Poet Spotlight: Hilaire Belloc

“We worship ourselves, we worship the nation; or we worship (some few of us) a particular economic arrangement believed to be the satisfaction of social justice…”

This week’s spotlight is on the French-born poet, Hilarie Belloc. Belloc was born in 1870 in Paris, though he became a British citizen in 1903, serving in the English House of Commons for a period of time before the First World War. Belloc was a strict and pious Roman Catholic, often criticized for his mordant social commentaries and journalism pieces.

Hillarie was an ardent supporter of British involvement in WWI, even though he lost a son and many comrades to the ruin of its wake.

By all accounts Belloc was a brilliant man, but a horrible listener, and he was often accused of bigotry and anti-Semitism. He was neither a capitalist nor socialist, condemning both. Rather, Belloc favored a type of economy called Distributism, which favored spreading the goods of production (both the means and ends) as widely possible among the populace of a nation.

Hilaire Belloc suffered a stroke in 1942, which left him decrepit and home-bound. He died, at the age of 73, in 1953.

This Belloc poem is entitled The Yak

As a friend to the children
Commend me the Yak.
You will find it exactly the thing:
It will carry and fetch, you can ride on its back,
Or lead it about with a string.

The Tartar who dwells on the plains of Thibet
(A desolate region of snow)
Has for centuries made it a nursery pet,
And surely the Tartar should know!
Then tell you papa where the Yak can be got,
And if he is awfully rich
He will buy you the creature—
or else
he will not.
(I cannot be positive which.)


Here are some more links to information about Belloc, including websites containing his poetry and prose:

Hilaire Belloc - American Academy of Poets
Hilaire Belloc - Wikipedia
Belloc Poems