C.S. Lewis and Sixteenth Century Literature

One has to chuckle at the title of this massive book - Oxford History of English Literature: English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, excluding drama. Not the most catchy title. It's not that drama isn't of interest (hello, Shakespeare), but if drama was included, the book would weigh about two tons, and be 1200 pages long. I am glad the book focused solely on prose and verse. 

Poets are not so like putty as is sometimes implied. (pg.352)

This substantial book was a huge achievement of C.S. Lewis's literary/academic career, published in 1954 after he spent more than 10 years working on it. Since he refused to give his opinion on a book unless he read it, he spent countless hours over those years at the Bodleian Library in Oxford reading all the 16th century works. Just think about that for a moment - he read all the books/writings of the 16th century that he discussed in this book, sitting in the wonderfully medieval Duke Humphrey's Library of the Bodleian to read them all. If I could be half as good of a reader and have half a beautiful old library in which to read them....

He divides the 16th century into three main literary descriptors - Late Medieval, "Drab", and "Golden". He then discusses the writers of those categories, and what they brought to the table (or didn't bring). To add some context,  Lewis, with some of his classic witty style, would drop in bits and pieces of history, which I really enjoyed, as it helped me place this time period in my mind's timeline properly.

While I did learn about many obscure authors I had never heard of, along that journey through the 16th century, I learned about what was going on that influenced the writers, which was interesting to me. Why did English literature go through a drab phase during this century, in which the language was dull, straightforward, and missing a sense of wonderment? If the world had ended at the end of the 16th century, it would have ended with a seeming assumption that English literature was in a grave decay, never to be revived. Thankfully, the 17th century revealed the genius that had been hidden.

Somehow or other during the latter part of the sixteenth century Englishmen learned to write. (pg.418)

Many of the great writers we know and read today were born in the 16th century, but didn't publish until the turn of the century, so they were not covered in Lewis's grand analysis of the century. That would include John Donne, John Milton, and George Herbert. But you do get insights on some others who did publish in the 16th century like Thomas More, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney, and John Davies. These were the shining lights in the midst of a century in great need of some good writers. 

I don't know anyone who has read this book. At 558 pages (plus another 127 pages of notes and references), it doesn't appeal to the masses. It isn't deeply academic, though, and it does capture Lewis's amiable writing style, but I don't think it is at the top of anyone's list of books to read, except for me, it has been on my list of books to read. I made it a goal to read the whole book, to challenge myself with something that would take me out of my comfort zone a bit. I am so glad I did, for that elusive 16th century phase of English literature actually makes sense to me now, placed the context of history, and I appreciate the authors of that century in a newfound way.