Record Number: 32394

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'... I read seriously only on week-ends.... "Comus" being finished, its place was taken by Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound" which I got half through. It is an amazing work. I don't know how to describe it to you; it is more wild & out of the world than any poem I ever read, and contains more wonderful descriptions. Shelley had a great genius, but his carelessness about rhymes, metre, choice of words etc, just prevents him being as good as he might be. To me, when you're in the middle of a fine passage and come to a "cockney" rhyme like "ruin" and "pursuing", it spoils the whole thing - makes it vulgar and grotesque. However some parts are so splendid that I could forgive him anything. I am now, through the week, reading Scott's "Antiquary".... I am very pleased with it...'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 4 Oct 1916 and 12 Oct 1916

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Clive Staples Lewis

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

29 Nov 1898

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Student

Religion:

Church of England

Country of Origin:

Northern Ireland

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Title:

Prometheus Unbound

Genre:

Other religious, Classics, Drama, Poetry, Social Science, Romantic poem, closet drama re-interpreting Aeschylus' play

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32394

Source:

Print

Author:

C. S. Lewis

Editor:

Walter Hooper

Title:

C. S. Lewis Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2000

Vol:

1

Page:

232

Additional Comments:

From a letter to Arthur Greeves, (possibly 12 Oct 1916)

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 232, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32394, accessed: 13 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

This was one of Lewis's 'serious' reading experiences, that is, not part of his formal study. It is not clear whether he ever finished it. He does not refer to it again until April 1920, in another letter to Greeves: 'I am now at "Waverley" which I like very much so far and "Prometheus Unbound".' (Letter to Arthur Greeves, 2 April 1920, v.1, p.478). I am intrigued that on both occasions he was reading Walter Scott and Shelley's fiercely revolutionary text at the same time!