The Wild Knight And Other Poems

by G.K. Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) was an influential English writer of the early 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy, and detective fiction. Chesterton has been called the "prince of paradox. " He wrote in an off-hand, whimsical prose studded with startling formulations. He is one of the few Christian thinkers who are equally admired and quoted by both liberal and conservative Christians, and indeed by many non-Christians. And in his own words he cast aspersions on the labels saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. " Chesterton wrote many books among which are: All Things Considered (1908), Alarms and Discursions (1910), The Ballad of the White Horse (1911), The Appetite of Tyranny (1915), The Everlasting Man (1925), The Secret of Father Brown (1927) and The Scandal of Father Brown (1935).

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Classics, British Literature

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.

He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

Reviews

[Maya Joelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eternities, G.K. Chesterton

I cannot count the pebbles in the brook.
Well hath He spoken: 'Swear not by thy head,
Thou knowest not the hairs,' though He, we read,
Writes that wild number in his own strange book.

I cannot count the sands or search the seas,
Death cometh, and I leave so much untrod.
Grant my immortal aureole, O my God,
And I will name the leaves upon the trees.

In heaven I shall stand on gold and glass,
Still brooding earth's arithmetic to spell;
Or see the fading of the fires of hell
Ere I have thanked my God for all the grass.

---
I read this online via Kindle because I didn't realize that it was free on Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...). I would recommend printing it off and reading it, but if you like to read online that works :)

As always, Chesterton's style and themes are distinct and recognizable, and I had a lot of fun with certain poems. Some favorite poems/quotes:

+ The World's Lover: And on my naked face the love / Which is the loneliness of God
+ The Happy Man
+ A Novelty
+ Ultimate
+ Thou Shalt Not Kill: I turned and laughed: for there was no one by— / The man that I had sought to slay was I.
+ The peace of a field of battle, where flowers are born of blood. / I only know one evil that makes the whole world good. (The Pessimist)
+ The Ballad of the Battle of Gibeon (a marvelous war poem in the style of White Horse, but Biblical!): Shout thou, people, a cry like thunder, / For the kings of the earth are broken asunder. And a terrible, beautiful end: The dead heads dropped from the swords that sever, / Because His mercy endureth for ever.
+ The Ballad of God-makers


And lastly, a short mention of the titular poem, "The Wild Knight." It's a narrative poem followed by a dialogue/play, which ends with another section of narrative poetry, and it's well-written and thought-provoking. Much like after reading The Surprise, I feel very confused and I want to read it again. Redfeather was a great character.

PRIEST: And you—what is your right, and who are you,
To praise God?
REDFEATHER: A lost soul. In earth or heaven
Who has a better right?

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poems I enjoyed: "The World's Lover," "The Happy Man," "A Christmas Carol," "The Outlaw," and especially "The Ballad of the Battle of Gibeon." But most of these were humdrum.

[Stephen Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of poems and other writings by G.K. Chesterton. There's a lovely mix of short reflective poems and longer thoughtful poems and writings.

This is something to be gone through slowly, for Chesterton's use of language can be twisting and imaginative, drawing you deeper into the flow of words. You may have to re-read some of the verses and/or poems to truly grasp all that the ideas and thoughts wound throughout.

This is something to be brought out and read for quiet moments.

[Emma Gizmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some of these I disagree with the core idea (the babe unborn), and most (if not all) of them are a little too religious. But the cadence and choice of words is undeniably stylish at times, it’s worth it.

Selection : A child of snows, a novelty, the end of fear, Femina Contra Mundum, the pessimist, a man and his image, cyclopean, a certain evening, behind, the hope of the streets, King’s Cross station, eternities, the mariner, the donkey, the skeleton, the world’s lover, by the babe unborn.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute entertaining 🔰😀

Another will written novella collection of 👌British poems by G. K. Chesterton that is very interesting and relaxing while reading or listening. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick read. Enjoy the adventure reading 📚 or listening 🔰😀 to books 2021🏰

[Redsteve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chesterton has some excellent imagery but none of the poems in this collection really grabbed me.

[Hannah K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chesterton's poetry is brilliant. I hope I can find more of it.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favourites:
- A Chord of Colour
- Gold Leaves
- King’s Cross Station
- A Christmas Carol
- The Holy of Holies
- The Last Masquerade
- Femina Contra Mundum
- The Praise of Dust

[J. Alfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would you expect, reader of Chesterton's prose, if I told you he occasionally wrote lyrical poems? Would you assume bouncy metricality and ringing end stop rhymes? Would you assume that many of the lyrics would have at their heart a single paradox?
You win, reader of Chesterton's prose. That's what you get. This little book is kind of hit or miss, perhaps with more of the latter: I, as a big fan of The Ballad of The White Horse (which I think is one of the very few long verse narratives worth reading since Browning) admit that I'm a little disappointed in most of these shorter pieces. Read his "The Donkey" and "The Ballad of the Battle of Gibeon" to get a taste of what he's really good at (though the Ballad is of course much in the style of the White Horse-- ah well).

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

The devotional book "A Year with G.K. Chesterton" had snippets of G.K.'s poetry that whetted my appetite for more. So I downloaded The Wild Knight and other poems with great anticipation. The problem is that I already have trouble "getting" Chesterton in his prose. His poetry is even more difficult.

Some of his word images were breathtakingly beautiful such as when he describes the delicate loveliness of the inside of a flower as the "holy of holies."

I liked Chord of Colour, The Donkey, Ultimate, Gold Leaves, and The End of Fear, but was disheartened that most of the others were lost on me.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't consider myself a good judge of poetry. All I can say is that this collection bored me silly...

[Johanna Haas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entwines sacred Christian themes with pagan ideas and fairy tales. The stories are fantastic. The language is sing-song.