ICSE Class 10 Answered

‘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.