The Battle of Blenheim

“The Battle of Blenheim,” also known as “After Blenheim,” is a satirical, antiwar poem by English Romantic poet Robert Southey, written in 1798 and published in the Morning Post newspaper on August 9 of that year. The poem, which is in the form of a ballad, looks back at the Battle of Blenheim, which was fought around the Bavarian town of Blindheim, in southern Germany, on August 2, 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). The battle resulted in a celebrated victory for the British-Austrian alliance, which defeated the French and Bavarian army, ending the common perception at the time of French invincibility.

The poem is set near Blenheim, several generations after the battle. Kaspar, an old man, talks with his grandchildren after one of them discovers a skull in a nearby field. Kaspar tells the curious children that a battle was fought that resulted in a great victory. He describes the suffering the battle produced, but he knows nothing about why it was fought. The poem became well known for its antiwar sentiments, and it remains one of the few poems by Southey that is still read today.

Poet Biography

Southey was born on August 12, 1774, in Bristol, in southwest England. He attended Oxford University but left in 1794 without a degree. He became friends with the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and together they planned to emigrate to the United States and set up a utopian community they called Pantisocracy on the banks of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. However, the scheme never came to fruition. At the time, Southey, along with Coleridge and William Wordsworth, was a political radical, a firm supporter of the French Revolution. In 1794 he wrote a radical play, Wat Tyler, about the leader of the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. It was not published until many years later.

Most of Southey’s lyric poetry was written between 1794 and 1800, a period that also included his marriage to Edith Fricker in 1795. He published volumes of poetry in 1797 and 1799. His epic poem Joan of Arc was published in 1796. Beginning in June 1798, Southey had an especially productive year when he and Edith lived in Westbury, near Bristol. This was when he wrote “The Battle of Blenheim.” In 1803, the Southeys moved to Keswick in the Lake District in northwest England. From then on Southey was known as one of the “Lake Poets,” which referred to the fact that he, Wordsworth, and Coleridge all lived in the same area. In the first decade of the 19th century, Southey wrote the epic poems Thalaba the Destroyer (1801), featuring a Moslem hero; Madoc (1805), a blank verse poem about a Welsh hero; and The Curse of Kehama (1810), about an evil priest who seeks demonic power in order to become a god.

In 1813, Southey was appointed Poet Laureate, a position he held until his death. He had drifted away from his earlier radicalism and was now a staunch conservative, a point of view that was prominent in his poem A Vision of Judgement (1821). The poem was a commemoration and defense of King George III, who had died the previous year. It was viciously mocked by fellow poet Lord Byron, who despised Southey for renouncing his earlier political ideals. Other enemies of Southey got together to publish his play Wat Tyler in 1817 without his permission; they wanted to embarrass him by bringing attention to his radical past.

During the later part of his life, Southey was better known for his nonfiction works than his poetry. He wrote histories and biographies, including A History of the Peninsula War (1822-1832), The Life of John Wesley (1820), and The Life of Lord Nelson (1813). The latter was much admired and remains in print in the 21st century. Little of Southey’s poetry, however, has survived the test of time. 

Southey died of a stroke on March 21, 1843, in London, at the age of 68.

Poem Text

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.

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.

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.”

“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.”

“It was the English,” Kaspar cried,

    “Who put the French to rout;

But what they fought each other for,

    I could not well make out;

But everybody said,” quoth he,

    “That ‘twas a famous victory.

“My father lived at Blenheim then,

    Yon little stream hard by;

They burnt his dwelling to the ground,

    And he was forced to fly;

So with his wife and child he fled,

    Nor had he where to rest his head.

“With fire and sword the country round

    Was wasted far and wide,

And many a childing mother then,

    And new-born baby died;

But things like that, you know, must be

    At every famous victory.

“They say it was a shocking sight

    After the field was won;

For many thousand bodies here

    Lay rotting in the sun;

But things like that, you know, must be

    After a famous victory.

“Great praise the Duke of Marlbro’ won,

    And our good Prince Eugene.”

“Why, ‘twas a very wicked thing!”

    Said little Wilhelmine.

“Nay... nay... my little girl,” quoth he,

    “It was a famous victory.

“And everybody praised the Duke

    Who this great fight did win.”

“But what good came of it at last?”

    Quoth little Peterkin.

“Why that I cannot tell,” said he,

    “But ‘twas a famous victory.”

Southey, Robert. “The Battle of Blenheim.” 1798. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

On a summer evening near Blenheim, an old man, Kaspar, rests in front of his cottage door. His granddaughter Wilhelmine is playing nearby, and she watches as her brother Peterkin brings a big round object that he found by the nearby stream to his grandfather to ask what it is. Kaspar tells him it is the skull of a man who died during a battle that resulted in a memorable victory. He says he has found many more skulls in the area, since thousands of men died in the battle. Peterkin asks him what the war was about, and Wilhelmine wants to know, too. Kaspar explains that the English heavily defeated the French. He does not know what they were fighting about, but nevertheless, everyone agreed that it was a great victory. Kaspar then explains that his father lived at Blenheim at the time, and his home was burnt to the ground. He was forced to flee with his wife and child as the soldiers laid waste to the countryside for miles around. Pregnant women and newborn babies died, and after the battle thousands of corpses lay rotting in the sun. Such things happen in war, Kaspar says. The victorious commanders, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, were highly praised. Wilhelmine protests that the battle was wicked, but Kaspar denies it, repeating that it was a great victory. Peterkin asks what good came of it, but Kaspar cannot answer his question.