Record Number: 32313
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'I am at present engaged in reading Newman's poems; do you know them at all? They are very, very delicate and pretty, and are like nothing more than one of those valuable painted Chinese vases which a touch would destroy. I must except from this criticism the "Dream of Gerontius", which is very strongly written. but the rest are almost too delicate for my taste: it is a kind of beauty that I can't very much appreciate.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 1 Jun 1914 and 6 Jul 1914
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:Great Malvern
Worcestershire
Malvern College
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Child (0-17)
Gender:n/a
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
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Verses on Various Occasions
Genre:Other religious, Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication DetailsEither the original Burns, Oates edition, 1868, or Longmans, Green, 1901 and 1903.
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:32313
Source:C. S. Lewis
Editor:Walter Hooper
Title:C. S. Lewis Collected Letters
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:2000
Vol:1
Page:65
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 65, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32313, accessed: 07 February 2026
Additional Comments:
Newman's 'Dream of Gerontius' depicts the journey of the soul to God at the hour of death.... Lewis came to like the 'Dream' very much in later life and in a discussion of Purgatory in chapter 20 of 'Letters to Malcolm' (1964) he said 'the right view returns magnificently in Newman's 'Dream'. (Footnote by Hooper in 'Letters', p.66)
