On August 26, 2011, the McConnell Center presented a seminar on The Ballad of the White Horse by renowned English author G.K. Chesterton. Our guest speaker for the evening was Professor William Campell. It was interesting having a professor of economics lecture about British history and literature. His passion for English history, especially about Alfred the Great, was very noticeable, as was his espousal for politically conservative public policy.
The Ballad of the White Horse received quite a positive reaction from the scholars. During the seminar, we discussed the imagery and semantics utilized by Chesterton, which presented a narration of warfare, brutality, and gore as a beautiful tale of wisdom, nobility, honor, and respect. However, Professor Campbell, in my personal opinion, presented the story in an overly positive light. While Chesterton’s imagery and use of religious morality is seemingly virtuous, one must not forget that the tale is about religious warfare and intolerance: Alfred the Great viewed his enemies as nihilist hedonists in the story, according to Professor Campbell. Should such tolerance receive support? Of course, historical context and cultural influences should be taken into consideration. Perhaps these factors make my point invalid.
One of the most meaningful symbols taken from the poem was the White Horse, which is a metaphor for the Christian light of truth and righteousness. Freshmen scholar Joel Ben Thomas asked, “What would you say is the White Horse of our generation?” This question still has me thinking. Perhaps Chesterton’s overlying message was not a defense of Christianity justifying violent conflict. Maybe it is about the neglect of virtue in present society. Whatever the answer is, I hope to definitely revisit the pages of the White Horse to piece together and understand Chesterton’s disdain with the 20th Century, and how our current century may have possibly taken society in a more negative direction.