G. K. Chesterton: A Ballade of an Anti Puritan
GLI EXTRA DELLE CCG / AWS EXTRAS / LES EXTRAS DES CCGLanguage: English
They spoke of Progress spiring round,
Of light and Mrs Humphrey Ward --
It is not true to say I frowned,
Or ran about the room and roared;
I might have simply sat and snored --
I rose politely in the club
And said, “I feel a little bored;
Will someone take me to a pub?”
The new world's wisest did surround
Me; and it pains me to record
I did not think their views profound,
Or their conclusions well assured;
The simple life I can't afford,
Besides, I do not like the grub --
“I want a mash and sausage, `scored' --
Will someone take me to a pub?”
I know where Men can still be found,
Anger and clamorous accord,
And virtues growing from the ground,
And fellowship of beer and board,
And song, that is a sturdy cord,
And hope, that is a hardy shrub,
And goodness, that is God's last word --
“Will someone take me to a pub?”
Of light and Mrs Humphrey Ward --
It is not true to say I frowned,
Or ran about the room and roared;
I might have simply sat and snored --
I rose politely in the club
And said, “I feel a little bored;
Will someone take me to a pub?”
The new world's wisest did surround
Me; and it pains me to record
I did not think their views profound,
Or their conclusions well assured;
The simple life I can't afford,
Besides, I do not like the grub --
“I want a mash and sausage, `scored' --
Will someone take me to a pub?”
I know where Men can still be found,
Anger and clamorous accord,
And virtues growing from the ground,
And fellowship of beer and board,
And song, that is a sturdy cord,
And hope, that is a hardy shrub,
And goodness, that is God's last word --
“Will someone take me to a pub?”
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2015/7/23 - 14:20
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Versi di Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), meglio noto come G. K. Chesterton, scrittore, poeta ed intelettuale inglese. Nella sua raccolta del 1915 intitolata semplicemente “Poems”
Musica per pianoforte e voce baritono di Gary Bachlund, prolifico compositore tedesco-americano.
In questa divertente poesia G. K. Chesterton racconta di quanto si annoiò una volta che fu invitato nel salotto di Mary Augusta Ward, in arte Mrs Humphry Ward (1851-1920), scrittrice di matrice vittoriana e puritana che fu anche la fondatrice della - incrèdibol bat trù! - Women's National anti-suffrage League, proprio così, un movimento femminile che si opponeva al riconoscimento del diritto di voto alle donne (!)
Per G. K. Chesterton, intellettuale di grande spessore (e infatti era alto quasi due metri e pesava 130 kg!), la vita e la verità e la bellezza sono altrove, anche solo in un semplice pub.
E’ più o meno all’epoca in cui scrisse questa poesia che G. K. Chesterton un giorno fu apostrofato da una nobildonna londinese che gli chiese perché lui non si trovasse a combattere al fronte… Il poeta le rispose, facendo riferimento alla propria stazza: “Se lei girasse dall’altra mia parte [il fondoschiena, ndr] vedrebbe che già ci sono.”