What was the contrast between the sword's expectations about the battle and the reality
that it saw in the battlefield?
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
After Blenheim – Important Questions
After Blenheim, also known as The Battle of Blenheim, is a famous antiwar poem written by Robert Southey. The poem is in the form of a ballad and its theme is the famous Battle of Blenheim of 1704. It was fought between the combined forces of France and Bavaria representing one side, and the forces of England and Austria representing the rival side.
Important Question and Answers
Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
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.
1. Who is the speaker? Where was the old man sitting? What mood was he in?
Ans. The speaker is an old man named Kaspar. The old man was sitting before his cottage. It’s evening and his work was already done, and he was sitting in the sun. This suggests that he was in a relaxed mood.
2. Who were two grandchildren of Old Kaspar? What do you think of them?
Ans. Peterkin and Wilhelmine were the two grandchildren of Old Kaspar. They were curious and intelligent kids with a lot of questions in their minds. They were quite sensitive to their surroundings and were always eager to know about things that they saw.
3. What is he telling about?
Ans. He starts by telling his two grandchildren about the mystery of the skull, one of them has found. As he further explains, it is linked to a battle that was fought many years ago. Historically, this battle is known as the Battle of Blenheim.
4. What tells you about the serene atmosphere at Old Kaspar’s home?
Ans. At Old Kaspar’s home, as the opening lines suggest, there are only three people. One of them is Old Kaspar himself, while the other two are his two grandchildren. The atmosphere prevailing there indicates a kind of aloofness from larger social surroundings. The greenness of vegetation spread before and around the old man’s cottage further adds to the serenity and calm there.
5. What kind of situation is presented here?
Ans. The situation presented here does not directly remind us of the war that took place many years ago. It’s a cottage where an old farmer, feeling relaxed after completing his work for the day, is affectionately involved in a conversation with his two grandchildren. As their conversation proceeds, the readers get to know that the place where they are sitting may have been the battleground for a war years ago.
Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
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.
“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.”
1. Where was the skull found? Why does the speaker say that the skull was of some poor fellow?
Ans. The skull was found by Old Kaspar’s grandson, Peterkin, while playing in front of the cottage. The word ‘poor’ used by the speaker here means ‘unfortunate’ or ‘miserable’. He feels that this must be the skull of someone who lost his life in the battle and his corpse was left there to decay. Thus, he was unfortunate because he could not get what he deserved, for giving away his life in the war.
2. How common were the skulls there? At which place many of them could be found?
Ans. It has been suggested here that the place where Old Kaspar’s cottage is situated must have the ground where the Battle of Blenheim was fought many years ago. That is why such skulls of soldiers who had died in the battle could be found there frequently. As Old Kaspar says, he finds many of them in the garden, when he ploughs.
3. Who does the phrase ‘poor fellow’ refer to in this stanza? Why do you think the poet has used the word ‘expectant’ for ‘the boy’?
Ans. The phrase ‘poor fellow’ refers to a soldier killed in war. The poet has used the word ‘expectant’ for the boy as it suggests that he is expecting an answer from the old man to his question regarding the identity of the object he has discovered.
4. What made the old man shake his head and sigh?
Ans. The old man’s little grandson Peterkin brought a human skull. On seeing it, he did not look surprised. Instead, he felt pity and remorse while knowing already that there were many more skulls lying there. What Peterkin had come with was just one of the many human skulls that belonged to men who had died years ago in the Battle of Blenheim. The tragic thing was that the dead had been left rotting there for so many years