Lift not my head from bloody ground,
Bear not my body home,
For all the earth is Roman earth
And I shall die in Rome.

The Ballad of the White Horse was an epic poem written by GK Chesterton about the famous King Alfred the Great, the King of Wessex who eventually united the six kingdoms of England against the invasion of the Danes around 850 AD. The ballad is written in poetic form and is easy to read because of its lyric quality. In it, Chesterton praises the medieval virtues of chivalry, the loyalty of the people to the king and the loyalty of the king to his God. Chesterton draws contrasts between these medieval virtues and the modern ideals of indifference, tolerance and laissez-faire. My only criticism of this work is that the structure of the poem makes the story tedious at times, but that is the risk of using a highly structured poetic form to tell a story. Overall, I would recommend the Ballad to anyone with an interest in medieval society.

Epic poem about Alfred the Greats struggle against the Danes. Highly recommend it in audiobook format as epoc poems should be listened to aloud.

Absolutely masterful poetry and simply delightful turns of phrase. This is a wonderful little book of grand adventure and historical romance, at times reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's Narnia or Tolkien's Middle Earth. Despite the at-times faulty theology and literary license with historical fact, Chesterton is a master storyteller.

First book ever read aloud to my son. He seemed indifferent, but then he's only 6 weeks old. I enjoyed it a great deal as his mother.

I've pretty much always known that I would love Chesterton's books. I just have. However, this being the very first of Chesterton's books that I've read, it's official.

How on earth he managed to tell a brilliant but bloody tale in beautiful verse, I'll never know. (Also, my giddy heart filled with glee every time he rhymed a word with a name of a person or place. I don't even know why, but I really like that.)

I started this book and immediately had proof that I would love it when I read this:

"Up through an empty house of stars,
Being what heart you are,
Up the inhuman steeps of space
As on a staircase go in grace,
Carrying the firelight on your face
Beyond the loneliest star."

Which is part of the dedication to his wife.

And then there is one of my other favorite quotes:

“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.”

And in any case, it's a gorgeous tale, best read aloud, and I heartily recommend to all.