In 1926, the year his wife Frances entered the Church, G.K. Chesterton published The Queen of Seven Swords, a small book of poems about Our Lady. Grettelyn Darkey and Joe Grabowski skip the expected devotional pieces for the surprising ones, where Chesterton turns his love for Mary into an answer to his critics. 

In This Episode:

  • Why 1926 may have turned G.K. Chesterton's mind toward Our Lady: his wife Frances entered the Church that year, and his biographer Maisie Ward calls it a lonely time of lost friends
  • Who J.S. Phillimore was, and why Chesterton dedicated a book of poems to this fellow convert and champion of the ballad
  • "A Party Question," Chesterton's reply to Arnold Lunn, an agnostic who attacked his conversion and later became a Catholic himself
  • How "The White Witch" moves the moon from a pagan goddess's brow to beneath Mary's feet
  • Chesterton's short poem against treating birth control as the test of liberality

Resources Mentioned:

FOLLOW US

SUPPORT

Chapters:

  • 00:00: G.K. Chesterton's book of poems to Our Lady
  • 02:45: Frances Chesterton enters the Church
  • 06:30: A lonely year for Chesterton
  • 08:02: The dedication to J.S. Phillimore
  • 15:00: "A Party Question"
  • 21:22: Arnold Lunn and Roman Converts
  • 25:43: Our Lady's share in Chesterton's conversion
  • 28:25: Our Lady's champion
  • 29:59: Losing sight of Mary, losing sight of Christ
  • 33:06: "The White Witch"
  • 40:58: "An Agreement"
  • 46:35: Bringing the book back into print

Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

Rss Apple Podcaster
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör Society of G.K. Chesterton. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Society of G.K. Chesterton och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.