Any work memorized in full by Winston Churchill deserves at least a cursory examination. Churchill did it to try and show off his mental faculties despite his poor grades but will serve any legitimate student or classic’s reader enthralled as well.
I’ll admit, at first I thought that these four “songs”—as that’s how I think of them and how they are described as “ballads”—were translations by Macaulay. Instead they are interpretations of known events and stories from the Roman period and put down into poem form, intended to be Macaulay’s best guess as to how knowledge of such legendary events were passed from person to person and celebrated publicly, based on his knowledge of that Roman literature that had survived.
As they deal with famous events in Rome’s history they represent what humanity has classically held close—tales of heroism, victory in face of long odds, and defiance of authority.
Horatius, the first of the lays presented is by far the most famous. Similar in nature, for those who are aware of such references, the Stamford Bridge legend from England and the Battle of Thermopylae, Horatius recounts the defense of a key bridge by Roman forces against an opposing army that sought to sack Rome. A brilliant tale of individual heroism as three soldiers step up to sacrifice their life in order to give time for engineers to destroy the bridge, preventing the Etruscans from crossing. At the narrow choke point the “Gallant Three” as they are called defend the bridge from all comers, with Horatius further, standing alone in order to save the lives of his partners. Is there a better call to arms than:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods.”
The other Lays included here are similarly quotable and instructional on what it means to be honorable, steadfast, and committed. Often taught in grammar schools 150 years ago, we now feed our children with drivel, setting before them the high costs of low expectations. We would do well to reintroduce such works to our youth and hope that they take on the morals, strength, and courage of those wonderfully portrayed here. And if you are older? Read it and enjoy…we’d all be better of knowing the core of these ballads and taking them to heart.