INTRODUCTION (150 Words)

(a) A brief analysis of ‘Anti-War Poetry’.

(b) A short background of the poem ‘After Blenheim’.

“After Blenheim” is an anti-war poem by Robert Southey. This poem

describes the Battle of Blenheim that took place in 1704 through a
conversation between an older man and his grandchildren. This
poem depicts a commoner’s ignorance about the causalities of war
and its pointless grandeur of it.
‘After Blenheim’ has a scathing criticism of the horrors of war. It shows that
international diplomacy, politics and war are matters which are cut from the lives
of common men. In an outburst of praise for the heroes who won the war, old
Kaspar reveals the typical inability of an ordinary citizen to understand the
reason why the war took place. The poet has used irony to indicate the
devastation of war. Old Kaspar tells his grandchildren that not only his own
parents have been homeless because of war but many mothers lost their
newborn babies. It was a sorrowful sight as after the war many bodies were
rotting under the sun, and yet, he regards it as a famous or great victory. It is
through the innocence of Peterkin and Wilhelmine that the poet expresses the
condemnation of war. Both children think that it is wicked to have so many lives
sacrificed without knowing the reason for it and they understand that it brings no
good. The poem exposes the destruction caused by war. There are many ways
through which the war has caused chaos for the common man. It is difficult to
find any benefit from this famous victory. So, the poet has portrayed a post-war
scenario to justify that wars are ruthless.

‘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. In the poem, Kaspar represents the
ordinary common people who believe in the claims of authority.
He is a common farmer who ploughs the field and grows crops.
Kaspar belongs to that group of people who believe in
warmongers who always glorify war to support their own cause
by motivating youths to join the army and “sacrifice” their lives
for the nation. Kaspar believes in the romantic ideals regarding
war and feel proud for the “famous victory” of the English army.
He repeatedly utters ‘It was a famous victory’ though it came at
the expense of thousands of lives. In fact, he himself was a
sufferer, but he feels that these things happen at every famous
victory.
Through a conversation between Kaspar and his grandchildren,
the poet gradually reveals the scene of a former battlefield. The
instances lead to the revelation of the tragic end of war & the
vulnerability of human life. The poem shows us how devastating
wars are, not to mention the thousands of casualties.
Kaspar has no reason to support his claims of a “great victory”.
This is an indication that Kaspar is symbolic of the old people
with their old beliefs. They are afraid to think against the
authorities, against the set ideals. They are rather conservative
and choose to stick to what they have known so far. Kaspar can
be viewed as a perfect foil to his grandchildren who represent
new ideas, out of the box thinking and questioning things.

2. The elements of ‘Anti- War Poetry’ that are found in the poem, ‘After Blenheim’.

 Robert Southey's "After Blenheim" is an anti-war poem about the

Battle of Blenheim. Kaspar depicts commoners who believe authority
claims. He ploughs and grows crops.
 Kaspar is a warmonger who believes in persuading teenagers to join
the army and "sacrifice" their lives for the nation. Kaspar is
sentimental about war and proud of England's "great victory." He
says, "It was a famous triumph," but hundreds died. He himself
suffered, but he believes this happens after every spectacular
triumph.
 The poet reveals a war through Kaspar's chat with his grandchildren.
The cases reveal the devastating end of war and human weakness.
The poem depicts how destructive wars are and how many die.
 Kaspar can't claim a "big win." Kaspar represents ancient people with
old beliefs. They fear going against authorities and ideas. They're
conservative and prefer what they know. Kaspar's grandkids
represent new ideas, out-of-the-box thinking, and questioning.

(a) The ‘Reality’ and ‘Brutality’ of war depicted in the poem: Justify with

examples from the text.

Apart from the many losses that were caused, Kaspar has described three
scenarios that he witnessed after the battle of Blenheim. He told his
grandchildren that his father had a house at Blenheim near a small stream. The
enemy soldiers burnt it down and, as a result, his father was forced to run away
from that place to save his life. He took his child and wife to another place and
started again. After the war in which the French were defeated by the English,
there were thousands of soldiers who were killed and many more people became
homeless. The dead were not properly cremated and were left under the sun to
rot. Nobody was spared not even pregnant women and newborn babies. These
miserable things and suffering to humankind are described as the consequences
of a famous victory.
The country was highly affected after the war. The soldiers burnt
the villages near Blenheim and no one was spared, not even a
childing mother nor a new-born baby. It was a massacre. The
aftermath of the massacre is described by saying that it was a
shocking sight. Dead bodies were not even proper burial but were
left out in the poem, rotting in the sun. The common people during
that time suffered immensely, without having anything to do with the
war, directly or indirectly.

