McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XX · Part 3: Ballads, battles and Abou Ben Adhem
26. The Battle of Blenheim, by Southey
Goal: Your child reads Southey's poem with its repeated refrain and explains the irony of the "famous victory."
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pencil
What's in the book
A poem in which old Kaspar's grandchildren find a skull from the battle of Blenheim and ask what the war was about. A note about Robert Southey begins the lesson and a note about the battle ends it.
The lesson, step by step
About the author
The book says Robert Southey was born in Bristol, England, went to Oxford, and lived at Greta Hall near Keswick in the lake country, where he was friends with the poets Wordsworth and Coleridge. He became poet laureate in 1813. The book adds that he "can not be placed in the first rank," but some of his shorter pieces are very happy.
About the battle
Read the note after the poem. It says the battle was fought on August 13, 1704, near Blenheim in Bavaria, between the French and Bavarians and an allied army under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, who won a decisive victory.
Read aloud
Read the poem in parts: a narrator, old Kaspar, and the children.
It was a summer evening,
Old Kaspar's work was done,
The children's question:
"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they killed each other for."
Talk about it
SayWhat did little Peterkin find, and why does Kaspar find so many?
SayDid Kaspar know why the war was fought?
SayKaspar keeps saying it was "a famous victory." Does the poet agree? How can you tell?
SayWhat does little Wilhelmine say about it?
Tell it back
Your child retells the poem, including what Kaspar says happened to his own family.
Memorize
Learn the first stanza, which begins:
It was a summer evening,
Write (optional)
Write what you would have said to Kaspar if you had been one of his grandchildren.