Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician's corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged
I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged.("Epitaph on the Politician Himself")
From quiet homes and first beginning,
Out to the undiscovered ends,
There's nothing worth the wear of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends.
(Verses (1910) "Dedicatory Ode")
May all good fellows that here agree
Drink Audit Ale in heaven with me,
And may all my enemies go to hell!
Noel! Noel! Noel! Noel!
May all my enemies go to hell!
Noel! Noel!(Drinking Song for Christmas from The Four Men)
Now the faith is old and the Devil bold
Exceedingly bold indeed.
And the masses of doubt that are floating about
Would smother a mortal creed.
But we that sit in a sturdy youth
And still can drink strong ale
Let us put it away to infallible truth
That always shall prevail.
And thank the Lord
For the temporal sword
And howling heretics too.
And all good things
Our Christendom brings
But especially barley brew!(The Pelagian Drinking Song)
The world is full of double beds
And most delightful maidenheads,
Which being so, there’s no excuse
For sodomy or self-abuse.("The world is full of double beds")
Heroic Poem in Praise of Wine
To exalt, enthrone, establish and defend,
To welcome home mankind's mysterious friend
Wine, true begetter of all arts that be;
Wine, privilege of the completely free;
Wine the recorder; wine the sagely strong;
Wine, bright avenger of sly-dealing wrong,
Awake, Ausonian Muse, and sing the vineyard song!
By thee do seers the inward light discern;
By thee the statue lives, the Gods return.
When the ephemeral vision's lure is past
All, all, must face their Passion at the last.
So touch my dying lip: so bridge that deep:
So pledge my waking from the gift of sleep,
And, sacramental, raise me the Divine:
Strong brother in God and last companion, Wine.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Deliciously quotable Belloc
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9 comments:
Regarding “Drinking Song for Christmas from The Four Men”. Is it okay to wish one's enemies to be damned as long as one is a famous Catholic author? Inquiring minds would like to know. At least this inquiring mind wants to know. This question has run through my mind through the years, every time I hear or read it. To say Belloc is not my favorite author is an understatement and I think that this poem helps him to stay wayyy down on my list. The fact that I find his writing boring helps as well. Read The Path to Rome when you can't sleep. Anyone who lives near me may have it freebie.
Donna
In sixth grade, I won a poetry contest with this poem by Belloc which is still stuck in my head:
George, Who Played With a Dangerous Toy and Suffered a Catastrophe of Considerable Dimensions
When George's grandmama was told
That George had been as good as gold,
She promised in the afternoon
To buy him an immense balloon.
And so she did, but when it came
It got into the candle flame
And being of a dangerous sort
Exploded with a loud report
The lights went out! The windows broke!
The room was filled with reeking smoke!
And in the darkness, shrieks and yells
Were mingled with electric bells
And falling masonry and groans
And crunching as of broken bones
And dreadful shrieks when, worst of all
The house itself began to fall!
It tottered, shuddering to and fro
Then crashed onto the street below
Which happened to be Saville Row
When help arrived, among the dead
Were Cousin Mary, Little Fred,
The Footmen (both of them), the Groom,
The man that cleaned the billiard room,
The Chaplain and the Still-Room Maid
And I am dreadfully afraid
That Monsieur Champigion the Chef
May now be permanently deaf
And both his aides are much the same
While George, who was in part to blame
Received, you will regret to hear
A nasty lump behind the ear.
The moral is that little boys
Should not be given dangerous toys
Donna,
You ask rhetorically whether it is "okay to wish one's enemies to be damned as long as one is a famous Catholic writer." If they didn't know better, people would think you silly or ignorant and compare you to the dullard who asks for the punch line of a joke to be explained. But you are neither silly nor ignorant, although the matter is all about what it means for something to be funny, as in a joke. For the obvious answer to your question is that it is not right to wish one's enemies damned ("... love your enemies" ... although the imprecatory Psalms at times do give pause). But that is exactly what makes the poem funny.
Since you obvious know this, the question is why you do not find the jungle funny. Someone who didn't know better might be tempted to suggest that you lack a sense of humor. But that cannot be true, as previous experience with you shows. So the answer has to lie in the fact that your question is rhetorical, a fact underlined by your words "... as long as one is a famous Catholic writer."
