The Ballad of the White Horse (Version 2)
G. K. Chesterton
Read by Gayle Cato
The Ballad of the White Horse is a poem by G K Chesterton about the idealized exploits of the Saxon King Alfred the Great, published in 1911. Written in ballad form, the work is usually considered an epic poem. The poem narrates how Alfred was able to defeat the invading Danes at the Battle of Ethandun under the auspices of God working through the agency of the Virgin Mary. In addition to being a narration of Alfred's militaristic and political accomplishments, it is also considered a Catholic allegory. Chesterton incorporates a significant amount of philosophy into the basic structure of the story. (Introduction by Wikipedia) (1 hr 52 min)
Chapters
Prefatory Note & Dedication | 7:37 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Book I - The Vision of the King | 11:20 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Book II - The Gathering of the Chiefs | 11:24 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Book III - The Harp of Alfred | 16:11 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Book IV - The Woman in the Forest | 12:34 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Book V - Ethandune: The First Stroke | 11:55 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Book VI - Ethandune: The Slaying of the Chiefs | 11:55 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Book VII - Ethandune: The Last Charge | 15:00 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Book VIII - The Scouring of the Horse | 14:34 | Read by Gayle Cato |
Reviews
History in Rhyme
Sherry Woomert
There is more to this than History. Chesterton has been prophetic with his usual spiritual insightfulness.
not White Supremacist enough
Bill Cosby
As an old white male I have internalized the characteristics white liberals have assigned to my kind. I expect and demand all fellow old white males be extreme Raycyst. I believe in doing thing like reading Dr Suess and not respecting pronouns. Also whenever I see a BIPOC, I start shooting and murdering, because I am an old white male and we old white males are afraid of ’em BIPOCs stealing our white women. Hence the problem with this book. I expect Chesterton to be sufficiently Raycyst to hate BIPOCs as much as I do. Sadly this is just not the case. We need to ban him and all fellow Irishmen who do not live up to the values assigned us by hip young liberal doogoodnick anti-raycyst.
J.A. Delo
This is a great epic poem, and the reader does a excellent job of doing Chesterton justice. Highly recommended.
Fairly Interesting
Olaf Que Pasta
Good example of alliterative poetry. Lyrical.
"...And all their songs are sad"
HumaneEngineer
I'll admit, as a 2nd gen Irish-American, I played this poem to hear Chesterton's take on my people -- and I wasn't disappointed. "And the Gaels of Ireland Are the men who God made mad For all [our] wars are merry And all [our] songs are sad" Not contending how general he is, I like this view. Unfortunately, the white supremacy of the rest of the work reeks like a hog's den. I can only imagine how the American Klan exploited this myth-legend when they were in their murderous psychoses. So I give three stars.