surely be just.”

Lords coëval with creation,
Seraph, Cherub, Throne and Power,
Princedom, Virtue, Domination,
Hail the long-awaited hour!
Bruised in head, with broken pinion,
Trembling for his old dominion,
See the ancient dragon cower!
    For the Prince of Heaven has risen,
    Victor, from his shattered prison.

Loudly roaring from the regions
Where no sunbeam e’er was shed,
Rise and dance, ye ransomed legions
Of the cold and countless dead!
Gates of adamant are broken,
Words of conquering power are spoken
Through the God who died and bled:
    Hell lies vacant, spoiled and cheated
    By the Lord of life defeated

Bear, behemoth, bustard, camel,
Warthog, wombat, kangaroo,
Insect, reptile, fish and mammal,
Tree, flower, grass, and lichen too,
Rise and romp and ramp, awakening,
For the age-old curse is breaking.
All things shall be made anew;
    Nature’s rich rejuvenation
    Follows on Man’s liberation.

Eve’s and Adam’s son and daughter,
Sinful, weary, twisted, mired,
Pale with terror, thinned with slaughter,
Robbed of all your hearts desired,
Look! Rejoice! One born of woman,
Flesh and blood and bones all human,
One who wept and could be tired,
    Risen from the vilest death, has given
    All who will the hope of Heaven.//

Lewisians will hear echoes of Narnia (and Malacandra and Perelandra) in this poem — especially in stanza 3 when all manner of animal and nature romp with joy at the onset of New Creation, and in stanza 4 when Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve are called to look and rejoice because one who wept and could be tired has risen and given the hope of Heaven to all who will receive it.

Lewis wrote other things about Easter, but this little poem, tucked away in a non-Eastertime letter, is not well known. Read it today and with all other Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve who feel weary, twisted, mired, pale with terror, thinned with slaughter, and robbed of all your hearts desired, Look! and Rejoice! For Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.

Lewis misquoted for graduation

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(A 2023 graduation card)

It’s any day of any year, which means that somewhere C. S. Lewis is being misquoted in spades.

In this particular case, the misquote appears in a bad font on a trite graduation card distributed by Papyrus, which is perhaps the most trite font of all, but I digress.

Here’s the offending phrase:

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind – C. S. Lewis

Item the first: This pseudo-quote lacks a full stop. How hard is to write a complete sentence? Not hard. Period.

Item the second: The words “far, far” are often added to this particular pseudo-quote in order to amplify the sentiment. Really and truly. Indeed and yes. For sure and certain.

Item the third: The artwork implies that what lies ahead is some kind of ethereal life journey in which a person will traverse meadows and scale heights and discover glorious delights all while enjoying the aroma of wildflowers and herbs and probably not doing any real life things such as grocery shopping, washing dishes, cleaning toilets, paying bills, folding laundry, and showing up for work each day.

Item the fourth: This pseudo-quote is so completely taken out of context on this graduation card that it’s hard not to wonder whether there are any editorial checks and balances in this world any more.

On June 17, 1963, Lewis responded to Mary Willis Shelburne (a regular correspondent of his as found in The Collected Letters and Letters to an American Woman). We don’t have the immediately previous letter she wrote to him, but we know the context: she was lying in a hospital with what she thought was a terminal illness. She was afraid of dying. Lewis wrote the following to her:

Dear Mary Willis,

This is terrible news. The doctor who refused to come wd., I think, be liable to criminal prosecution in this country.

Pain is terrible, but surely you need not have fear as well? Can you not see death as the friend and deliverer? It means stripping off that body which is tormenting you: like taking off a hair-shirt or getting out of a dungeon. What is there to be afraid of? You have long attempted (and none of us does more) a Christian life. Your sins are confessed and absolved. Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.

Remember, tho’ we struggle against things beause we are afraid of them, it is often the other way round – we get afraid because we struggle. Are you struggling, resisting? Don’t you think Our Lord says to you ‘Peace, child, peace. Relax. Let go. Underneath are the evelasting arms. Let go, I will catch you. Do you trust me so little?’

Of course, this may not be the end. Then make it a good rehearsal.

Yours (and like you a tired traveller near the journey’s end),

Jack

Try putting that on a graduation card. It’s really more of a post-get-well sentiment in which context the artwork on this card might serve (feebly) what with its thin attempt at heavenly landscape. “Further up and further in,” as Jewel the unicorn would say.

Turns out Mary’s health scare was indeed just a rehearsal. She lived another 12 years. Lewis, though, died just five months after writing this letter.

There are plenty of actual C. S. Lewis quotes that would be apropos for a graduation card. They wouldn’t coddle or coo, though; they would challenge and charge, in the best of ways.

As it stands, this card should have said:

There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. – C. S. Lewis, to a woman on her presumed deathbed

That might not sell well, but at least it would be honest.