The Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton - Book Report/Review Example

The Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton Part 1 Passage 1 A 1. Mary is the speaker 2. Mary is the Holy Mother of Jesus to who most Christians pay their respect for their faith in Christianity. B 1. Mary is addressing Kind Alfred at the moment King Alfred is meditating after seeing the Danish army coming to conquer them. 2. On a mountain facing the Danish camp 3. This was just before the Battle of Ethandune where Mary disguised as an angel encourages King Alfred. Before this, King Alfred is meditating on why God has forsaken them and exposed them to their enemies. After the words is when the Danish army confront King Alfred to go into war with them. C PARAPHRASE Mary tells King Alfred that the Danish army may be learned and have had a lot of victory in the past, but those who fight for the sake of Christ are better even though they may appear weak. D This is imperative since the words serve to encourage Kind Alfred not to despair but face the Danish army. The victory would be for King Alfred though the fight might not be his. This foreshadows of what will happen later in the poem as the two parties fight. Passage 2 A 1. Mary is the speaker 2. Mary is the Holy Mother of Jesus to who most Christians pay their respect for their faith in Christianity. B 1. Mary is addressing Kind Alfred at the moment King Alfred is meditating after seeing the Danish army coming to conquer them. 2. On a mountain facing the Danish camp 3. This was just before the Battle of Ethandune where Mary disguised as an angel encourages King Alfred. Before this, King Alfred is meditating on why God has forsaken them and exposed them to their enemies. After the words is when the Danish army confront King Alfred to go into war with them. C PARAPHRASE Mary is telling King Alfred that her words are not meant to comfort him or confront his feelings. This is because God has seen what is happening and his anger has risen. D This is meant to inform King Alfred that even though he may go into battle with the Danes, the fight is God’s and therefore victory will be granted to him by God. Passage 3 A 1. The speaker is Ogier. 2. Ogier is a very old Danish earl under King Guthrum B 1. Ogier is singing to the rest of the Danes and King Alfred after Alfred was disguised as a minstrel and captured by the Danish army. 2. He sings in the Danish camp in which the Danes sing in turns using King Alfred’s harp. 3. This singing happened before the battle of Ethandune. Ogier sings after Harold had passed Alfred’s harp to him. After him is when King Guthrum takes the harp to mock the Christian army further. C PARAPHRASE Ogier addresses the younger army that they still have a lot ahead of them to accomplish. He encourages them to hold hatred against their enemies as opposed to love. D This is significant in revealing Ogier’s pessimism. It shows that Ogier is not sure of life after death and therefore calls for the younger generation to hate their opponents. Passage 4 A 1. The speaker is King Guthrum. 2. He is the Danish King B 1. Guthrum is singing to the rest of the Danes and King Alfred after Alfred was disguised as a minstrel and captured by the Danish army. 2. He sings in the Danish camp in which the Danes sing in turns using King Alfred’s harp. 3. This singing happened before the battle of Ethandune. He takes turn from Ogier to confront Alfred into war by mocking Christians. After this is when King Alfred goes to war with the Danes to stop them from blaspheming their God. C PARAPHRASE Guthrum tells his fellow Danes that although it is not easy to speak the truth, Christians are just like lost birds. Their bodies are wasted in the verge of Christianity. He adds that this however does not matter to the Christians since they are ignorant and only come to regret when they are ruined. D The words are meant to mock Christians for following and serving God yet they cannot fight in battles. Passage 5 A 1. The speaker is King Alfred 2. He is an English King that speaks of hope and goodness B 1. King Alfred is telling the rest of his British army. 2. He says this in the British camp when the Danes appear to be overpowered by the Christians. 3. This happens during the Battle of Ethandune. These words were said after the first advance by Christians to the Danish army. After this is when the Christians overpower the Danes. C PARAPHRASE Alfred tells his army that the God they serve is kind enough to have tolerated the Danes. He refers to the Danes as ill servants since they only focus on earthly values like hate and victory in battle. D This is significant in retaliating mockery to the Danish army after the Christians overpower them at war. Passage 6 A 1. The speaker is Marcus 2. He is the commander of the Christian army B 1. He is addressing the rest of the Christian army. 2. He says this on the battle field when Eldred is killed by the Danish army. 3. This occurs during the Battle of Ethandune. The words were said when chief Eldred had been killed by the Danes. Afterwards the Christian army takes courage and advances upon the Danes and overpowers them. C PARAPHRASE A wave of fear swept