Explanation for poem after blenheim in the 9th stanza
Answers
In the poem After Blenheim, Robert Southey says that wars have got no advantages whatsoever and can only cause destruction. Through the innocent eyes of Wilhelmine and Peterkin we see that wars and battles are massive sources of misery and pain.
In the first stanza, the poet tells us about an old man named Kaspar who was sitting in front of his cottage after his day's work, watching his grandchildren play.
In the second stanza,Peterkin brings a large , smooth and round object to Kaspar and asks him about it. He was fascinated by the object which he had found while playing beside me the rivulet.
After examining the object, Kaspar sighs and says that it was a skull. The battle of Blenheim had killed thousands of people who were not even given a decent burial.
Kaspar says that when he goes to plough in the garden the ploughshare turns out many such skulls.
When Peterkin and Wilhelmine asks him about the war he says that it was actually the English who forced the French to rush into into the battle field. Yet, he cannot state a clear reason as to why they decided to fight in the first place.
His father was himself a victim of the war. They had burnt his father's house and they were forced to run away not sure of where they were going to live.
The battle field was a shocking sight after the field was won. No one even cared about the thousands of people who had died and had left them to rot
Yet, the Duke of Marlboro and the prince Eugene were praised for they had won this great battle. At last, the only one who benefitted was the royalty.
At the end, the two young children were surprised at the cruelty if the world. Their tender souls were not ready to believe that there existed such malevolent people.
Even after saying That newborn babies and chilling mothers had lost their lives, that his own home was burnt to the ground, he says that it was a famous victory. Yes, he had been brainwashed to believe that whatever the consequences the victory was a famous one and therefore brilliant. Yet another sign of mankind's cruelty.