goes all Belloc on Hitchens.<\/a> It\u2019s a sort of honor, I think, that Christopher Hitchens spat his very last venom at Chesterton. I picture him going out like this:<\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Only, I hope that somehow he found the mercy of God in his final moment.<\/p>\n<p>Betwixt the stirrup and the ground \/<br>\nMercy I asked, mercy I found.<\/p>\n<p>Hope remains a virtue, even in the case of Hitchens.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, it\u2019s an excuse to reprint this delightfully Bellocian poem by, well, Belloc:<\/p>\n<p>Lines to a Don<br>\nBy Hilaire Belloc 1870\u20131953 Hilaire Belloc<br>\nRemote and ineffectual Don<br>\nThat dared attack my Chesterton,<br>\nWith that poor weapon, half-impelled,<br>\nUnlearnt, unsteady, hardly held,<br>\nUnworthy for a tilt with men\u2014<br>\nYour quavering and corroded pen;<br>\nDon poor at Bed and worse at Table,<br>\nDon pinched, Don starved, Don miserable;<br>\nDon stuttering, Don with roving eyes,<br>\nDon nervous, Don of crudities;<br>\nDon clerical, Don ordinary,<br>\nDon self-absorbed and solitary;<br>\nDon here-and-there, Don epileptic;<br>\nDon puffed and empty, Don dyspeptic;<br>\nDon middle-class, Don sycophantic,<br>\nDon dull, Don brutish, Don pedantic;<br>\nDon hypocritical, Don bad,<br>\nDon furtive, Don three-quarters mad;<br>\nDon (since a man must make an end),<br>\nDon that shall never be my friend. <\/p>\n<p>* * * <\/p>\n<p>Don different from those regal Dons!<br>\nWith hearts of gold and lungs of bronze,<br>\nWho shout and bang and roar and bawl<br>\nThe Absolute across the hall,<br>\nOr sail in amply billowing gown<br>\nEnormous through the Sacred Town,<br>\nBearing from College to their homes<br>\nDeep cargoes of gigantic tomes;<br>\nDons admirable! Dons of Might!<br>\nUprising on my inward sight<br>\nCompact of ancient tales, and port<br>\nAnd sleep\u2014and learning of a sort.<br>\nDons English, worthy of the land;<br>\nDons rooted; Dons that understand.<br>\nGood Dons perpetual that remain<br>\nA landmark, walling in the plain\u2014<br>\nThe horizon of my memories\u2014<br>\nLike large and comfortable trees. <\/p>\n<p>* * * <\/p>\n<p>Don very much apart from these,<br>\nThou scapegoat Don, thou Don devoted,<br>\nDon to thine own damnation quoted,<br>\nPerplexed to find thy trivial name<br>\nReared in my verse to lasting shame.<br>\nDon dreadful, rasping Don and wearing,<br>\nRepulsive Don\u2014Don past all bearing.<br>\nDon of the cold and doubtful breath,<br>\nDon despicable, Don of death;<br>\nDon nasty, skimpy, silent, level;<br>\nDon evil; Don that serves the devil.<br>\nDon ugly\u2014that makes fifty lines.<br>\nThere is a Canon which confines<br>\nA Rhymed Octosyllabic Curse<br>\nIf written in Iambic Verse<br>\nTo fifty lines. I never cut;<br>\nI far prefer to end it\u2014but<br>\nBelieve me I shall soon return.<br>\nMy fires are banked, but still they burn<br>\nTo write some more about the Don<br>\nThat dared attack my Chesterton. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>goes all Belloc on Hitchens. It\u2019s a sort of honor, I think, that Christopher Hitchens spat his very last venom at Chesterton. I picture him going out like this: Only, I hope that somehow he found the mercy of God in his final moment. Betwixt the stirrup and the ground \/ Mercy I asked, mercy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-35947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chestertoniana"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Redoubtable Zac Alstin...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"goes all Belloc on Hitchens. It's a sort of honor, I think, that Christopher Hitchens spat his very last venom at Chesterton. I picture him going out like\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2012\/06\/the-redoubtable-zac-alstin.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Redoubtable Zac Alstin...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"goes all Belloc on Hitchens. It's a sort of honor, I think, that Christopher Hitchens spat his very last venom at Chesterton. 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<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Only, I hope that somehow he found the mercy of God in his final moment.<\/p>\n<p>Betwixt the stirrup and the ground \/<br>\nMercy I asked, mercy I found.<\/p>\n<p>Hope remains a virtue, even in the case of Hitchens.