From a Humble Admirer

To a great lady

IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY there is a copy of the 1950 edition of Dymer with the following inscription to a great poet and dear friend of Lewis on the flyleaf:

Ruth Pitter from C. S. Lewis 16 / 10 / 50

Not for your reading, not because I dream
To pay my debt for the still, ghostly beauty
Of yours, but as the clown brings fruits and cream
To a great lady, with his awkward duty.

C. S. Lewis