I rated this book 2 stars not because it is a bad book, but because I had a hard time following the story. It is very well written, and the verse is very beautiful. Again though, I am not used to reading verse so I didn’t understand a lot of it. I would still recommend this book, but I won’t be reading it again.

2024: Read aloud on the feast day of St. Alfred. The joy and sehnsucht in the room was palpable. I love good Christian art. I am no longer made very uncomfortable by the religious imagery in this poem, which is an interesting thing to think about. Chesterton is just a master and I am in awe.

Here are some fave quotes from this time through:

⳩ The gates of heaven are fearful gates, / Worse than the gates of hell; / Nor would I break the splendours barred / Or seek to know the thing they guard, / Which is too good to tell.
⳩ He sang of Balder beautiful, / Whom the heavens could not save
⳩ I would rather fall with Adam / Than rise with all your gods.
⳩ If it be not better to fast for joy / Than feast for misery.
⳩ It is only Christian men / Guard even heathen things
⳩ For our God hath blessed creation, / Calling it good. I know / What spirit with whom you blindly band / Hath blessed destruction with his hand; / Yet by God's death the stars shall stand / And the small apples grow.
⳩ And was not God my armourer, / All patient and unpaid, / That sealed my skull as a helmet, / And ribs for hauberk made?
⳩ For we go gathering heathen men, / A terrible harvest, ten by ten, / As the wrath of the last red autumn- then / When Christ reaps down the kings.
⳩ Death on the gods of death! / Over the thrones of doom and blood / Goeth God that is a craftsman good
⳩ The people of the peace of God / Went roaring down to die
⳩ For dire was Alfred in his hour / The pale scribe witnesseth, / More mighty in defeat was he / Than all men else in victory, / And behind, his men came murderously, / Dry-throated, drinking death.
⳩ Wessex lay in a patch of peace / Like a dog in a patch of sun

I would rather fall with Adam, armed by God my peace, signed of the cross of the Christ, than rise with all the pagan gods. Amen amen world without end ⳩

2023:

The men of the East may spell the stars,
And times and triumphs mark,
But the men signed of the cross of Christ
Go gaily in the dark.

I listened to this for free on Librivox! It is definitely meant to be heard, but I get more out of it from reading it aloud myself or listening to someone perform it live than listening at 1.4x while shelving library books. That said, I still loved it and am glad to have gone through the whole thing in order (I've probably read it 2.5 times at this point but this is the second time actually reading it all at once). I agree with everything from my original review. 9.8/10, go read it now, epic and masterful and joyful and grim and brave and beautiful. By God's death the stars shall stand.

2022:
Okay, wow, I don't even know what to say. This was awesome. I've read good poetry before, and I've read good philosophy, but I've never really read good philosophical poetry. I've definitely never read philosophical poetry that manages to not feel overly philosophical and imposing. This is marvelous and engaging and well-written, and is *also* talking theology/philosophy but not in an annoying way at all.

It will take you a couple of hours to read and is well worth your time, so go and read it now.

(I don't love the end, or at least, I don't understand it. Also, I'm a little wary of justification of violence based on Christianity ~ another thing I don't really understand and don't want to fully judge until I do, but I get a visceral reaction when someone slays a bunch of people and says "oh, God told me to." So I almost rated this 4 stars, but there's so much good stuff that it has to be 5 for now. Will update when I reread, because I *will* reread this, and have thought about it some more.)

Oh, and a last note: if you have the time, read it aloud. The wordplay and literary genius of this poem is best appreciated in that way. (Even better, get someone to recite for you.)

Updated to add some of my favorite quotes:

Spoiler

The gates of heaven are fearful gates,
Worse than the gates of hell;
Nor I would break the splendours barred
Or seek to know the thing they guard,
Which is too good to tell.

~

The men of the East may spell the stars,
And times and triumphs mark,
But the men signed of the cross of Christ
Go gaily in the dark.

The men of the East may search the scrolls,
For sure fates and fame,
But the men that drink the blood of God
Go singing to their shame.

~

But though I lie on the floor of the world,
With the seven sins for rods,
I would rather fall with Adam
Than rise with all your gods.

~

[O]n you is fallen the shadow,
And not upon the Name;
That though we scatter and though we fly,
And you hang over us like the sky,
You are more tired of victory
Than we are tired of shame.

That though you hunt the Christian man
Like a hare on the hill-side,
The hare has still more heart to run
Than you have heart to hide.

That though all lances split on you,
All swords be heaved in vain,
We have more lust again to lose
Than you to win again.

Your lord sits high in the saddle,
A broken-hearted king,
But our King Alfred, lost from fame,
Fallen among foes or bonds of shame,
In I know not what mean trade or name,
Has still some song to sing;

Our monks go robed in rain and snow,
But the heart of flame therein,
But you go clothed in feasts and flames,
When all is ice within;

Nor shall all iron dooms make dumb
Men wondering ceaselessly,
If it be not better to fast for joy
Than feast for misery.
. . .
Ere the sad gods that made your gods
Saw their sad sunrise pass,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale,
That you have left to darken and fail,
Was cut out of the grass.

Therefore your end is on you,
Is on you and your kings,
Not for a fire in Ely fen,
Not that your gods are nine or ten,
But because it is only Christian men
Guard even heathen things.

For our God hath blessed creation,
Calling it good. I know
What spirit with whom you blindly band
Hath blessed destruction with his hand;
Yet by God's death the stars shall stand
And the small apples grow.

~

For dire was Alfred in his hour
The pale scribe witnesseth,
More mighty in defeat was he
Then all men else in victory,
And behind, his men came murderously,
Dry-throated, drinking death.
. . .
And a strange music went with him,
Loud and yet strangely far;
The wild pipes of the western land,
Too keen for the ear to understand,
Sang high and deathly on each hand
When the dead man went to war.

I hadn't really read any long form narrative poetry like this before and it takes some getting used to but I loved it!

This was a perfect follow up to reading the history of Alfred. Chesterton makes no claim to be doing history with his epic poem, but instead uses the story of Alfred as a backdrop to draw a picture of pre-Norman England as a mosaic of Celtic, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon life and culture. The Danes are not mocked or ridiculed either.

I had not read any lengthy poetry by Chesterton yet, and it was well-worth it. Chesterton is just so prolific.