across the Christian army after Eldred was killed. Marcus orders the army to be steady since they too can fall to the sword just like Eldred had been killed. D This serves to alert the army to be careful and watch out. It also reveals that being a Christian did not entirely mean one could not be killed by the Danes. Passage 7 A 1. The speaker is King Alfred 2. He is an English King that speaks of hope and goodness B 1. The king is addressing his army 2. He says this in the Christian camp at the moment Danes appear to advance them and overpower them. 3. The event occurs during the Battle of Ethandune. This was a time when Christian chiefs were being killed and therefore the Christian army appeared weaker as compared to the Danish army. Afterwards the Christian army takes courage and advances upon the Danes and overpowers them. C PARAPHRASE He says that to go and work for the Danes as slaves was like partaking infamy. It would be better he died than be enslaved by the Danish army. For this reason, the Danes have to submit. D This is said to encourage the Christian army to fight harder so that shame is not taken to the people of God. The king was not ready to lose the battle especially after Eldred was killed. Passage 8 A 1. The speaker is the persona. 2. He is an onlooker from the Christian army. B 1. He addresses the reader of the poem. 2. This happens in the iron forest where the apparition of Mary had been put. 3. This is during the Battle of Ethandune. The battle was severe and therefore the Danes had attempted to destroy Mary’s apparition. C PARAPHRASE King Alfred looked over the forest and saw Mary’s Apparition which looked ruined. It had been mocked by the Danish army though there was still hope for the remaining sword in the hand. D The words are used to reveal King Alfred’s frustration after Mary’s Apparition had been mocked. It is meant to urge Christian soldiers to fight on and revenge the blasphemy caused by Danes. Passage 9 A 1. The speaker is King Alfred 2. He is an English King that speaks of hope and goodness. B 1. He is talking to his army. 2. This takes place in the Christian camp when they overpower the Danish army. 3. The event occurs during the Battle of Ethandune. During the battle, water currents rose high and disadvantage the Danes against the Christians. This led to the winning of the battle by Christians. C PARAPHRASE The water waves soared high to the extent of sweeping the Danish army. Mary the mother of Jesus moved over the waters and into the sky. This will eventually lead to everyone being converted to Christianity. D This statement foreshadows the victory that Christians have over the Danes. It also symbolises the extent to which Christianity will spread to cover the whole world. This is seen in the waters of the sea and the clouds in the sky. Passage 11 A 1. The speaker is King Alfred 2. He is an English King that speaks of hope and goodness. B 1. This is more or less like a monologue than addressing the Christian army 2. It takes place in the Christian army camp after they had conquered the Danes. 3. This occurs after the Battle of Ethandune. Before this words, the Danes had been overpowered and most of them including their king taken into captive by Christians. It follows that Christians sing a song of triumph after winning the war. C PARAPHRASE The army that sang songs of victory for years yet they have crumbled so fast at the sword of the Christian. Why have the Danes been taken captive by the Christians yet they are the best army in the world. D This is said in celebration of the victory acquired by the Christians after the Battle of Ethandune. In the words, humility and faith can still be seen on the side of Christians. Part II 1. It is true that the main theme in the poem is that Christians should fight with faith and humility. This is well demonstrated by King Alfred when he is faced with the Danish army which believes in triumph after war. They have won so many battles that there is no sense of humility in them. When we meet Harold in his song at the beginning of the poem, he demonstrates self-cantered pleasure. On the other hand, Ogier indicates earthly ignorance and pride when he encourages his army to hate. This arrogance has well been seen in the Danish King, Guthrum when he mock Christians as being fanatics. The battle however turns out to favour the Christians and the Danes therefore lose the war. 2. The first apparition of Mary is “The Mother of God”. Mary has been referred to as the mother of God because she gave birth to Jesus Christ on whom the Christian faith is founded. In the Ballad, this apparition has been used to signify victory as Mary moves over the Danish army on wind and flame. This causes the enemies to lose the battle. She has also been referred to Our Lady. This implies that she carries the foundation of Christian faith. This apparition was particularly important to the Christians, King Alfred and his chiefs because it signified submission. They accorded a lot of respect for her based on the fact that she was the holy one whose name bears Christian foundation. Work Cited: Chesterton, G.K. The Ballad of the White Horse. London: Wildside Press LLC, 2009 Read More