with reference to after Blenheim
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After Blenheim : About the poem
‘After Blenheim’ by Robert Southey is an anti-war poemthat 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.
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