Literature Project-2

Page 2:
What is Anti-War Poetry?

Anti-war poetry often illustrates the horrors of
warfare, the devastated landscape. Robert Southey
adopts an anti-war attitude in his poem, After
Blenheim, but arguably he himself was not anti-war.
Byron considered Southey a puzzle: on one hand, he
condemned the English victory at Blenheim; on the
other, he praised the Battle of Waterloo in The
Poet's Pilgrimage to Waterloo.
Background of the Poem

After Blenheim is an antiwar poem that centers on
the most famous battle in the world of the Spanish
Succession. Blenheim is the English name for the
German village of Blindheim, situated on the left
bank of the Danube River in Bravia in Southern
Germany.
In November 1700, the grandson of King Louis XIV
of France acceded to the throne of Spain as Philip V.
Austria and other European countries saw this
development as an unfair plan of the French King to
increase his power and influence. Consequently, war
broke out in 1701 between Austria and France.
Furthermore, England and The Netherlands allied
themselves with Austria. The German principalities
of Bavaria and Cologne and the Italian principalities
of Mantua and Savoy allied themselves with France.
As the war progressed, Portugal and various German
dominions, including Prussia and Hanover, entered the
war on the side of Austria.
In addition, Savoy renounced its allegiance to the
French and joined the anti-French coalition. In 1704,
the coalition defeated French and Bavarian forces at
Blenheim in one of the most important battles of the
war. Among the conquering heroes were England's
Duke of Marlborough and Savoy's Prince Eugene.
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After Blenheim as an Anti – War Poem
After Blenheim has a scathing criticism of the
horrors of war. It shows that international
diplomacy, politics and war are matters which are cut
off 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
grasp the reason why the war took place. The poet's
comment is ironical:
‘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;
Old Kaspar tells his grandchildren that not only his
own parents had been rendered homeless by the war
but many mothers had also lost their newborn babies.
It is sorrowful that a "shocking sight" of "many
thousand bodies rotting in the sun becomes a
measure the greatness of a "famous victory". It is
indeed ironic, that Kaspar goes on to say:
‘And everybody praised the Duke
Who this great fight did win.’
But it is through the innocence of Peterkin and
Wilhelmine that the poet expresses the
condemnation of war:
‘Why, ‘twas a very wicked thing!’
Said little Wilhelmine.
... But what good came of it at last?’
Quoth little Peterkin.
The poem exposes the destruction caused by the
war. For the common man, war means death,
devastation, hunger and disruption of peace.
‘With fire and sword the country round
Was wasted far and wide,
And many a childing mother then,
And newborn baby died;
The poet is unable to point out any benefit from that
‘famous victory’. By making Kasper repeat that it was
a great victory, the poet manages to question its
greatness. What is won when everything is lost?
Moreover, the idle boastfulness of heroes who win
wars and the futility of war itself is depicted by
innocent children. For them, Duke of Marlbro’ and
Prince Eugene were some shadowy figures in the
remote corners of some distant past. Nevertheless,
the children were unable to grasp their achievements
from a human angle. Thus, the innocent children
become the mouthpiece of the poet, who expresses
his disapproval of war.
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Comparison of the views of Old Kasper and his
grandchildren on the war
Old Kasper’s only concern was the victory gained
whereas the children perceive the war as death and
destruction. It is evident from Kasper' s answer that
he was not so upset about the death of thousands of
people in the battle and even the struggle that has
own father had to do during the time of the battle.
Rather, the only thing that concerned him was that it
was a great and famous victory. His point of view is
absolute, conservative and narrow. He boasts it as a
great and famous victory which is very ironical. Thus,
the old man's point of view is conventional and
outdated. Even though he himself had seen the battle
in his life, he failed to understand the uselessness of
the war while his little grandchildren understand it.
On the other hand, the children think rationally.
They were very upset due to the thousands of death
in the battle and were shocked by the fact that their
grandfather, in spite of being a victim of the war
calls it a “Great Victory”, without knowing the cause
of the battle.
Page 5:
Summary of “Futility” by “Wilfred Owen”
“Futility” is one among the published poems during
Owen’s life time. In this poem like many of his other
poems Owen talks about the ‘futility’ of war that has
crippled the lives of young soldiers who are
succumbed by the War’s force. The poem is about
the fading hopes of soldiers who struggle to live.
The first stanza, very poignantly describes how a
deceased soldier is moved to the sun with the hope
that the gentle rays of the sun will revive his
consciousness. The speaker by the line “whispering of
fields half-sown” suggests that the soldier whose life
is curtailed by the War is young and it is eagerly
wished that the sun, which is a life-giver, will once
again bring the dead soldier to life because half of
his life experiences are yet to be received. It was
always the sun that somehow wakes him up while he
was at home or in France. However, the speaker
mentioned that even the sun could not bring life into
him on this snowy morning. Even though the speaker
tried to bring in the image of light through the sun,
yet the first stanza ends in a state of despair for
the soldier is dead. The soldier who has fought in the
war and died there was not prepared to die; he joined
the war with the hope of securing his home, his
nation.
The second stanza depicts a change in tone of the
speaker who takes on a questioning attitude
regarding life. The sun and the soil that lead to the
growth of seeds is suggestive of how despite the
soldier’s death, life has to go on. It signifies the
paradox of life and death; while the sun and the soil
gives light and life on the one hand, it is disturbing
for the speaker to acknowledge that: “what made
fatuous sunbeams toil/To break earth’s sleep at all?”
The speaker again refers to hope that is futile; even
when the soldier is buried, as the seeds in the soil,
he cannot be brought back to life.
The sun is personified when it is referred to as ‘kind’
and ‘old’ signifying the age old belief on the sun as a
protector of life. Owen’s reference to light can be
understood in terms of his religious inclination also.
By light, he projects God, the life giver. Even the
warmth of the sun lay futile when it falls on the
dead. Thus, the title can also be seen in the light of
the inability to comprehend the mysteries of life and
death and how Nature is a witness to both. This
poem, in a way, projects the growing religious crisis in
Owen. If the sun, symbolising God has created man
then why is He silently witnessing the end of
mankind. Indeed, the seriousness of the poem is
reflected in the last two lines in which the speaker is
clueless as to the notion of life and death.
Therefore, it is only silence that pervades in the
ending of the poem.
Summary of “After Blenheim” by “Robert

