The Ballad of the White Horse

I read GK Chesterton's The Ballad of the White Horse this weekend. Previously I had played around reading it, but yesterday I sat down and read the whole thing. Wow! To say that I like it would be weak.

As I read I could feel it shaping me, sculpting, molding my opinions and feelings. Honestly, I didn't get every allusion (there were a lot) I didn't know the places about which he was talking, but still his words were like blows. Rich once said about Bible stories; "Stories like that make a boy grow bold, stories like that make a man walk straight" I know he wasn't talking about Chesterton's poetry, but I could feel that same sentiment welling up more and more from stanza to stanza. It was an amazing feeling to ride with King Alfred and his cheiftans, to be swelled by there words of valor and taste the curses of the enemy bards and kings. My favorite thing about the poem was the way Alfred grew in wisdom every few pages. I started out likely him and thinking a lot of him but by the end he was a Wessex Solomon. The climax of the story in my view was when he prophesied that the heathen would never be beaten back from England and that in the generations to come his warfare against Christendom would morph. I don’t want to give away too much lest you spring away from this blog and read the poem. Straight away, is what I would recommend. What? You’re still reading, STOP NOW and go read the Ballad of the White Horse.