Customer Reviews

The Ballad of the White Horse (Dodo Press)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the great poems in the English language--and certainly a top contender for the greatest narrative poem. A retelling of the Alfred the Great's defeat of Guthrum and the Danes at the Battle of Ethandune (or the victory of the true power of Christianity over the inherent weakness of paganism), written to be read aloud or to oneself (but please do read it aloud). A ranking of ten stars would be more accurate. [This review refers to the first edition.]

The greatest poem of the century. The100-page saga of King Alfred the Great's apparently hopeless war against the Vikings is all one dreams poetry might be - stirring the heart and soul, filled with beauty, wisdom and excitement. A timeless message of hope and wonder. A few passages stumble, as is inevitable in a work of this length, but these can be overlooked. Read this wonderful poem and it will lighten and change the world for you. The greatest antidote to depression and despair that I know!

G.K. Chesterton died in 1936 and The Ballad was written years before that, yet he could already foresee the bitter harvest that would come as a result of the growth of utilitarian humanism. The Ballad is the powerful retelling of the story of King Alfred's ultimate triumph over the invading Danes, despite repeated losses, decimated forces and overwhelming adversity. It's a great story of a significant moment in history, but in it Chesterton also teaches us much we can apply in our own cultural wars against the forces of the "New Dark Ages". He brings his prodigious intellect and wit to the task and in so doing offers hope to the "men signed of the cross of Christ (going) gaily in the dark". The book is filled with memorable quotations and insights that will leave readers inspired to perservere in the face of their own adversities. It is abook worth owning and cherishing for the ages!

GK Chesterton, who took his Christianity very seriously, published in 1911 this beautiful and moving ballad about Alfred the Great, who also took his Christianity most seriously when he drove the pagan Danes from his land in the 9th century. It is a measure of how far Western civilization has sunk that, today, both Chesterton and Alfred would be considered fanatics, insensitive and most opposed to diversity. Particularly alien to the modern mind would be the response of the Danish king, who, after Alfred impossibly beats his forces, becomes convinced that Alfred's Christian faith must be true, and is baptized!

'For not til the night's blue slate is wiped
Of its last star utterly,
And fierce new signs writ there to read,
Shall eyes with such amazement heed,
As when a great man knows indeed
A greater thing than he.'

The language is powerful, compelling, demanding that the poem be read aloud. This edition has very helpful historical notes by Sister Bernadette Sheridan--even the well educated will need them. An inspirational work of faith, from Alfred and GK. Highly recommended.

I had read some of Chesterton's fictional books, most of which contain poems which he has written, and I very much enjoyed his poems, so I decided to get a book of his poetry. This too I really enjoyed, so I decided to get another book of his poetry, this time it was The Ballad of the White Horse, and this book simply blew away all of the rest of Chesterton's poems. In fact, it simply blows away most poems by anyone. I have read Dante's Divine Comedy, Milton' Paradise Lost, Eliot's Wasteland, Chaucer's Canturbury Tales, etc., but I can honestly say that I enjoyed this epic far more than any of them. I am not saying that it is a better written poem or that it should be ranked above these classics, but I am saying that it is much more exciting to read than the others. Somehow Chesterton makes his poem involving: you are drawn into it and cannot put the book down until you have finished the chapter. He wrote it in such a way that the verses beg to be read quickly, and as I read I found myself reading faster and faster, until I was stumbling over the words and had to slow down again. Chesterton, like no other poet whom I know of, paints a picture of glory, honor, bravery, and captures the true spirit of an idealized Medieval War. The poem resounds with the drums of doom, the cries of angels, the hordes of invading barbarians and great deeds of heroes of old. If I were to recommend owning one epic poem, this would be the one.

Overall grade: A+

A stirring epic poem with a message important for the future of western civilization...to act on hope when there is no longer any hope... The outcome is always, finally, in God's Providence. "The Ballad of the White Horse" should have great appeal for young men who can dream impossibilities because they are firmly grounded in the eternal verities. The battles scenes will fire the blood!

White Horse is nothing less than the greatest epic poem in the English language. It is the crowning glory of Christendom's greatest wordsmith.

Whoever said that epic poetry is a dead art form? In Ballad of the White Horse, G. K. Chesterton not only proved that epic poetry yet lives, but that it can be readable and inspiring even to we jaded moderns. For me, reading this book was a great way to introduce myself to a period of history that was unfamiliar. The story of King Alfred and his desperate defense of Christian England against the invading pagan Danes is one that is not often featured in primary or secondary education (or college level Western history courses for that matter). But if not for Alfred, European history may have taken a decidedly different course. For me, the most compelling section of the ballad is toward the end where Alfred predicts that the Christian England he has just preserved will be threatened again in the far distant future by the forces of paganism. Clearly, Chesterton was not averse to taking shots at the contemporary post-Christian culture.

If you enjoyed this book, fear not. Good historical epic poetry is being written even to this day! The Laviniad (available on Amazon.com), an epic poem in the more classical tradition, is also a great read. Or if you like fantasy literature, try The Mask of Ollock, an epic poem in octet form.

Out of the thousand or so books I have read in my life, if I were to put the Bible aside (since the Bible speaks with a special authority to believers and cannot really be compared to other books), I have read no more than five or six books that I would call truly great. That means there are only five or six books I would rate at five stars. This is one. Yes, it is that good.

I have never read any author who could make the English language sing the way Chesterton does in this poem -- for over a hundred pages. In contrast to contemporary "poets" whose "poems" consist of a bunch of strange words scattered apparently at random on a page, whose meaning, if there is one, is far beyond obscurity, Chesterton had apparently unlimited ability to create rhyme and alliteration, and then he bound it all tightly in the sing-song ballad style that carries it all swiftly along. The words of this poem are glorious to hear, and really, this book should be read aloud, so that one might hear the music of the words.

And few have ever been able to match the way Chesterton paints pictures with words. I will quote one passage, and hope it is not to long, to illustrate this. The scene here is Alfred's army making one final charge against the Danish camp:

Then bursting all and blasting
Came Christendom like death,
Kicked of such catapults of will,
The staves shiver, the barrels spill,
The waggons waver and crash and kill
The waggoners beneath.

Barriers go backward, banners rend,
Great shields groan like a gong,
Horses like horns of nightmare
Neigh horribly and long.

Horses ramp and rock and boil
And break their golden reins,
And slide on carnage clamorously,
Down where the bitter blood doth lie,
Where Ogier went on foot to die
In the old way of the Danes.

It would be hard to imagine anyone anyone describing such a violent scene in so few words any better than Chesterton does in that passage. And this passage is but one of dozens of glorious word-pictures that Chesterton's poetry paints in this book.

Beyond its magnificent use of the English language, this book also contains much philosophical insight -- insight that, although first published in 1911, is directly and clearly applicable today. Chesterton expresses very clearly the way that Christianity has formed the heart of Western culture over the ages, and the way that Christian faith -- which seems all about self-denial and thus sadness -- leads to unconquerable joy.

The book, of course, is not perfect; no work of literature can be. There are places where it gets a bit too preachy for my taste. But the book's flaws are few and minor, while its good points are many and glorious.

How good is this book? I have read it at least 50 times in my life, and I still enjoy reading it. In my opinion it is one of the truly greatest works written in the English language. It is one of the few books I have read that truly deserves five stars.

The greatest poem ever written! Read it and it will lead you into a high and heroic world and change your life forever!