unity
by Chesterton · Cluster: Satire of Society · Epigram · Satire
Abstract
A satirical ballad about a missionary literally devoured by converts, mocking the modern doctrine of religious syncretism and forced unity of faiths; combines comic verse with theological satire.
Testo / Text
Connections
Archetypes: Martyr Saint
Settings: Solomon Islands
Motifs: Food and Feasting, Cannibalism
Topoi: World Upside Down
Characters: Isaiah Bunter
Themes & Concepts: Satire of Society, Faith, Martyrdom, Union, Fanaticism, Paradox, History Forms & Genres: Satire, Ballad Ballade, Epigram, Comic Verse Song Historical References: Christianity, Eastern Religion Comparative Religion, Kikuyu Controversy
Testo integrale / Full text
THE HIGHER UNITY
The Rev. Isaiah Bunter has disappeared into the interior of the Solomon
Islands, and it is feared that he may have been devoured by the natives,
as there has been a considerable revival of religious customs among
the Polynesians.—A real paragraph from a real Paper; only the names altered.
It was Isaiah Bunter
Who sailed to the world’s end,
And spread religion in a way
That he did not intend.
He gave, if not the gospel-feast,
At least a ritual meal;
And in a highly painful sense
He was devoured with zeal.
And who are we (as Henson says)
That we should close the door?
And should not Evangelicals
All jump at shedding Gore?
And many a man will melt in man,
Becoming one, not two,
When smacks across the startled earth
The Kiss of Kikuyu.
When Man is the Turk, and the Atheist,
Essene, Erastian[,] Whig,
And the Thug and the Druse and the Catholic
And the crew of the Captain’s gig.
(G. K. Chesterton - 1914)
[The reference to “the crew of the Captain’s gig” is from the poem “The Yarn
of the Nancy Bell” by Gilbert.]