What was C.S. Lewis’s first book of poetry, published in 1919?

Spirits in Bondage was C.S. Lewis’s first published book of poetry, appearing in 1919. Lewis published it under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton, while he was still a young man who had recently served in the First World War.

The collection contains poems influenced by Lewis’s early atheism, classical reading, and experience of war. Its tone is often bleak and skeptical, which contrasts with the Christian worldview of many of his later books. The pseudonym helped separate the poetry from Lewis’s personal identity and was also used for his later poetic work Dymer.

The title refers to confinement and suffering, themes that recur throughout the collection. Lewis later became better known for prose, including The Problem of Pain and The Chronicles of Narnia, but poetry remained important to his literary development. The 1919 volume offers an early view of the writer before his conversion to Christianity.