The Ballad of the White Horse

by G. K. Chesterton

Overview

British writer G.K. Chesterton was an irrepressible jack-of-all-trades when it came to literature, producing popular works in virtually every genre. The Ballad of the White Horse is an epic poem detailing the triumphs and travails of Saxon King Alfred the Great. It is said that Chesterton spent more time on this poem than any other work, and some critics regard it as his finest poetic accomplishment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681490489
Publisher:	Ignatius Press
Publication date:	07/25/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

English journalist and author, who came of a family of estate-agents, was born in London on the 29th of May 1874. He was educated at St Paul's school, which he left in 1891 with the idea of studying art. But his natural bent was literary, and he devoted himself mainly to cultivating that means of expression, both in prose and verse; he did occasional reviewing, and had some experience in a publisher's office. In 1900, having already produced a volume of clever poems, The Wild Knight, he definitely took to journalism as a career, and became a regular contributor of signed articles to the Liberal journals, the Speaker and Daily News. He established himself from the first as a writer with a distinct personality, combative to a swashbuckling degree, unconventional and dogmatic; and the republication of much of his work in a series of volumes (e.g. Twelve Types, Heretics, Orthodoxy), characterized by much acuteness of criticism, a pungent style, and the capacity of laying down the law with unflagging impetuosity and humour, enhanced his reputation. His powers as a writer are best shown in his studies of Browning (in the "English Men of Letters " series) and of Dickens; but these were only rather more ambitious essays among a medley of characteristic utterances, ranging from fiction (including The Napoleon of Notting Hill) to fugitive verse, and from artistic criticism to discussions of ethics and religion.

Table of Contents

Book IThe Vision of the KIngBook IIThe Gathering of the ChiefsBook IIIThe Harp of AlfredBook IVThe Woman in the ForestBook VEthandune: The First StrokeBook VIEthandune: The Slaying of the ChiefsBook VIIEthandune: The Last ChargeBook VIIIThe Scouring of the Horse