Southey”
The first stanza begins with a picturesque
description of a summer evening. The poet introduces
the main character of the poem; old Kasper had just
finished his work for the day and was sitting in the
sun before his cottage door, watching his
granddaughter Wilhelmine play on the field.
While playing, Wilhelmine saw her brother Peterkin

rolling something “large, smooth and round” which he
had found beside the stream. He was curious to know
what that thing was and thus turned to his
grandfather for information.
Old Kasper took the “large, and smooth, and round”
thing from his grandson’s hands and shook his head
with a sigh as he figured that it was some “poor
fellow’s skull” who had died in the war. Ironically, he
refers to the battle of Blenheim as a “great victory”
at the cost of loss of human lives.
Kasper goes on to mention that he had found many
such skulls while ploughing the land as thousands of
soldiers were killed in the victorious war. The dead
bodies of these soldiers lie in the fields unnoticed.
However, Kasper’s use of the term “great victory”
expresses his pride at the sacrifice of the soldiers
who played a vital role in the war.
The children were excited to know more about the

war. They were curious to know about the purpose of
the war. They had associated a sense of
thrill, adventure, and excitement with the idea of
war and sacrifice. Little Wilhelmine looked up to her
grandfather in anticipation with “wonder-waiting
eyes”. In this stanza, the poet attempts to
distinguish the kind of curiosity and enthusiasm
associated with a child.
The battle of Blenheim was one of the major battles

of the war of Spanish succession in which the English
successfully defeated the Franco Bavarian army.
Kasper takes pride in the “great victory” but he is
unable to tell his grandchildren the reason behind the
war. He did not even try to find the purpose behind
it. He just chose to know what others told him
regarding the war – that it was a “famous victory”.
In stanza seven, we observe Kasper recollecting the
memories of his past. He tells the children that his
father used to live at Blenheim. The French soldiers
burnt the homes of several innocent people among
which was his father’s. This destruction forced the
people to leave the village and search for a safer
place. Kasper’s father, thus, fled with his wife and
young Kasper in search for shelter but he was unable
to find a home because of the dreadful war. This
rendered their family homeless.
Stanza eight highlights the horrific aspect of wars.

The symbol of “fire” and “sword” embodies the evil
spirit of human cruelty and destruction. The image of
the death of pregnant mothers and newborn babies
heightens the idea of the ruination of human beings
caused by none other than men themselves. The idea
is to express how thousands of innocent lives are
taken in due course of a futile and meaningless war
that is sure to bring only damage and destruction.
The irony in the poem is made evident by Kasper as
he says that these things are meant to happen at
every battle where there is a “great victory”.
The poet, through Kasper, goes on to describe the

agony of war. He mentions the “shocking sight” of the
battlefield that was full of dead bodies of the
soldiers rotting in the sun. Through this image, the
poet attempts to bring into consideration the
indignity in the way the soldiers lay. They are
reduced to a mere status of an inanimate object.
There is no dignity, no glory in war; only misery. Even
after such a terrifying aspect of the war, Kasper
regards it as a “famous victory” which emphasizes
the ignorance of the old man about the purpose and
consequence of war.
Duke of Marlbro was an English General. He was the

commander of the British forces in the battle of
Blenheim. Prince Eugene and Duke of Marlbro
represented Britain in the battle and defeated
the French at Blenheim. Kasper sang praises for the
men who brought the “famous victory” to the nation.
But Wilhelmine, confused at the meaningless praises,
exclaims that the war was a “wicked thing”. For the
first time in the poem, we see disapproval of the
false glory of war. But, not answering to his
granddaughter he does take recourse to repeat the
same thing again. The war is not a wicked thing for
him as it comes with the grand success of a “famous
victory”.
In stanza eleven which concludes the poem, Kasper is
in full praise for the Duke who has won the war for
England, their motherland. With the innate nature of
a child, young Peterkin asks his grandfather what
worth the war has for the successive generations.
Unable to satisfy the young mind’s query, all that he
says is that it is a famous victory. It points to the
poignant irony in the poem as against the grain of loss
and devastation; the only thing the old man
reiterates is that the war has brought national pride
to them.
The similarities are that both are anti-war poems and

in both the poems someone is blamed for the
fruitless war.
The difference is the perspective of needlessness of
war and the futility regarding its outcome. The
second difference is the casualty caused and its
effects.
Page 6:
Bibliography
1. Treasure Trove Workbook
2. smartenglishnotes.com
3. toppr.com
4. brainly.in
5. bing.com

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Page 2:

What is Anti-War Poetry?

Background of the Poem

Summary of “After Blenheim” by “Robert

While playing, Wilhelmine saw her brother Peterkin

The children were excited to know more about the

The battle of Blenheim was one of the major battles

Stanza eight highlights the horrific aspect of wars.

The poet, through Kasper, goes on to describe the

Duke of Marlbro was an English General. He was the

The similarities are that both are anti-war poems and

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