I made a tune for the poem “After Blenheim” to help people memorize it. The poem is sometimes also called "The Battle of Blenheim".
The illustration and music were created by Ezra Tillman
Poem text:
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 Peterkin
Roll something large and round,
Which 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 there's many here about;
And often when I go to plough,
The ploughshare turns them out!
For many thousand men," said he,
"Were slain in that 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 fought each other for."
"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;
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 childing 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 Marlbro' 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 this 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."
"After Blenheim" is an anti-war poem written by English Romantic
poet laureate Robert Southey in 1796. The poem is set at the site of the
Battle of Blenheim (1704)" en.wikipedia.o...
The music was inspired by and somewhat based on the
following songs from an album called the
Russian Old Believers from Oregon, or in Russian,
Русские Староверы из Штата Орегон
Завистью Гонима, Я Бежу Стыда (Стих "Про Агарь")
Or Envy of Persecuted, I Run Shame (Verse "About Hagar")
Спит Сион и Дремлет Злоба (Стих "О Христовом Воскресении")
Zion sleeps and Malice sleeps (Verse "About Christ's Resurrection")
Восточная Держава Славного Киева-Града (Стих "О Борисе и Глебе")
Eastern Power of the Glorious Kiev-City (Verse "About Boris and Gleb")
Бытию, Бытию, Быть и Вечеру (Стих "О Страшном Суде")
Being, Being, Being and Evening (Verse "About the Last Judgment")
Призамкнувши Черну Дверь Тяжелу (Растяжные (Проголосные) Песни)
Locking the Black Door to Heavy (Stretching (Voiced) Songs)
The Russian Old Believers have a fascinating story. Here is a short beginning of an introduction to them: “Most of Old Believers who settled in Woodburn, Oregon in 1962 had come from Turkey. Their ancestors chose not to accept the 1656 church reforms of Patriarch Nikon and had to flee Russia, first appearing in the trans-Danube territories (present day Romania) at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, and later migrating to Turkey.”
oldbelievers.w...
You can buy the album on iTunes or here: shop.sketismus...
Illustration based on or inspired by various paintings and photographs:
This illustration is from the public domain book, The Book of Knowledge, The Children’s Encyclopedia, Edited by Arthur Mee and Holland Thompson, Ph. D., Vol II, Copyright 1912
commons.wikime...
A photograph of Revolutionary War reenactors
delawareway.blo...
“Battle of Bunker Hill” by E. Percy Moran (1862-1935) painted in 1909.
commons.wikime...
“Battle of Lookout Mountain” painting
www.battlefiel...
“Bataille de Denain. 24 juillet 1712” by Jean Alaux in 1839
commons.wikime...
21 окт 2024
