The Ballad of the White Horse: a tale for our time
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- Опубликовано: 28 окт 2020
- On King Alfred’s Day I read to you from Chesterton’s glorious poem about Alfred the Great. In 2011, the centenary of the poem's publication I made a studio recording of the entire poem, in instalments, on my podcast, so if you'd like to hear more you can find all the links to listen and download, and a bit more about the poem, on my blog page here: malcolmguite.wordpress.com/blog/
If you are enjoying these episodes and would like to encourage and support me by popping round to buy me a coffee some time (not every time of course!) you can do so here: www.buymeacoffee.com/malcolmg...
Joy without a cause. That’s the life of hope.
I used to not like poetry. Nowadays I’m “selective” in what I like. Ballad of the White Horse is a personal favorite. Alfred’s monologue near the end has been repeatedly prophetic of the 20th and 21st century.
"I know that weeds shall grow in it
Faster than men can burn;
And though they scatter now and go,
In some far century, sad and slow,
I have a vision, and I know
The heathen shall return.
"They shall not come with warships,
They shall not waste with brands,
But books be all their eating,
And ink be on their hands.”
I just checked out a copy of Chesterton’s What's Wrong with the World. Looking forward to more of your readings.
"And he set to rhyme his ale-measures, And he sang aloud his laws"
...something about that line, and the stroke of genius it takes to compose it
yes, I hope that my ale-measures will always be set to rhyme!
It may be more relevant than we know, Malcolm!
Are you going to read the ballad or just talk about it
@@michealdraconis6179We come to hear him do both. It’s kind of the whole point 😊
WONDERFUL, Dr. Guite! Thank you, so much!
God bless you!
This gentleman, reminds me alot of the late John Hurt. The way in which he narrates the story.
A beautiful reading and very poignant 😊
Keep the faith
Thank you so much! I love this epic poem and am encouraged so often by Chesterton today. Chesterton's relentless assaults on the dehumanizing horrors of the pseudoscientific eugenic philosophy of his day bleeds through in one of Alfred's speeches.
"In some far century, sad and slow,
I have a vision, and I know
The heathen shall return.
"They shall not come with warships,
They shall not waste with brands,
But books be all their eating,
And ink be on their hands...
"By terror and the cruel tales
Of curse in bone and kin,
By weird and weakness winning,
Accursed from the beginning,
By detail of the sinning,
And denial of the sin;
"By thought a crawling ruin,
By life a leaping mire,
By a broken heart in the breast of the world,
And the end of the world's desire;
"By God and man dishonoured,
By death and life made vain,
Know ye the old barbarian,
The barbarian come again-
"When is great talk of trend and tide,
And wisdom and destiny,
Hail that undying heathen
That is sadder than the sea.
"In what wise men shall smite him,
Or the Cross stand up again,
Or charity or chivalry,
My vision saith not; and I see
No more; but now ride doubtfully
To the battle of the plain."
Thank you for sharing such meaningful and comforting words 🙂
I began reading this poem recently. A section in Book IV reminded me of George Herbert's Easter poem. The description of God as "a great servant" who "rose before the day" seems to echo Herbert's "but thou wast up by break of day"
that's a fine observation
Thank you for these helpful thoughts. They strangely bring more comfort than 'it's all going to be normal soon
'The gates of heaven are lightly locked - we can receive it's 'gold ' even in the dark days of this winter.
Well said!
Such appropriate poetry for a dire and hopeless 2020! Kind regards, SF.
Thank you
One of my favourite poems
...for the White Horse...
God bless you sir 🙏
Hello from Colombia. I enjoyed your reading, really encouraging. Thanks.
Just stumbled upon this. This was great!
Can't wait to make time to dwell more into your interesting tales
I am encouraged by this! Thank you.
I'm so glad!
Stupendous! Thank you.
Glad you liked it!
I think I'm going to have to read it again now! Being a war history aficionado, I was delighted to hear of the poem's place in the minds of soldiers and citizens during the wars. Thank you for drawing us back to this as we fight different battles today.
thanks! yes every generation has its own battles
I enjoy listening to your excitement as you talk about and read the poem! Thank you for taking the time to record these videos.
(Side comment: My 2 year old son came to see the video when I pulled it up to listen. He took one look and ran off disappearing into my husband's office. When he came back he was wear glasses he found and holding a notebook. I thought it was great, and he is now walking around saying Malcolm Guite.)
that's a wonderful story!
Delightful as always brother.
Thanks for listening
Your lovely vignettes bring me back to the early days of reading Walter de la Mare (and of course, C.S. Lewis). Please continue, and thank you!
Glad you like them!
Awesome! An audiobook is begging to be made.
As every school boy and girl was taught in the past, Alfred burnt the cakes! ...the Sellar and Yeatman approach to history.
The winter ahead does look bleak with the Covid crisis, but we will overcome.
The developed world has, perhaps, become a little complacent; this will make us stop and reconsider our values and what's important to us.
God bless and keep well.
yes I love 1066 and all that
How can I contact you
you just have!
@@MalcolmGuitespell Have you heard of Gnosticism?
What did GKC mean when he said men are men but man is a woman?
Pray for Rebublic. The election is four days away and the nation has not been this divided since 1860. I fear that the nuts on both sides will erupt on Wed.
yes , I do keep your nation, and my American friends on both sides of the political divide, in my prayers