Explanation of the tenth stanza of the poem 'After Blenheim'
Answers
The only thing inevitable in a war is destruction of life and property. Victory cannot bring back all the lives which were lost during the war. Hence, the poet questions the purpose and need of war. Thus, the poem 'After Blenheim' successfully conveys his message – war is futile and should be avoided....
Answer:
‘After Blenheim’ by Robert Southey is an anti-war poem that centres around one of the major battles of eighteenth century – the Battle of Blenheim. Written in 1796 in the form of a ballad, it offers deep insights on war and its consequences. The 1704 War of Spanish Succession, in which a coalition of forces including the English, defeated the Franco-Bavarian army on the land of Blenheim, a small village in Southern Germany, supplies its ingredients.
Through a conversation between an old farmer, Kaspar and his grandchildren, Wilhelmine and Peterkin the poet gradually reveals the scene of a former battlefield. One of the kids has found something ‘large and round’ which his grandfather explains is a skull, one of many to be found nearby. Similar instances run through the poem to support the main ideas – tragic end of war & the vulnerability of human life. The poem After Blenheim makes us ponder on the purpose and result of a war and even questions its validity.
The war caused huge devastation and thousands of casualties. But Old Kaspar seems to have an unconcerned attitude towards this as he claims that ‘it was a famous victory’ and ‘things like that must be’. His gruesome descriptions followed by his casual sayings create an effect of irony. It is ironic that it was a great war, but no one knows why.
After Blenheim: Form and Style
This ballad is separated into 11 equal verses. The poet has followed the rhyming scheme abcbdd in all the stanzas except the second one. The style used by the poet is a conversation between two people of very different ages – the younger age representing vigor, restlessness and curiosity whereas the old age depicts experience, knowledge and passivity.
Iambic tetrameter (four iambic feet) and iambic trimeter (three iambic feet) lines alternate throughout the poem with the last two lines in each stanza being in tetrameter. This is a typical characteristic of a ballad.
Old KAS | par’s WORK | was DONE, (Iambic Trimeter)
And HE | be FORE | his COT | tage DOOR (Iambic Tetrameter)
Was SIT | ting IN | the SUN, (Iambic Trimeter)
In several stanzas of After Blenheim, Southey uses alliteration to promote rhyme and euphony. Here are some perfect examples.
Now tell us what ’twas all about,
With wonder-waiting eyes;
They say it was a shocking sight
Southey’s use of archaic speeches (Nay… nay… my little girl, quoth he) and apostrophe by removing a silent vowel (as in ’twas) helps to create an atmosphere of antiquity and makes the ballad more entertaining.
A recurring line comes at the end of some stanzas: “But ‘twas a famous victory.” And such use of repeatition is another prominent feature of a ballad. Old Kaspar continuously repeats this sentence as this is all he knows about the war. But this is certainly not what the poem is saying. Rather, Southey uses this phrase to emphasize the exact opposite – that it wasn’t really a great victory; war can never be ‘great’. It’s a highly effective way of making his point.
After Blenheim by Southey: Explanation by stanza
It was a summer evening,
Old Kaspar’s work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun,
And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.
The poem begins by picturizing a vivid scene of a summer evening. It is the time when most people return from work. The days are long and tiring in summers, and the sun sets late in the evening. An elderly farmer named Kaspar sits in front of his cottage watching his grandchildren Wilhelmine and Peterkin at play on the lush green field.
She saw her brother Peterkin
Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet
In playing there had found;
He came to ask what he had found,
That was so large, and smooth, and round.
As Wilhelmine was playing, she saw her brother Peterkin rolling something ‘large, smooth and round’ which he had found beside the river. Meanwhile Kaspar was sitting around observing his actions. Out of curiosity, Peterkin takes that ‘something’ to his grandfather, wanting to know about it.
That was so large, and smooth, and round.
Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by;
And then the old man shook his head,
And, with a natural sigh —
“Tis some poor fellow’s skull,” said he,
“Who fell in the great victory.
Elderly Kaspar took that round thing from the boy, who was left in anticipation. After a brief look at it, the old man shook his head with a sigh and found it to be a skull of some ‘poor fellow’ which refers to a soldier who had died in the war – in the Battle of Blenheim – ‘in the great victory’.
“I find them in the garden,
For there’s many here about;
And often when I go to plough,
The ploughshare turns them out.
For many thousand men,” said he,
“Were slain in that great victory.”