Critical Appreciation of the Poem After Blenheim
Introduction :
After Blenheim, is a anti-war poem written by English Romantic poet Caureate Robert Southey in 1796. The poem is set at the site of the Battle of Blenheim, with the questions of small children about a skull one of them has found. An old man named Kaspar tells two small children of burned homes, civilian casualties and rotting corpses, while repeatedly calling it ‘a famous victory’.
Actually, the poem tells us the after effects of the war which was fought near the village of Blenheim, in Bavaria, on the left bank of the river Danube, on August, 13, 1704. The French and Bavarians, under Marshal Tallard and Marsin, were defeated by the English and Austrians, under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene. The French and Bavarians were taken by surprise in the village and their armies were badly handled. On the opposite side Marlborough and Prince Eugene showed themselves splendid cavalry leaders and led an attack that proved successful through its very recklessness.
The French and Bavarians lost thirty thousands while Marlborough’s loss was only eleven thousand. The battle broke the prestige of the French king. And when Marlborough returned to England his nation built a magnificent mansion for him and named it Blenheim Palace after this battle.
In the poem, we observe that the old man could not tell his grandchildren why the battle was fought or what good came of it. He only knew that it was ‘great victory’. That was the moral of so many of the wars that devastated Europe for centuries. The kings fought for more power and glory and the peasants fled from burning homes and the soldiers fell on the fields. The poem gives an idea of the real value to men of such famous victories as that of Blenheim.
Thought-Content :
The poem opens with the serene and peaceful atmosphere of a summer evening. An old man named Kaspar was sitting infront of the door of his cottage. Perhaps he was relaxing after the day’s work or might be pondering over something. His granddaughter was playing in the green grass near him. His grandson who was playing by a stream, found something large and round. The little boy seemed to be unaware of the strange thing. He was curious to know about it, so he brought it to his grandfather Kaspar. Kaspar told him that it was a skull of a man who died in the war.
Kaspar found many such skulls while ploughing the field. Both Peterkin and Wilhelmine questioned their grandfather about the purpose of the war. Kaspar told the children that the English defeated the French. Kaspar did not know why the English and the French fought but he only knew that it was a famous victory. He went on to explain that in the battle, many lives were lost-even innocent women and children-but that the battle was nevertheless a great victory. Being astonished, the grandson inquired into the reason for the battle and the grandfather, cognizant only of the great victory and not of the thousands of lives lost, admitted that he had absolutely no idea why the bloodshed occurred.
Moral of the Poem :
Through this poem the poet has ironically exposed the common people’s beliefs and heroic ideals regarding war. The poet has expressed his disapproval of war by depicting the destruction that war can cause. The poet wants to emphasise that wars are senseless, futile and evil and that in war there is no real winner—everybody ending up being a loser. In the twenty first century, the entire world is war-ridden and poverty stricken. Thousands of killings are being reported every single day throughout the world. So, in today’s world this poem cm enlighten our minds to crave for a peaceful world. It is a wake-up call to seek peaceful solutions to all conflicts.
Form and Structure :
‘After Blenheim’ is an anti-war poem in the form of a ballad. It is a simple tale involving a conversation between the old man named Kaspar and his two little grandchildren named Peterkin and Wilhelmine. It starts abruptly without a systematic introduction. The situation becomes clear in a very gradual way when the little boy brings a skull to the old man.
Like other ballads, it is impersonal. No attempt has been made to show the writer’s identity or personality. This ballad has been separated into eleven equal verses. The poet has followed the rhyming scheme abcbdd in all the stanzas except the second one. 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 a tetrameter. This is a typical characteristic of a ballad.
The Use of Refrain :
A recurring line comes at the end of some stanzas : ‘But ’twas a famous victory’. And such use of repetition 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 certaiiily not what the poem is saying. Rather, Southey uses this phrase to emphasise the exact opposite-that it was not really a great victory; war can never be ‘great’. It is a highly effective way of making his point.
The Use of Figure of Speech :
In several stanzas, Southey uses alliteration to promote rhythm and euophony. Stanza five is an example.
‘Now tell us what ’twas all about,’
Young Peterkin, he cries
And little Wilhelmine looks up
With wonder-waiting eyes;
‘Now tell us all about the war,
And what they fought each other for.’
The poet has used figure of speech metonymy. Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it. In the line ‘And by him sported on the green’, ‘green’ refers to the grassland, as grass is green in colour.
Ironical Elements :
Robert Southey’s poem ‘After Blenheim’ narrates the story of the Battle of Blenheim and the death and destruction it caused. The poem is in ironical tone where the poet presents the common people’s misconceptions regarding war, how they fall prey to the propaganda that was indoctrinated in them and how they glorify war and the so-called war heroes. In the poem we see Old Kaspar praise the war calling it a ‘great victory’ and a ‘famous victory’ as he has heard people say.
He does not know why it was a great victory. He does not know what good war can cause to the mankind. But still he glorifies war. And what is most ironical in it is the fact that he himself was a victim of the battle when his father was forced to escape with his family to save their life, losing their house and with no place ‘to rest his head’. Kaspar even feels pity of war as we see him shaking his head and having a natural sigh seeing a skull. But still we see him praise the war and say :
‘But things like that, you know, must be
At every famous victory.
The repetition of the line ‘it was great victory’ at the end of every stanza is only to emphasise the irony and to deliver the poet’s message that war cannot be great, it can do no good.
The Use of Archaic Words :
Southey’s use of archaic words and apostrophe by removing a silent vowel helps to create an atmosphere of antiquity and makes the ballad more entertaining.
‘Nay…………nay………….my little girl’, quoth he.’
‘But ’twas a famous victory.’
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