35 pages • 1-hour read
The Ballad of the White Horse
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Symbols & Motifs
The Role of the Feminine
Although much of the emphasis in the ballad is on the male world of war and battles, the feminine element is also important. The Virgin Mary appears twice to Alfred at crucial moments in his life, and the Dedication is addressed to Chesterton’s wife, Frances. In both cases, it is the female figure who reveals the deeper aspects of life and enables the male figure—Chesterton himself, and then Alfred—to move forward along his spiritual path with better understanding.
The first eight stanzas of the Dedication present the difficulty Chesterton is facing: How to understand Alfred, who lived so long ago and is now shrouded in the mists of history. When Chesterton contemplates the crucifix Frances wears around her neck (Lines 49-50), however, he realizes that Christianity is the perspective from which he can grasp the truth about Alfred, whose faith was the most salient thing about him. Chesterton’s wife thus acts as a channel through which deeper knowledge flows. It was also Frances who first led Chesterton to Christianity. Chesterton saw the crucifix she wore as a “sign” (Line 50), and it had the same transformative effect on him that happened to the Danish king Guthrum, which led that king to his conversion. Thus Frances, the sign “flaming without flaw” (Line 55) around her neck, leads by her example.
The vision of the Virgin Mary in Book 1 has a similar deepening effect on Alfred. This is his direct experience of the divine, in feminine rather than masculine form, as the vision is of the Mother of God, not of Christ, the son. The Virgin shows Alfred the importance of letting go, of not being concerned about the outcome of his actions. He must of course fight bravely in battle, but the final result is, in a sense, none of his business. His task is simply to surrender to the reality of the moment, whether he is winning or losing; to do so is to experience that “joy without a cause” (Line 260) that is the essence of the spiritual life. Masculine striving must thus be balanced by feminine acceptance and insight.
The Child
The child motif is introduced at the beginning of Book VII, with the image of a child playing for many hours on White Horse Down. When his tower of small stones falls down, the child just starts building it again, without regrets or complaints. The eternal persistence of the child, “whom Time can never tire” (Bk VII, Line 29) is a virtue to which the adult must aspire. Alfred himself embodies this child-like energy and persistence: “He was least distant from the child / Piling the stones all day” (Lines 34-35). In that he differs from Eldred, Mark, and Colan, each of whom has his own distinctive ways of living and fighting, while Alfred “fought as gravely / As a good child at play” (Lines 42-43), focusing solely on his chosen task. Like the child on the downs, it does not matter how many times his plans do not work out, he just starts again.
The constant playful creativity and the innocent joy of the child place him near to God; the child “played on, alone, divine” (Line 8, emphasis added). In this respect, too, the child is a model for the adult, a notion that recalls the passage in the New Testament when Christ says, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” Matthew, Ch. 18, verse 3, KJV). This also is a virtue that Alfred embodies. It is part of the message he received from the Virgin Mary in Book I, when she instructed him to embrace “joy without a cause” (Line 260). Christians, the Virgin told him, “Go gaily in the dark” (Bk I, Line 234), that is, they express joy in their activities, not worrying about the unknown future. Alfred’s ability to possess this kind of childlike joy and use it to further Christian civilization is one of the marks of his greatness.
The White Horse
The White Horse on the hillside overlooking the White Horse Vale is a recurring symbol. It is an ancient figure carved in the shape of a horse. Those who created it removed the grass, dug trenches, and filled them with crushed chalk. The Horse has to be regularly maintained, or it gets covered over with grass and weeds. This maintenance work is called the scouring of the Horse.
The White Horse symbolizes the continuity of human culture and civilization. Alfred believes it is a Christian duty to carefully maintain the Horse, even though it was created in pre-Christian times. His positive attitude is contrasted with that of the Danes, who neglect the Horse and allow it to become overgrown. In Book III, as Alfred wanders across White Horse Down, he observes:
The great White Horse was grey,
For it was ill scoured of the weed,
And lichen and thorn could crawl and feed,
Since the foes of settled house and creed
Had swept old works away.
King Alfred gazed all sorrowful
At thistle and mosses grey (Lines 33-39).
Alfred reproaches the Danes for their neglect, saying that they have left the Horse to “darken and fail” (Line 365), and he informs them that “Christian men / Guard even heathen things” (Lines 371-72).
Alfred’s meticulous care of the White Horse is why the final book is titled “The Scouring of the Horse,” since it refers to the state of England after the victory at Ethandune, when under Alfred’s rule the Horse is properly cared for: “He bade them keep the White Horse white / As the first plume of the snows” (Lines 137-38). When war comes again, however, the White Horse is again neglected; its condition always reflects the extent to which civilization—in this case, Christian civilization—is flourishing or under siege.
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