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, it\u2019s an excuse to reprint this delightfully Bellocian poem by, well, Belloc:<\/p>\n<p>Lines to a Don<br>\nBy Hilaire Belloc 1870\u20131953 Hilaire Belloc<br>\nRemote and ineffectual Don<br>\nThat dared attack my Chesterton,<br>\nWith that poor weapon, half-impelled,<br>\nUnlearnt, unsteady, hardly held,<br>\nUnworthy for a tilt with men\u2014<br>\nYour quavering and corroded pen;<br>\nDon poor at Bed and worse at Table,<br>\nDon pinched, Don starved, Don miserable;<br>\nDon stuttering, Don with roving eyes,<br>\nDon nervous, Don of crudities;<br>\nDon clerical, Don ordinary,<br>\nDon self-absorbed and solitary;<br>\nDon here-and-there, Don epileptic;<br>\nDon puffed and empty, Don dyspeptic;<br>\nDon middle-class, Don sycophantic,<br>\nDon dull, Don brutish, Don pedantic;<br>\nDon hypocritical, Don bad,<br>\nDon furtive, Don three-quarters mad;<br>\nDon (since a man must make an end),<br>\nDon that shall never be my friend. <\/p>\n<p>* * * <\/p>\n<p>Don different from those regal Dons!<br>\nWith hearts of gold and lungs of bronze,<br>\nWho shout and bang and roar and bawl<br>\nThe Absolute across the hall,<br>\nOr sail in amply billowing gown<br>\nEnormous through the Sacred Town,<br>\nBearing from College to their homes<br>\nDeep cargoes of gigantic tomes;<br>\nDons admirable! Dons of Might!<br>\nUprising on my inward sight<br>\nCompact of ancient tales, and port<br>\nAnd sleep\u2014and learning of a sort.<br>\nDons English, worthy of the land;<br>\nDons rooted; Dons that understand.<br>\nGood Dons perpetual that remain<br>\nA landmark, walling in the plain\u2014<br>\nThe horizon of my memories\u2014<br>\nLike large and comfortable trees. <\/p>\n<p>* * * <\/p>\n<p>Don very much apart from these,<br>\nThou scapegoat Don, thou Don devoted,<br>\nDon to thine own damnation quoted,<br>\nPerplexed to find thy trivial name<br>\nReared in my verse to lasting shame.<br>\nDon dreadful, rasping Don and wearing,<br>\nRepulsive Don\u2014Don past all bearing.<br>\nDon of the cold and doubtful breath,<br>\nDon despicable, Don of death;<br>\nDon nasty, skimpy, silent, level;<br>\nDon evil; Don that serves the devil.<br>\nDon ugly\u2014that makes fifty lines.<br>\nThere is a Canon which confines<br>\nA Rhymed Octosyllabic Curse<br>\nIf written in Iambic Verse<br>\nTo fifty lines. I never cut;<br>\nI far prefer to end it\u2014but<br>\nBelieve me I shall soon return.<br>\nMy fires are banked, but still they burn<br>\nTo write some more about the Don<br>\nThat dared attack my Chesterton. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>goes all Belloc on Hitchens. It\u2019s a sort of honor, I think, that Christopher Hitchens spat his very last venom at Chesterton. I picture him going out like this: Only, I hope that somehow he found the mercy of God in his final moment. Betwixt the stirrup and the ground \/ Mercy I asked, mercy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-35947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chestertoniana"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Redoubtable Zac Alstin...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"goes all Belloc on Hitchens. It's a sort of honor, I think, that Christopher Hitchens spat his very last venom at Chesterton. I picture him going out like\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2012\/06\/the-redoubtable-zac-alstin.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Redoubtable Zac Alstin...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"goes all Belloc on Hitchens. It's a sort of honor, I think, that Christopher Hitchens spat his very last venom at Chesterton. I picture him going out like\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2012\/06\/the-redoubtable-zac-alstin.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-18T07:01:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-30T23:25:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2012\/06\/the-redoubtable-zac-alstin.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2012\/06\/the-redoubtable-zac-alstin.html\",\"name\":\"The Redoubtable Zac Alstin...\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-18T07:01:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-30T23:25:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"goes all Belloc on Hitchens. 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