The Ballad of the White Horse

Considered one of the last traditional epic poems written in the English language, G. K. Chesterton’s The Ballad of the White Horse is a 1911 narrative poem about the exploits of King Alfred the Great. The work is often regarded as a Catholic allegory, telling the story of how Alfred was able to defeat the Danes at the Battle of Ethandun through God and the Virgin Mary. The White Horse of the title refers to the Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric drawing of a stallion in white chalk found on a hill in Oxfordshire, England. King Alfred of the poem sends his men to remove the weeds from the historic drawing, noting that the horse has seen more empires rise and fall than any man alive and that it should be a reminder to all that England would work to remain in a state of peace. After the Danes attack once more at the end of the ballad, Alfred realizes that the weeds on the white horse figure will need to be continuously scoured and that peace will never be a constant in the world.