Remembering Lepanto

How did G.K. Chesterton come to write the poem Lepanto?

That is a question asked at our recent Chillicothe Society Meeting. While I had read the poem Lepanto in the book of that title, edited by Dale Ahlquist, I had forgotten the explanation related by Dale in his discussion of the poem. Here it is:

The man who was the inspiration for Chesterton's most famous fictional character was also the inspiration for Chesterton's most famous poem. That man was Father John O'Connor, the priest who was the model for Father Brown. In the spring of 1911, both Chesterton and Father O'Connor participated in a debate about war. The two friends were apparently on the same side in the debate. Chesterton argued that all wars are religious wars, and Father O'Connor gave a description of the battle of Lepanto that Chesterton said was "magnificent". It obviously stirred his fertile imagination. Father O'Connor later recalled;

I told of how Phillip the Second of Spain had been assembling his Armada to invade England and could only spare two ships to face the hundred galleys of the Porte, and how Don John of Austria, the only commander under whom Genoa would agree with Venice, burst the battle-line on a sinking ship after fighting through all the hours of daylight. And the story of the Pope's prayer all that day and his vision of the crisis of the action at three in the afternoon, with his vision of the victory of the Angelus. Thus, I take it, came Chesterton to write the imcomparable ballad of Lepanto (Father Brown on Chesterton, p. 85)

Successful First Meeting

The September meeting of the Chillicothe Chesterton Society got off to a great start tonight, with three of us meeting at Schlegel's. We talked about Chesterton and everything else. Pictured above, from left to right, are Tim Binkley, Margaret Breidenbaugh, and Bob Cook. Tim is from Lancaster and Margaret resides, for the next few days at least, in Chillicothe. Tim is reading The Everlasting Man, Margaret is reading Orthodoxy, having recently completed reading several Father Brown stories. The subject for our October meeting will be Lepanto, the battle and Chesterton's poem. I'll post a bit more about Lepanto over the next few days.

Society Meetings to Resume September 16, 2009

After a several month's long Summer hiatus, the regular monthly meetings of the Chillicothe Chesterton Society will resume on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 7 p.m. in Schlegel's Coffee House and Art Gallery. I'll have the most recent Gilbert Magazines available, and the books I've left at Schlegel's will be available, too. We can use this first meeting of the year to learn a bit about G.K. Chesterton as well as each other.

Looking ahead to October, the subject of the meeting will be Chesterton's poem, Lepanto. Never heard of the poem or the Battle? Just take a moment and read Wikipedia's entry about "one of the decisive events in the world."

I hope to see you at Schlegels. The libations are on me!