Gilbert K. Chesterton has kept his finest energies for fashioning the verses and symbolism of this ballad-epic Ñ the story of King Alfred and the Danes. The London Nation said of the book: “We are certainly inclined to prophesy that ‘The Ballad of the White Horse’ will live very much longer than any other of Mr. Chesterton’s writings. It is the best and most important thing he has done.” The poem consists of 2,684 lines of English verse. They are divided into stanzas, typically consisting of 4 to 6 lines each. The poem is based on the ballad stanza form, although the poem often departs significantly from it. Types of metrical feet are used more or less freely, although there is often basic repetition in a line. The rhyme scheme varies, often being ABCB or ABCCCB. Christopher Clausen has argued that The Ballad of the White Horse was a significant influence on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings fantasy novel.