GK Chesterton's Lepanto, with annotations: Part 4

They rush in red and purple from the red clouds of the morn,
From temples where the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scorn;
They rise in green robes roaring from the green hells of the sea
Where fallen skies and evil hues and eyeless creatures be;
On them the sea-valves cluster and the grey sea-forests curl,
Splashed with a splendid sickness, the sickness of the pearl;
They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground,—
They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, “Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done,
But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces—four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not ‘Kismet’; it is he that knows not Fate ;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey in the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth.”
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still—hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.

Giaours: an offensive term in the Ottoman Empire for non-Muslims or more particularly Christians.

seal of Solomon: In Jewish and Arab tradition, Solomon is said to have possessed a seal ring by means of which he controlled the demons. The legend of a magic ring by means of which the possessor could command demons was current in the first century, as is shown by Josephus' statement  that one Eleazar exorcised demons in the presence of Vespasian by means of a ring, using incantations composed by Solomon. The Arabs gave the name of 'Solomon's seal' to the six-pointed star engraved on the bottom of their drinking-cups. In Western legends, however, it is the pentacle that represents the seal. This figure was supposed to have the power of commanding demons.

Kismet: from Arabic qisma, 'fate, destiny'

Philip II and Richard I given keys to Acra

Richard: One of the leaders of the Third Crusade (1189–1192), an attempt by European Christian leaders to protect Christian pilgrims' access to the the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, in 1187. This Crusade was largely successful in capturing the important cities of Acre and Jaffa, and reversing Saladin's conquests.





Courtesy BN de Paris via Wikimedia Commons

Raymond:Raymond IV, sometimes called Raymond of Saint-Gilles or Raymond I of Tripoli, one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1096–99).
Godfrey: One of the leaders of the First Crusade. Godfrey became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He refused the title of King, preferring the title of Advocate (protector or defender) of the Holy Sepulchre.
Iberia: the Iberian peninsula; originally a reference to the people who lived near the river Ebro.
Alcalar: in the Algarve region of southern Portugal.