The Ballad of the White Horse
Article
The Ballad of the White Horse is a recurring book in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 2 times across 2 issues between September 20, 2024 and September 27, 2024. The archive places it in contexts such as “The Ballad of the White Horse is a 2,684 line poem about conservatism”; “I disagree: the Ballad of the White Horse is his masterpiece”; “Why is the poem named The Ballad of the White Horse?“. It most often appears alongside Adam, Alfred, Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa.
Metadata
- Category: Books
- Mention count: 2
- Issue count: 2
- First seen: September 20, 2024
- Last seen: September 27, 2024
Appears In
Related Pages
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- Adam (1 shared issues)
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- Alfred (1 shared issues)
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- Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa (1 shared issues)
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- Ballad (1 shared issues)
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- Buddhism (1 shared issues)
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- Buddhist (1 shared issues)
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- Catholic theology (1 shared issues)
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- Chesterton (1 shared issues)
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- Christ (1 shared issues)
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- Christendom (1 shared issues)
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- Christian (1 shared issues)
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- Christianity (1 shared issues)
External Links
Source Context
Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.
The Ballad of the White Horse is a 2,684 line poem about conservatism, and it is brilliant. It has been called the last great epic poem written in English. I have not read the three dozen or so English epic poems that Wikipedia claims have been written since, so I cannot confirm the “last” part, but I can confirm the rest. It is a great poem, in both quality and size, and it is undoubtedly an epic poem. It has almost all the qualities required of an epic poem: it begins by invoking a muse (his wife), it starts in media res, the plot is centered around a hero of legend, there are supernatural visions and interventions, and an omniscient narrator. The only epic requirement it lacks is a long boring list shoved in somewhere, for which I am grateful.
Inline links: The Ballad of the White Horse
Why is the poem named The Ballad of the White Horse?
Beneath that, not all that well hidden, the Ballad is Chesterton’s love song to conservatism as he understands it. In it Chesterton weaves the ideas that he has been writing about all his life and creates a cohesive narrative theme. The Ballad is like a melody that all his other works, fiction and nonfiction, dance to. Chesterton wrote many books, yet none seemed to stand higher than the others in terms of quality or popularity. Because of this he has been called “the master without a masterpiece” (though, appropriately, the quote itself seems legendary: I have found it referenced everywhere but I cannot find the source). I disagree: the Ballad of the White Horse is his masterpiece. It is Chesterton boiled down to his essence. Within it we find two core themes of Chesterton’s body of work: hope in defiance of fate, and the eternal revolution.
1: Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa 2: Dominion 3: Don Juan 4: The Family That Couldn’t Sleep 5: How Language Began 6: Real Raw News 7: Two Arms And A Head 8: How The War Was Won 9: Silver Age Marvel Comics 10: The Complete Rhyming Dictionary And Poet’s Craft Book 11: The History Of The Rise And Influence Of The Spirit Of Rationalism In Europe 12: The Pale King 13: Nine Lives 14: The Ballad Of The White Horse
Inline links: Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa, Dominion, Don Juan, The Family That Couldn’t Sleep, How Language Began, Real Raw News, Two Arms And A Head, How The War Was Won, Silver Age Marvel Comics, The Complete Rhyming Dictionary And Poet’s Craft Book, The History Of The Rise And Influence Of The Spirit Of Rationalism In Europe, The Pale King, Nine Lives, The Ballad Of The White Horse