The problem is that from your previous experience of reading Belloc, you find im dull, you do not like him, and you are therefore not prepared to find him amusing. Perhaps you find his endeavors at wit too self-conscious and studied.
I wonder whether you like Chesterton? He of course is known, too, for saying things like "Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and dignity of human choice," which, though not the same thing is joking about wishing one's enemies damned, is rather shocking at first blush. But I wonder whether you like his style of writing, which also is studiously witty and clever, even if differently, or whether you find him boring too.
I heard a guy on NPR once interviewed who claimed that all humor has something hurtful in it. I think there may be some truth in his claim, though I certainly hope that it is not true as a rule. Still, I think what strikes a person's funny bone in silly little jingles like these is the ironic juxtaposition of such such jarringly opposed sentiments. Belloc may not be even a second-rate poet. I don't think he is. But I think he can be terribly funny at times. Even when he wishes his enemies damned to hell, noel, noel, noel!
AlexB,
I love your sixth grade story. I had not hear of that poem before. Can you remember in which collection you found it?
AlexB--Thank you for that screamingly funny piece that allows one to decide in affirmation on living yet another day if only to read it again.
Sheldon--Well stated.
And now, to read more of this Belloc...
Lutheran,
On your road of learning. Stop by Chesterton too. You don't happen to live in sunny Southern California do you? You are welcome to that book I offered.
Donna
To Sheldon. I have written a response to your response to me I will try to post it soon if I can work out a problem.
Which takes us to... Dr. Blossser I have tried before to upload some posts that aren't any longer than some of those that I read on your blog. Is there something that I am doing wrong. I realize that I'm not registered but that is because I forget my google password. :)
Donna
Donna,
Don't worry about Belloc. Nobody expects you to like him. You're a girl. You probably don't like the Three Stooges either.
Howdy Sheldon,
Sheldon: “But you are neither silly nor ignorant” But that is exactly what makes the poem funny.
Moi: Now Sheldon that is where you are wrong; I can indeed be very, very silly. What’s more I am ignorant of many things.
S: “Since you obvious know this, the question is why you do not find the jungle funny. Someone who didn't know better might be tempted to suggest that you lack a sense of humor. But that cannot be true, as previous experience with you shows.”
M: Thank you (I think).
S: “ So the answer has to lie in the fact that your question is rhetorical, a fact underlined by your words” "... as long as one is a famous Catholic writer."
M: You are very quick on the uptake which does not surprise me as previous experience with you shows.
S: “The problem is that from your previous experience of reading Belloc, you find im dull, you do not like him, and you are therefore not prepared to find him amusing. Perhaps you find his endeavors at wit too o self-conscious and studied.”
M: Oh, no, I don’t think his wit was studied at all. Whenever I read or heard that little attempt at silly poetry I would picture him sitting in a pub at least two sheets to the wind trying to impress those around him. There is, I have discovered a subculture of Catholic intellectuals. These folks have agreed on a set of authors who are indisputably the very best authors in the world and if one has the audacity to disagree that person cannot play in their sandbox. I know of no one who has claimed to have been at that meeting (no doubt in a pub) but I’m certain there was one. There had to have been one. Its clear to me that one is considered an uneducated dolt if he has the temerity to disagree. If you add the fact that I don’t like Belloc’s writings to my dark little secret that I also do not like Evelyn Waugh’s writings, well, you can see why I would be shunned by that crowd, can you not?
S: “I wonder whether you like Chesterton?
M: Well, wonder no longer. In my little world I’m known as a Chestertonian although my other little secret is that I sometimes disagree with him which clearly shows how very low prole I am.
S: “which, though not the same thing is joking about wishing one's enemies damned, is rather shocking at first blush. But I wonder whether you like his style of writing, which also is studiously witty and clever, even if differently, or whether you find him boring too.”
M: I’m glad to read that you recognize the difference.
S: “Belloc may not be even a second-rate poet. I don't think he is. But I think he can be terribly funny at times. Even when he wishes his enemies damned to hell, noel, noel, noel!”
M: Well, you will have to write me off as humorless because I find no humor in that jingle.
Donna
Sheldon:
It probably says a lot that I don't recall in what collection of poems I discovered this gem. I seem to recall an aqua hard-cover book. That narrows it down a bit, eh?
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