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 PeterkinRoll something large and round That 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
"Old Kaspar took it from the boy. "
There"s many hereabout; And often, when I go to plough,The ploughshare turns them out; For many thousand men, " said he, " Were slain in the 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 killed each other for. " "It was the English, " Kaspar cried,"That put the French to rout; But, what they killed 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 grieving 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 Marlboro" 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 such 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. "Robert Southey
General.-Blenheim (the last syllabic rhymes with crime) is a village on the Danube in Bavaria. Here, in 1704, the English and the Allies (Dutch, Germans, Austrians) under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy won a great victory over the French and Bavarians under Marshal Tallard. Who are the persons described in the poem? Why did the old man think it was a famous victory? Why did Wilhelmine think it a very wicked thing? What is the answer to Peterkin"s question in the last stanza? What bodies of people are at present trying to do away with "famous victories "? Write an essay on the subject.