(b) The ‘Futility of War’ depicted through this poem.

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'
The poem proclaims the futility of war with the contrast of life and nature. Grim death is
the inevitability of war and the poem ironically presents the Page 3 monstrous destruction
that a soldier has experience in warfare.It exposes how inhumanly the soldier is victimised in
war.

3. Explain the contrasted viewpoints on ‘War’ as depicted by the poet, in the poem

‘After Blenheim’, through the characters of ‘Peterkin’, ‘Wilhelmine’ and ‘Old

Kaspar’. (200 Words)

Kaspar is an old man who has seen the consequences of the battle of Blenheim.
His father had to leave his dwelling place as the enemy soldiers burned down
their house. Whenever he ploughed the field, he kept on finding the dead
remains of soldiers who fought the battle of Blenheim. He has accepted the
devastation of war like any other common man considering it to be the cost
needed for such a great victory. He focused on the victory instead of evaluating
the losses. He knew who fought the battle but did not know who benefited from
the battle or what was the reason that it was fought. He kept addressing it as
either a famous victory or a great victory since that was what he had been
hearing from his childhood.

The poet has portrayed two viewpoints in the poem through Old
Kaspar and through his grandchildren. When Old Kaspar was
narrating the horrors of the battle, he sugarcoats it and made it
seem as if the that war was beneficial for the nation. On hearing
these tales, Wilhelmine exclaim in horror how “wicked” it all is. But
the grandfather shushes her saying that it actually wasn’t as it was
for a “famous victory.” Kaspar glorifies war instead of accepting it as
a mean of physical and psychological trauma. Unlike his little
granddaughter, he is oblivious to the truth and lives under the
illusions created by the rulers of the time. Due to this mindset, all
the matters to Old Kaspar was victory only. This is how the poet
presents the two viewpoints, one of the generation who glorifies war
and the other who outwardly condemns war.

The two children, Peterkin and Wilhelmine, find a skull while

playing in the field and shows it to their grandfather to satisfy
their curiosity. Then Kaspar goes on to give them an account of
the battle, how it started, how people were forced to flee, how
people were killed and houses were burnt down etc. He also
repeats that it was a famous victory and the English leaders got
much praise for the victory. But what strikes the two children is
that the war did not bring anything good to the life of people. No
one was benefited by it. So, they protested by saying the battle a
‘wicked thing’ and asking Kaspar what good came of it.

‘Why, ’twas a very wicked thing!’

Said little Wilhelmine.

‘But What good came of it at last?’

Quoth little Peterkin.

The children could actually feel the pity of war and see the futility
because of their innocence. Old Kaspar is a common man and the
propaganda of war has been indoctrinated in him. So, he sees
wars from a romantic viewpoint as a matter of pride, patriotism
and heroism. But the children are innocent and not yet affected
by those false ideals. So, they can see only the horrors of war and
the destruction of lives and property caused by the Battles.

used to sugarcoat it and make the common people believe that war
is beneficial for the nation. On hearing these tales, Wilhelmine
exclaim in horror how wicked it all is. But the grandfather shushes
her saying that it actually wasn’t as it was for a famous
victory. Kaspar glorifies war instead of accepting it as a mean of
physical and psychological trauma. Unlike his little granddaughter,
he is oblivious to the truth and lives under the illusions created by
the rulers of the time. Due to this mindset, all the matters to Old
Kaspar was victory only.
4. CONCLUSION (200 Words)

Compare and contrast between Robert Southey’s poem ‘After Blenheim’ and any

ONE anti- war poem by the poet Wilfred Owen.

(a) State and explain any TWO similarities in the two poems.

(b) State and explain any TWO differences between the two poems.

difference in how the two poems draw out the pity of war.
"After Blenheim" is a poem about the ignorance of common people about
the disastrous effects of war on the soldiers.
"The Send-Off" is about the journey of a group of soldiers who ultimately
die in WWII.

(c) Conclude with a paragraph stating how both the poems clearly elucidate the

‘Futility of War’.