Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Battle of Blenheim Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by Robert Southey. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions & answers of I Run Away To Dover, The Open Window and Where the mind is Without Fear so, you can check these posts as well.
The Battle of Blenheim Questions & Answers
Question 1: Where were Old Kaspar and his grandchildren?
Answer: Old Kaspar and his grandchildren were before the cottage door near his fields.
Question 2: Who is Peter? What did he find?
Answer: Peter is Old Kaspar’s grandson. He found something large, smooth and round.
Question 3: What does Old Kaspar say about the large, smooth and round thing?
Answer: Old Kaspar said that it is some old fellow’s skull who died in that great victory.
Question 4: What does the ploughshare turn out?
Answer: The ploughshare turns out the skull of a poor soldier who had been killed in battle.
Question 5: How was Kaspar’s family affected by the war?
Answer: Kaspar’s family suffered severely, their house was burnt to the ground, the family had to flee from there, not knowing where to go and take shelter.
Question 6: Did the war serve any purpose as far as Old Kaspar knew?
Answer: No, the war did not serve any purpose. According to Kaspar, it was the English who won the battle against the French. What they fought for he does not know; all he knows is that it was a famous victory.
Question 7: What words does Old Kaspar used to refer to war? Why does he do so?
Answer: Kaspar says it was a famous victory. He repeats this frequently because that is all that he has heard from others and he remembers for himself.
The Battle of Blenheim Questions & Answers
Question 8: Read the lines and answer the questions:
(a) Who is the speaker of these lines?
Answer: Kaspar is the speaker of these lines.
(b) What does the word ‘fell’ imply here?
Answer: The word ‘fell’ implies that the person was fatally wounded and died in the war.
(c) Which great victory is being talked about?
Answer: It was a battle fought at Blenheim; the French were completely defeated by the English armies.
(d) Where was skull found?
Answer: The skull was found in the garden near the small rivulet.
Question 9: Read the lines and answer the questions:
(a) Which war was being discussed here?
Answer: The Battle of Blenheim was being discussed. It was fought between the English and the French.
(b) Who said this and to whom?
Answer: Peterkin said this to Kaspar.
(c) What caused the person to question about the war?
Answer: When the grandchildren learnt that due to the war there were thousands who died and their skulls are still to be found in the fields, they wanted to know the reason behind the war.
(d) Do you think the poem answers the questions asked in the lines?
Answer: No, the poem does not answer the questions asked in the lines. It only brings out that great wars are fought but for what reason or why, no one knows or remembers. People only remember that it was a famous victory.
Question 10: Read the lines and answer the questions:
(a) Whose father lived at Blenheim?
Answer: Kaspar’s father lived at Blenheim.
(b) What does the expression ‘Yon little stream’ mean?
Answer: It means the little stream here.
(c) What did they do to his dwelling?
Answer: His dwelling was burnt down to the ground.
(d) What does this tell you about the War?
Answer: The War was disastrous; it caused devastation and destruction of property and thousands of lives were lost. But the people like Old Kaspar do not appear to remember anything except ‘things like that, you know, must be at every famous victory.’
Question 11: Read the lines and answer the questions:
(a) What time of day is it? What is told about Kaspar here?
Answer: It is summer evening. Kaspar is relaxing after his day’s work in the fields is done.
(b) Who is by Kaspar’s side? What is this person doing?
Answer: Wilhelmine is by Kaspar’s side; she is playing there. Peterkin, her brother, is also nearby, playing in the field.
(c) Describe what this person has found?
Answer: Peterkin has found something large and round. It was a skull of a soldier who had died in the battle.
Question 12: What impression do you get of the present situation of Old Kaspar?
Answer: Old kaspar has come back to the fields after the battle and settled there with his family and grandchildren. He ploughs his fields and at the end, relaxes with his grandchildren playing about him. Life appears to be peaceful and quiet, although when he ploughs his field often skulls of dead men turn up of people who died in a victorious battle fought long ago, when he was a child. Yet, he is complacent about the war fought in his father’s time and has unquestioningly accepted the devastation, destruction and death of innocent women, children and soldiers as one of the outcomes of a famous victory.
Question 13: What had Peterkin found that breaks the harmony of scene?
Answer: Peterkin has found something large, smooth and round; the harmony of the atmosphere is broken when he asks his grandfather what it was. The truth is that it is some poor fellow’s skull and there are many such unearthed by the ploughshare in the fields because they had died in the famous victory. This bares open the reality of the gory war fought, of lives lost and dwellings destroyed. Despite this, Kaspar not only accepts the outcomes of war but also repeatedly quotes that it was a great victory.
Question 14: What is poet’s purpose in using repeatedly words ‘famous victory’?
Answer: Wars have only brought destruction, havoc and loss of life; thus, wars are futile. To drive this point home, the poet uses irony through Kaspar repeatedly saying, ‘Bit it was a famous victory’, yet he is unable to answer why. In fact, it was not a great victory; wars cannot be great in any aspect as the past has proved it to be so and ironically, people are ignorant of the real nature of war as depicted in the poem.
So, these were The Battle of Blenheim Questions & Answers.