Hilaire Belloc's "Lines to a Don"

The Daily Poem

Goldberry Studios

Education For Kids, Arts, Kids & Family

4.6 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2024

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today’s poem is a master-class in snappy putdowns and the value of a fiercely-loyal and equally witty friend.

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (1870 – 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early 20th century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic faith had a strong effect on his works.

Belloc became a naturalised British subject in 1902 while retaining his French citizenship. While attending Oxford University, he served as President of the Oxford Union. From 1906 to 1910, he served as one of the few openly Catholic members of the British Parliament.

Belloc was a noted disputant, with a number of long-running feuds. He was also a close friend and collaborator of G. K. Chesterton. George Bernard Shaw, a friend and frequent debate opponent of both Belloc and Chesterton, dubbed the pair the "Chesterbelloc".

Belloc's writings encompassed religious poetry and comic verse for children. His widely sold Cautionary Tales for Children included "Jim, who ran away from his nurse, and was eaten by a lion" and "Matilda, who told lies and was burned to death". He wrote historical biographies and numerous travel works, including The Path to Rome (1902).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios.
0:04.1	I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
0:09.9	Today's poem is by Hilaire Belloc, the early 20th century, historian, orator, poet, satirist, political activist, outspoken Catholic advocate and children's author.
0:27.6	But for all that, the thing that Belloc might be best remembered for today, really, is being the friend of G.K. Chesterton, the other great early 20th century man of letters. And it is their friendship,
0:41.9	which began in 1902 and lasted until Chesterton's death in 1936, and I assume beyond. It is that
0:51.5	relationship that gave rise to today's poem.
0:54.5	It's called Lines to a Dawn.
0:57.4	Chesterton himself was not opposed to public discourse.
1:04.5	He was well known as a debater.
1:07.8	He debated such public intellectual figures as George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells and others.
1:14.9	But he really didn't get too bothered by character assassinations and personal put-downs.
1:24.5	So when a university dawn wrote a little hit piece in a newspaper criticizing Chesterton, not so much engaging with his ideas through philosophical argument, but more indulging in some ad hominin character attacks.
1:45.5	Chesterton just overlooked the whole thing.
1:49.8	His friend, Hiller Belloc, who's a little more bellicose, as his name implies, suggests.
1:56.9	He didn't take it lying down and decided to write a poem that would defend the honor of his friend,
2:04.5	even if Chesterton wasn't willing to mount that defense himself.
2:10.2	And so Belloc entered into the much honored tradition of poetic disc tracks.
2:18.5	This is not original to rappers of the 90s and 2000s.
2:27.0	Even the ancient Roman poets were engaging quite gleefully in the disc track, the poetic put-down.
2:38.0	And Belak here gives us a pretty strong offering in the genre.
2:42.6	So here is Lines to a Dawn.
2:50.6	Remote and ineffectual dawn that dared attack my chesterton with that poor weapon half impelled
	...

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